Easy steel cut oatmeal, kissed with cardamom and cream and full of the season’s finest pears. This is one breakfast worth getting up for.
The world is silent, and I, in my house, stare out at the leaves, blowing in the cool wind. It’s a wind that can ever so craftily find the seams of your coat, inviting itself through layers of wool sweater and cotton undershirt until it chills your skin.
Yet the sun shines as the leaves blow, and sometimes a few golden rays are all that is needed for the air to feel warmer and the outlook of life to seem brighter. The gray days have not yet arrived, and the shining sun still imparts a relative level of warmth should you turn your face to it, close your eyes and drink it in.
Here in the midst of life, I’m holed up with deadlines enjoying that soft sunshine from the window and then from the backyard as I pack up the last of the summer toys, rip dried tomatoes from the garden and turn the compost pile once more before the snow comes and the gray days of winter begin.
I’ll take what little bits I can get these days, sending my kids out to rake the crisp and colorful leaves into a pile, a pile they can then jump in before they turn again to run the prongs through the same leaves.
Warm and hearty breakfasts become things of necessity as the sun fades, keeping the chill away. This particular one has three cooking methods to help you choose the easiest and most convenient one for you. If you look closely, you can see the bits of cardamom singing sweetly and reminding you that the sun will shine again soon.
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1 cup steel cut oats
3 tablespoons muscovado sugar, dark brown sugar or maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup half and half or whole milk
2 pears, diced
Overnight Stove-top Directions:
In the evening, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add in oatmeal, stir to moisten all the oats. Cover and remove from heat, allowing to cool slightly. Store the pot in the refrigerator until morning.
The next morning, stir in brown sugar, ginger, cardamom, salt, half and half and pear pieces. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes until thick and creamy. Serve immediately.
Stove-top Directions:
Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in the oatmeal and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until oatmeal begins to thicken. Reduce heat to medium-low. Mix in brown sugar, ginger, cardarmom, salt, half and half and pears. Continue to simmer uncovered for 30-35 minutes until oatmeal is thick and creamy. Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Umami Rice Cooker Directions:
Mix together all the ingredients in the bowl of the rice cooker. Stir with the paddle to combine. Place the bowl into the rice cooker and close. Choose the porridge setting and press start. When the cycle is finished, stir the oatmeal well. Allow to continue warming until you are ready to eat, up to 3 hours, or serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
NOTE: I’m sure you could also make this with a slow cooker. However, our beloved Crock Pot broke five years ago. We have yet to replace it. I’ve heard that different slow cookers have different temperatures, so know your appliance and give it an approximation. My advice would be low and slow. Good luck, and please let me know if you attempt it with any success!
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As I share this weather with you, I cant help but think…
AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I dont want to wake up to darkness everyday!
🙂
So making this tonight with apples. We love steel-cut oats, but they do take a while. Love the overnight version!
That looks so delicious and filling.
That pear shot is so zen! I’m about to splurge on a pressure cooker, so I’ll be trying my steel cut oats in there. Will report back…
I’m making this right now! I added a bit of salt to the water, boiled it, then added the oats. Once it cools I’m going to add 2Tbsp of whey and will cover it with a towel and leave it overnight, then will follow the instructions for the morning. Lovely recipe and I adore cardamom! Thanks for the inspiratio :0)
I forgot to add an idea from the kitchn blog is to then put the oats in jars after you make it in the morning to save for a breakfast on the go later in the week. You could do up a huge batch to have lots of go-to breakfasts. I’ve tried this with great sucess and my kids love it for the van ride to school 🙂
I have cardamom pods. Is that what you’re using in this or do I need to chop or grind them somehow?
I want to come to your house and jump in leaves!
Love that pear shot. This looks like the perfect escape from these chilly Fall mornings.
This looks absolutely amazing!!!!!! I usually make mine with apple but the pear/cardamom combo is making me drool!
Sounds lovely!
It might be nearly 3 o’clock in the afternoon, but I want a breakfast do-over.
And to think I could buy that house down your street and eat this for breakfast tomorrow. What the hells am I waiting for?
Just stumbled on your site. I love your writing. You have a way with words that makes the recipes come to life but calmly and so comforting. The stress of meals and cooking just smooths out with your recipes and directions. Can’t wait to try this oatmeal.
The perfect breakfast!
This looks so perfect for breakfast!!
The texture of steel cut oats is such a wonderful thing. And cardamom is my favorite thing, especially this time of year. Wonderful!
This kind of food is good for my diet and sounds healthy and easy to make..Thanks for sharing the recipe..
This sounds so comforting – I could honestly eat this for dinner right now!
Its perfect meal to add to my diet list. It seems to be more healthy too. I just wanna try
mmm this recipe sounds delicious… I’m going to try it out over night in the slow cooker 🙂
Please, please, please make your wonderful recipes “pin-able.” I’m new to Pinterest but I’m attempting to keep track of favorite recipes with it & this one qualifies. Thank you.
Looks perfect for healthy dish (and diet dish, too).
I absolutely love oatmeal. Going to have to try this one tomorrow 🙂
Love the flavors on this. I’m not normally into pears, but my toddler son is, so I made this with him in mind. He gobbled it up, but I think I ate even more than he did. The level of sweetness is just perfect, and the pear flavor comes through nicely. It’s become a staple in our breakfast rotation. We have to make it dairy-free because my son is allergic, but the recipe has worked great with two different substitutions I’ve tried: Trader Joe’s coconut beverage (unflavored) and rice milk. Still very creamy, even with rice milk; I imagine you could leave out milk entirely and just use water.
Love the option you gave to start the cooking the night before. It still seems like a long time cooking when we’re in a rush to get ready for school, but more manageable, and the texture came out better than when I have tried a different steel-cut oatmeal recipe in the slow cooker. I add a little cinnamon and increase the amount of cardamon because I like those flavors, but it was pretty perfect the first time I cooked it just according to your instructions. Thanks!
Hi,
The recipe calls for half and half or whole milk in the ingredient list but then it is not mentioned in the directions. When do you add this?
Thanks!