On weekends when we’re feeling like taking the time, we like to eat steel cut oats. They’re chewier and earthier tasting than rolled oats, but they can be very time-consuming (and really irritating to do in the microwave. Boil-overs everywhere!)

This is one of our go-to recipes, modified from The Kitchn‘s Baked Pumpkin Steel-Cut Oats.

The recipe claims to serve 4 to 6. This is a heavy breakfast for 3 to 4 for us.

1 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 cups steel cut oats
1 cup unsweetened applesauce or apple butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
(we use fresh ground spices for all but the ginger)
4 cups warm water
(Sometimes I use apple cider for part of it, or I put in 1/4c powdered milk.)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 375F

Use an oven-safe pot on the stovetop on medium to medium-high.

Melt half the butter.

Add the oats, and toast them, stirring frequently, until they change color and smell toasty.

Move the oats to one side of the pan. Melt the second half of the butter, then add the applesauce and cook until it starts to stick to the bottom.

Add spices and water/milk/cider, and stir until everything is combined. Lid your pan, and put it in the oven.

Cook for 35 minutes. Let sit on the stove for approx. 5 minutes to thicken and cool to edibility.

Garnish with chopped walnuts, if you wish, drizzle on a bit of milk, and sweeten to taste. It doesn’t take much!

And now you, too, can enjoy a Thorne Family Saturday morning!

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