Recipe from "Cooking Light Way to Cook Vegetarian"
Adapted by Tara Parker-Pope
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- 4(130)
- Notes
- Read community notes
There's weekday oatmeal – the sort you make and eat in a rush – and then there's a special occasion oatmeal like this – the kind you save for a lazy weekend morning when the children are watching cartoons and you have the time to make something truly spectacular. First, reduce some apple cider until it's thick and glossy. While that simmers, toss together a quick compote of water, brown sugar, cinnamon and dried fruit. Make a simple pot of steel-cut oatmeal, spread it in a baking dish and chill for about an hour. (If you're a planner, you could do everything up to here the night before.) Finally, cut into triangles and sear in a blazing-hot pan glistening with butter. Serve with compote and syrup and prepare for oohs, ahhs and oh-mys. —Tara Parker-Pope
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- 2cups apple cider
- 2cups water
- ¼cup packed brown sugar
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1(7-ounce) package dried mixed fruit bits
- 1cup fat-free milk
- 3cups water
- ¼cup packed brown sugar
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼teaspoon salt
- 1½cups steel-cut (Irish) oats
- Cooking spray
- ¼cup butter, divided
Syrup
Compote
Oatmeal
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
To prepare syrup, bring cider to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to ⅓ cup (about 20 minutes); set aside.
To prepare compote, combine 2 cups water, ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and dried fruit in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until thick.
Step
3
To prepare oatmeal, combine 3 cups water, 1 cup milk, ¼ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; stir in oats. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally.
Step
4
Spoon oatmeal into an 11 by 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; cool to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or until set. Using a sharp knife, cut oatmeal into 8 equal rectangles; cut each rectangle in half diagonally to form 16 triangles.
Step
5
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 8 oatmeal triangles; cook 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining 2 tablespoons butter and oatmeal triangles. Place 2 oatmeal triangles on each of 8 plates, and top each serving with 3½ tablespoons fruit compote and about 2 teaspoons syrup.
Ratings
4
out of 5
130
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Cooking Notes
Teresa
Be sure that you are using long cookng steel cut - not the quick steel cut. 20 minutes is not long enough for them to simmer slowly and develop the "glue". You should have a thick "spoon stand up" mass when finished - not a liquid soup. Then spread into a 9x9 or 8x8 pan/dish and refrigerate (overnight works best for me). The 7x11 was too large in my trial. When you fry the squares you need a turner that is large enough to lift the entire square. Hope this helps.
Sue Van
One of my favorite breakfasts! Well worth the effort although it can be made ahead and stored in the frig to save time in the morning. I personally prefer a little drizzle of cream over the cider syrup.
elithea
i tried this this morning, but they wouldn't hold together enough to turn. just turned back into mush. what did i do wrong?
Erica Cover
I made the apple cider syrup and used it with Melissa Clark's Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal, chilled overnight which I think is essential along wth sufficient butter. Had some dried apricots on the side instead of the compote. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
LF
I also made Melissa Clark’s spiced pumpkin oatmeal for this. In the compote I used half cider half water, eliminated the brown sugar, and added more spices. It was plenty sweet and delicious.
Tara
Yummy! Teresa's 8"x8" pan suggestion was spot-on. Seeing Sue's note, I topped this with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt (because that yogurt needed eatin'). Really made it great.Alas, my compote melted the syrup on contact, becoming a single fruity sauce while still in-kitchen. Did the family mourn this lost presentation? Nope. Plates were licked. Next time, I'd scratch the syrup and try 2c of cider instead of 2c water in the compote. See how it goes. And, yeah, there WILL be a next time.
Kristen
This is outstanding. I made the oats in the Instant Pot the night before and spread them on a parchment paper-lined baking dish so they were ready to go in the morning.Had some apples I needed to use up, so I served the oatmeal alongside brandied apples and raisins instead of dried fruit compote, although I'm sure the compote is delicious!
susain
I do not like oatmeal and its weird gluey texture. I do however love this. Made it for visiting oatmeal fans. Will make it for myself in the future. Crucial to get a good buttery crisp on the outside, especially for the oatmeal challenged. Served with maple syrup and sautéed apples.
Kat
1.54.5c water1.5 c milk1/4 1/8c brown sugar3/4 tsp salt2 tsp cinnamon2.25 c oatmeal
Erica Cover
I made the apple cider syrup and used it with Melissa Clark's Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal, chilled overnight which I think is essential along wth sufficient butter. Had some dried apricots on the side instead of the compote. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
Dakota
I used regular rolled oats instead of steel cut, and this turned out delicious. I reduced the liquid ingredients to 1.5 cups of almond milk and 1.5 cups of water, which was perfect. I'll definitely be making this again!
Colleen
Fat free milk? Blech. I used full fat milk. Perfect.
Lemuel
Very good and worth the wait. To speed things up a bit prepare the oats in step 3 first, then make the toppings in steps 1 and 2 while the oats are cooling down.
Cider is an ambiguous term. It's the wrong time of the year for good cider so I bought unfiltered commercial apple liquid (the one I bought didn't have a term in the name) and it came out good.
When making the compote, note that when it says to add "sugar" it means brown sugar.
Drkitty
Oh my this is good! The syrup is awfully thick the next day and seems kind of unnecessary, so I've started just stewing the fruit in apple cider. A big spoonful of plain yogurt finishes it nicely, but I just know Mum will insist on heavy cream for hers.
Jackie
Made this this morning with the leftover (cooked) steel cut oatmeal from yesterday. (So the oatmeal had 24 hours to set up.) Tasty! We skipped the apple cider and just had it with the compote. I had to cook it longer and at a higher temp (medium-high) heat than the recipe suggests to get a nice golden brown color.
cynthia
This will be yummy to try when Em and Aaron visit, maybe this summer or save till winter visit. They LOVE steel cut oats, me too!
Sara
Great Sunday morning breakfast and easy to do if oatmeal and apple cider syrup are prepared ahead. I used a mix of the dried fruit I had on hand for the compote. Sauteed pears or apples would be great as well. Added a dollop of creme fraiche, which lent a nice touch of richness to the dish.
Patricia
For that much oatmeal I would do more than 1/4 tsp. salt. More like 1/2 t or even close to 1. Really sharpens the flavor without making it salty.
elithea
i tried this this morning, but they wouldn't hold together enough to turn. just turned back into mush. what did i do wrong?
Melissa
I immediately thought of stirring an egg into the cooled oatmeal, but what do I know? This is one of those recipes that will be fun to play with...
Teresa
Be sure that you are using long cookng steel cut - not the quick steel cut. 20 minutes is not long enough for them to simmer slowly and develop the "glue". You should have a thick "spoon stand up" mass when finished - not a liquid soup. Then spread into a 9x9 or 8x8 pan/dish and refrigerate (overnight works best for me). The 7x11 was too large in my trial. When you fry the squares you need a turner that is large enough to lift the entire square. Hope this helps.
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