Crock Pot Pumpkin Coffeecake Oatmeal

I know steel cut oats are the way to go, health wise, but I don’t buy them.  They’re more expensive for a smaller container and we love our oatmeal.  We eat too much of it to justify buying the steel cut.  Don’t hate. 

When I found this recipe on Healthy Slow Cooking I was bummed that it specifically called for steel cut, and a quick Google search confirmed that they are the ideal choice.  I knew I couldn’t leave this to cook in the crock pot all night but with my morning running schedule, it worked out perfectly to use regular oats (not the quick-cook).  Since I’m up a solid hour before my daughters, this gives me time to get everything in the crock pot and it has time to cook while they shower.  An hour and a half later, we have oatmeal!

I used one, plus one half serving-size amount of oatmeal from the side of the can.  I changed the amount of water because, I’m assuming, the elevation here in Texas always leaves my oatmeal runny so I decreased the liquid by quite a bit.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2 1/4 cups water or milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping

• brown sugar to taste
• ground nutmeg to taste
• chopped pecans or almonds (optional)

Directions

1. Put oats, water (or milk), pumpkin, cinnamon and vanilla in the crockpot and cook on high for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
2. Stir in extra milk to make it the consistency that you like.
3. Sprinkle brown sugar, nutmeg and nuts on top!