There’s a chill in the air.
Actually, that’s a lie because it’s quite warm outside as I write this post. I’m in a tank top and shorts right now! Hardly Fall temperatures, but then again it’s still summer for another week.
However, tomorrow morning is supposed to be a classic Fall morning- crisp, 8C, sunny, and full with promise. The promise of hot oatmeal. Cinnamon. Maybe stinky fuzzy slippers. That’s a perfect Fall morning to me.
I’ve been on a huge hot oatmeal kick these days. The other morning, I was busy working on a mushroom recipe challenge and Eric graciously offered to make me some oatmeal for breakfast. In other words, I begged him until he finally gave in. I love when men just offer to make things out of the blue like that, don’t you? ;)
I may have uttered the words, “I’m going to waste away to nothing” in a moment of desperation.
“Ok, but don’t blame me if it doesn’t taste good…” he said, slinking off to the kitchen with my Apple Pie Oatmeal recipe clutched in his hand. It wasn’t looking good.
And you know what?
The oatmeal didn’t taste good either.
It tasted like the best damn bowl of oatmeal I’ve ever had!!
Why does it always taste better when someone else makes it? Seriously, I need to know. He also sprinkled it with crunchy Sucanat which was genius. Or maybe he sprinkled it with pixy love dust! Needless to say, I gushed so much about this bowl of oatmeal Eric had a grin on his face the entire morning. He has now conquered his oatmeal-making fears. It was a win-win all around.
In honour of chilly mornings, here are my 5 favourite hot oatmeal recipes of all time. (in this case, “all-time” isn’t that long considering I used to hate hot oatmeal until 2010, but let’s just go with it.)
5) Comforting Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
This pumpkin oatmeal is like a warm hug on a cold morning. Or maybe I’m just lonely. Infused with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla extract, it’s like eating a slice of warm pumpkin pie in oatmeal form. I love topping it with a teaspoon of Earth Balance, pecans, and a drizzle of almond milk.
4) Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole
Last Winter, I was craving my favourite sweet potato casserole in a major way. The only snag? It was 7:15am. I looked at the sweet potato, it looked at me…I looked at it again. And I turned that craving into a delicious weekend breakfast.
A sneaky way to get a serving of vegetables in your morning oatmeal. You can’t taste the zucchini, but it does a lovely job of bulking up this voluminous bowl of oatmeal.
Even better when someone else makes it for you! It’s ok to beg sometimes.
and my favourite bowl of hot oatmeal goes to…
This one is for all the carrot cake fans out there! Creamy, crunchy, chewy, and sweet, this recipe packs in a full cup of carrots and a handful of healthy ingredients that will keep you feeling full for hours. It is quite a large portion, so I place the leftovers into the fridge and enjoy it as a snack the next day (it’s good cold too!).
Strapped for time?
For an ‘instant’ bowl of hot oatmeal, just mix up a batch of Vegan Overnight Oats before bed and place it in the fridge. In the morning, heat it in the microwave for 60-90 seconds, add your toppings/sweetener, and go! No stove-top cooking required.
The overnight soaking softens and thickens the oats, similar to cooking, meaning that you don’t need to stir over a stove-top for 10 minutes. The consistency won’t be as creamy as it would be cooked on a stove-top, but it’s still a good substitute in a pinch. If you don’t want to use the microwave, you can just reheat it for a couple minutes on the stove-top too.
And if it’s still too warm where you are to enjoy a hot bowl of oats, you can try one of my 12 Vegan Overnight Oats recipes which are great on warmer mornings.
What are your favourite things to mix into oatmeal? What flavour of oatmeal should I make next?
Oh my, all of these oatmeal recipes look divine! I can’t wait to try the Apple Pie oatmeal – that would be a great start to the day!
Ahhh, these sound fantastic! So.many.ideas! Thanks!
Yes! These recipes are a big part of what made me fall in love with your blog. Can’t wait for Fall weather to hit southern California so I can get my hot oatmeal on!
Thank you Theresa!
I’m seriously obsessing about cherries and blueberries these days.
I’d love to get on with a warm oat recipe containing them, but unfortunatelly fresh blueberries tend to burst from the heat making the whole thing into a goey yuck-coloured mess. And i don’t enjoy the dried variety as much as the fresh or frozen…
As for cherries i need a large-ish tree to supply my need before i start mixing them with stuff…
It’s definitely time for hot oats in Ireland, I was shivering after my overnight oats this morning!
All of these look so yummy! Great recipes :)
Loving the apple pie oats!! Yummy!!!
Those bowls of oatmeal look absolutely heavenly! I still have breakfast ahead of me so oatmeal may very well be in the works :).
Now I want Eric to come over and make ME some!!! I don’t live that far away!! I wish it was still blueberry season, because I’d say a nice blueberry oatmeal breakfast crumble. Or (would this be too crazy?) trying a squash oatmeal combo. I really like acorn and I think it might be sweet enough to combined in breakfast!
I love ALL of those kinds of oatmeal that you posted! But I think my favourite will always be pumpkin. I love that it actually DOES taste like pumpkin pie. :D
Apple pie and sweet potato are my favorites! also I am a big fan of OO, oh the photos are amazing, just decided that I will have oatmeal for breakfast!
You should make a light, but tasty, chocolate peanut butter cake oatmeal next!
I love the way you think!
I’ve started adding carrots to my oatmeals now because of your posts! Don’t have everything for your recipe though…so it’s usually just okay. I will have to try your pumpkin oatmeal this week. Made the pumpkin smoothie this morning for brekkie and was awesome!
Oatmeal w/ banana and PB is pretty awesome. Or if I’m feeling moody, a square of dark dark chocolate mixed in and melted.
Hi Angela! After a much needed trip to bulk barn the other day I made your go glo mix :) It was seriously to die for. I packed all of its goodness into a jar and gobbled up the leftovers!
As for my oatmeal choices it’s pretty simple anything with peanut butter and banana will do!
P.s. isn’t that the way it always works with men? I basically go around sniffing the lovely smelling house and singing my own version of the birthday song aloud every time my boyfriend uses the swifter :) Works like a charm.
Glad you liked it!
This is just ridiculous. I now need to make every single one of these immediately, and tomorrow as I am sitting at my desk staring into my standard oatmeal with apple, cinnamon and blueberries I will be dreaming of all of the above! In other words I can’t wait to try them out!
Oh my – the sweet potato and the pumpkin look amazing. Still warm today but tomorrow is supposed to get cold and the next day potential frost! Two of my boys are starting to like this type of thing so I am hoping your incredibly delicious concoctions are a hit at our house! Thanks so much!
It so c-c-c-c-cold here this morning in MN and your apple pie oatmeal is calling my name :). I have a lovely zestar I think I’m going to use!
I’ve made the carrot cake oats and the apple pie oats are both are incredible, but I can’t believe chocolate oats didn’t make the list! It is my healthy-pms-craving-buster!
Have you ever done a savory oats recipe?
I thought of the chocolate pb oats last night…I think I need to revisit them! heh
Yup I have a great Mexican inspired savoury oats recipe here: http://ohsheglows.com/2010/03/03/youre-so-cheezy/
Hi Angela,
These look amazing! On the pumpkin pie link, is there not a print recipe button? I like seeing the nutritional profile on the recipes. Sorry if I’m just missing it!
I just added it :)
Many of my recipes do not have print buttons because I didn’t start using the print button until fairly recently.
I made your apple pie oatmeal multiple times this past winter… The spices (the addition of ginger is subtle but lovely!) really take it to the next level! And the walnuts on top provide the perfect amount of crunch. I don’t even like apple pie, but, needless to say, I’m a HUGE fan of that recipe. I’ll be trying the rest this fall and winter… Especially looking forward to trying the pumpkin pie oatmeal one!
Lucky Ontarionites (Ontarians? Ontarioners?)… Nice hot weather all summer. Although, it gets super cold in the winter, doesn’t it? Guess it all evens out?!