Yes, it’s time for another cooking article and I have many culinary secrets to share. I love oatmeal. It’s easy to make, pretty healthy, and it acts as a blank canvas for lots of flavor options. Here’s how to upgrade your bowl of morning oats.
1. If you want something creamy:
Start with a serving of oats- this varies depending on the type of oats you’re using. I love the Quaker three-minute steel cut quick oats. Steel cut oats have a nice nuttiness to them that you can’t find in regular quick oats.
Start with your plain, cooked oatmeal, then I like to add about 1/3 cup of soy milk to the bowl. I use soy milk because it’s sweeter and creamier than regular milk. It’s a significant upgrade from regular milk and these are “exciting” oats so we have to use exciting ingredients. Next cut up half a banana and add that too. Now you’re going to put the bowl in microwave and heat it until the banana cooks down a bit. This should only take a minute if the banana was cut thinly enough. Take out the bowl and mixt until the banana is fully incorporated. You’ll end up with oatmeal with an extremely creamy and smooth texture. I like to add a little cinnamon and that’s it. If you want to sweeten it up, you can, but I find that the soy milk and banana add enough sweetness.
2. If you want something sweet and salty.
Anything sweet needs a little saltiness. Start again with your bowl of oatmeal. When it’s still hot, add about two tablespoons of peanut butter and mix until it’s smooth. Then, add some pistachios. I think pistachios are a really great nut to pair with anything sweet because they have a certain buttery-ness to them. Cashews have a similar quality, but pistachios are a really good contrast to the softness of the peanut butter flavor. They’re also a bit salty which really brings out the sweetness of the peanut butter. I also like to add some sliced banana on top to add more texture and sweetness.
3. If you want something chocolatey
Start with your oatmeal then add either chocolate milk (like we did with the soy milk) or add Nutella. The Nutella has the same properties as the peanut butter so stir it in while your oatmeal is still hot. It’s really delicious to add strawberries or raspberries on top. They add a nice brightness to the dark, sweet flavor of the chocolate.
4. If you want something crunchy.
I love to put granola on oat meal because it makes for an amazing textural experience with the oatmeal. I love granola with pepitas in it. They have a nice smoothness that’s different than the sweet oats in the granola. To add some sweetness, add a bit of strawberry jam to your oatmeal. It’s a great contrast to the granola. This is very delicious. Feel free to add your favorite fruit.
5. If you want something cozy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Start with your oats. Steel cut is really the best for this because of the nuttiness. Add a teaspoon of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract. Mix in a tablespoon of brown sugar. Then slice up an apple for the top. It tastes like pie! It’s delicious.
Try these tips to make your oatmeal exciting!