Lazy Maca Steel Cut Oatmeal

Happy Pi Day (3.14)! I know, this isn’t pie, but it is a big, warm bowl of the easiest maca steel cut oatmeal and that’s almost as good, right? I actually do have a tart recipe in the works that was meant to be for today, but after editing and prepping the whole maca steel cut oatmeal post, I realized that I really should have scheduled the tart to go out on a day like today. Please say you will forgive me? Anyway, today might be a major snow day for you if you are on the East Coast/Midwest (ours was actually yesterday), so today seemed like a perfect day to share my new favorite way to prepare steel cut oatmeal. This gem of a recipe comes from one of my favorite people, Laura over at The First Mess. I remember the first time I found Laura’s blog was when I was searching around for a vegan pecan pie recipe the first Thanksgiving after my family decided to go more plant based/vegan. I was doing major Googling for a pie recipe that was easy, didn’t have weird things in it, and was going to be just as good as the super sweet/probably not great for you version that I made every year prior. Laura’s pecan pie recipe not only pulled through, but included chocolate and was just every bit as good as my non-plant based version. Give me a good pie recipe and call me sold, Laura was a winner in my heart from that day on.

Laura just came out with a killer cookbook and this maca steel cut oatmeal recipe is just one of the many recipes that I’ve already tried out of her book. Between this recipe (already made it twice), the crispy potatoes with garlic cream sauce, and the crispy sunshine crackers (that I plowed through in a matter of hours), I know this book is going to be dogeared and stained with food in no time. One of the biggest things I love about Laura’s book is that it includes so many wholesome, delicious recipes that don’t ask for super weird ingredients/things I don’t have on had. I’ve found that the cookbooks I use the most are the ones that I can pull out and find something to cook in them at a moment’s notice, rather than needing to make a special trip to the store for everything. I do love going to the grocery store, but really, it’s where my credit card goes to die sometimes. I just want ALL the food! Some girls love shoes (ok I love shoes too), but I love browsing the grocery store.

I’m as impatient as they come when it comes to steel cut oats, so honestly, I haven’t made them that much. I usually opt for an easy overnight oat or a good ol’ standby of homemade granola , but once I spotted this lazy steel cut oatmeal in Laura’s book, I knew it might make a steel cut oat lover out of me. The best part about this steel cut oatmeal is the minimal cooking/waiting time, just bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover, and let the oats do their magic. The process of sitting overnight lets the steel cut oats soak up the cinnamon and almond milk, while avoiding the whole standing and stirring thing that usually ends up happening when making steel cut oatmeal. I also love that steel cut oatmeal usually keeps me full past the 11am hangry stage and I’ve been able to stretch out not eating lunch until 1pm. Trust me, for me this is a feat considering I once ate lunch at 10:30am and then quickly regretted it when I was starving again at 2pm. After this recipe, I think steel cut oatmeal is going to compete with my favorite granola anyday.

If you haven’t caved and bought out of season berries like me, I think this would be perfect topped with a dollop of peanut butter or jam. I love that it turns out a creamy consistency without becoming overly watery, even after a few days. I also like to drizzle on some maple syrup or agave and throw in a scoop of ground flaxseed, just for extra oomph. If you don’t have or don’t know what maca powder is (it’s new to me!), feel free to leave it out! The original recipe doesn’t call for it, but I thought it was a perfect way to try out this new to me ingredient. If you have more suggestions for how to use maca, I’m all ears! I’ve done a few lattes and this oatmeal, but that’s about it.

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