Slow-Cooked Apple Raisin Oatmeal

Left: Apple Raisin Oatmeal in Crock Pot
Right: Plated Apple Raisin Oatmeal

This is the easiest ever crock pot recipe for downright delicious oatmeal! The only problem is that I have to manually turn on and off my crock pot, so had to stay awake until midnight the night before to turn it on. It cooked for 8.5 hours overnight and it's so hard to describe the incredible aroma that permeated throughout the house this morning.

Oatmeal has always been a favorite breakfast item going all the way back to our childhood in Darjeeling, India. The weather in Darjeeling was often cold and damp and the luxury of having a hot bowl of oatmeal was an infrequent affair because it was reserved for uneventful weekends which were few and far between. 

Mum always salted her oatmeal as it was cooking that adds a special touch to this dish. I left the peel on the Fuji apples which cooked down to a super soft consistency and yet managed to retain some texture and shape. The raisins absorbed as much liquid as they could and came out plump and juicy. And there's no describing the texture of the oatmeal which was soft and totally delicious! 

It's so easy to do that there's no excuse not to cook oatmeal this way from here on out and you can look forward to a most aromatic oatmeal breakfast the next morning.

Oatmeal Cookies - Sugar and Fat Free

1st attempt

2nd attempt

This is an adaptation of a recipe I found on Don Colbert's Facebook page and it appealed to me because I'm always looking for a 'good' snack around 3 o'clock in the afternoon.  It was so fast and easy to prepare and was done in under an hour. The difference between the 1st and 2nd attempts was the first batch was baked almost immediately after mixing the ingredients together. The second batch was set aside for 30 minutes in the refrigerator so that the oats absorbed the moisture from the wet ingredients. The first batch was a little dry whereas the second batch made for a much more moist cookie that reminded me of banana fritters.

Ingredients: (makes approx. 15 cookies)

2 cups Quaker Old Fashioned Oats

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

1 (4 oz.) tub apple sauce with cinnamon

1/4 cup milk or coconut milk

1/2 cup golden raisins and/or dried cranberries

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Combine all ingredients and set aside for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
3. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 325°F for 20-25 minutes.
5. Cool on a wire rack.

Nutty Granola

Nutty Granola

Serves: 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
3 cups Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
2 cups blanched & slivered almonds
1 cup Baker's sweetened & shredded coconut
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries
1/2 cup raisins

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix the first 4 ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the next 3 ingredients
4. Mix contents of both bowls together and stir until well combined.
5. Spread onto two baking trays and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
6. Allow to cool and stir in the dried fruits.
7. Cover loosely with wax paper and leave out overnight.
8. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

This recipe makes two cookie trays of granola

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