Crock Pot Pumpkin Gingerbread Steel Cut Oats

I love everything with pumpkin in it, so this crockpot pumpkin gingerbread oatmeal is perfect! It cooks overnight, so breakfast is ready when you wake up!

Let’s cut to the chase here. Since I figured out how to make oats in the crock pot using a water bath instead of cooking them directly in the crock, it’s made my wheels turn a bit. I’ve been dreaming up all sorts of flavors to make – since I can actually get up and eat them instead of using the mixture as wallpaper paste.

This one came to me because, frankly – I like pumpkin stuff. That should be evident by the amount of recipes I post with it…soooooooooooooooo, being frank again (Frank and Pete must be related), if you don’t like pumpkin, you might want to zone out for the next few months and come back to me in the spring. Or when I run out of pumpkin – which isn’t likely to happen.

These oats, with their fall flavors, pretty much rock. So, let’s make them and cut the chit-chat.

As I’ve told you before, you need a baking dish that will fit down inside your crock. Here’s the one I use. It fits right inside but gives me room around the edges for adding water. This is my 6 quart crock and the bowl is a 10-cup size.

Play around with your biggest crock and find a dish that works. Make sure it’s a BAKING DISH. An exploded, glass shard bowl of oatmeal would not be fun to wake up to.

Second, let’s talk oats. You want steel-cut oatmeal for this one. I’ve tried using rolled oats in the crock overnight and it’s just yucky. Rolled oats create something with a consistency you could scoop out with a spoon, fling it on the wall, and it would stay forever. And become a fossil. And no one wants fossilized oatmeal in their belly. Save the rolled oats for oatmeal on the stove and for granola. You could possibly use quick-cooking steel cut oats, but I haven’t tried that overnight yet.

You can mix everything directly in your bowl in the crock, or you can be a weirdo like me and mix it up in another mixing bowl and pour it in. I’ll be frank again – I’m a messy stirrer. I didn’t want to stir oats down into the sides of my crock.

Also, I just like using my Batter Bowl because it’s my favorite. So there.

This recipe is so easy you’ll smack yourself for not making it sooner. Mix it up, put it in the crock water-bath, turn on the crock and go to bed. Leave it for 8 hours…6 would probably work too, but girl – you need more than 6 hours of sleep. I aim for 7 every night.

You’ll wake up to Thanksgiving in your kitchen. You’ll consider waking your kids at 6am so you can eat breakfast. Then you’ll smack yourself and get over it. Never. Wake. A. Sleeping. Baby. Amen.

I left mine on the “warm” setting because I get up at 5:15am to get blog work done. And no one else in my family feels like getting up at that time. Lame. BUT, I’m kinda glad…because it gives me a few minutes of quiet. When the natives wake up, they don’t believe in quiet. It’s not in their dictionary.

You’ll just scoop it right out of the bowl, easy peasy. See? It’s nice and done and delicious – like a very moist baked oatmeal. ACK!!! I hate that word. It should be expelled from the dictionary.

Look. Someone got a hold of Mama’s camera. And judging by the view of this photo, I’d say it probably wasn’t Barry. Most likely, it was a native whose name starts with ANN and ends with IE. But I’m not naming names. That’s what I get for going to the bathroom, huh?

Look at her, all smiling and innocent. She’s excited about the oatmeal – which both of my kids WOLFED down, by the way. Most likely she was giggling because she knew what I was going to find later. Actually, that picture is much better than the one I once found of my bent-over behind. Life from Annie’s perspective – computers and butts.

But anyway, happy Autumn!!!! Enjoy this oatmeal. I like it served with Greek yogurt and cinnamon “sugar” on top (I use erythritol). The kids like a dab of maple syrup.