This apple cinnamon oatmeal is delicious for a quick and healthy breakfast. Get my top tips to make the best homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal.
Homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal is a weekly staple breakfast recipe
Today I want to share one of our quick to-go breakfasts now that the fall weather has arrived! All things apple and cinnamon are always on my mind.
This apple cinnamon oatmeal is not only delicious, but it's healthy too. It takes no more than 10 minutes to make.
And on cool weather mornings? It's the best because it really warms you up.
This is a simple recipe for a healthy apple cinnamon oatmeal
Making oatmeal is a very simple concept - boil oats in water. But do you ever feel like it's a big bowl of mush? That's probably because sometimes, the seemingly easiest dishes often have tricks to make it turn out perfectly.
I'll go through exactly how I make the perfect bowl of homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal below, with my best tips.
How to make apple cinnamon oatmeal
This homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal is very easy to make. It takes less than 10 minutes to get a bowl of this oatmeal on the breakfast table. Best of all, everything is cooked in one pot on the stovetop.
Ingredients for apple cinnamon oatmeal
There are five simple ingredients in this oatmeal recipe:
- Old fashioned oats
- Apples
- Cinnamon
- Coconut oil (for toasting the apples and oats)
- Water
For a richer breakfast oatmeal, you can replace the water with milk or a milk alternative.
Tips for making the best homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal
You may have made oatmeal a million times by now, or maybe you are new to it. Either way, there are a few tricks that I always follow to make delicious tasting oatmeal.
Lightly fry the apples before adding the oatmeal
To make this homemade oatmeal, my first trick is to lightly fry the apple chunks in coconut oil. This just starts to soften up the apples a bit, so you don't end up with hard apple chunks in your oatmeal.
Lightly toast the oats before adding the liquid
Then, I also toast the oats to give them a richer complex taste. Once the apples have lightly softened, I pour in the oats and stir them a bit in the hot pot.
Yes, you can make this apple cinnamon oatmeal in just one pot!
Stir the oatmeal to get the perfect consistency
My last secret to making the best oatmeal is to use a porridge spurtle. It's a funny word, and it's also a bit of a funny tool.
What's a porridge spurtle? It's simply a long wooden stick specifically used to stir oatmeal.
So, why does oatmeal made with a spurtle taste better? The main reason is that using a spurtle prevent lumps forming during the process of cooking oatmeal.
How you might ask?
The round shape of a spurtle allows the oats to be stirred easily, without the dragging effect you would get by using a wooden spoon. This simple movement prevents lumps in your cooked oatmeal.
And another benefit? The spurtle’s smaller surface area prevents oatmeal from sticking to it.
(Did this pique your interest? You can read more about spurtles here.)
No refined sugars in this healthy apple cinnamon oatmeal
To keep this apple cinnamon oatmeal healthy, I don't add any refined sugars in it. I also don't add any sweeteners into the oatmeal while I am cooking it.
Instead, I top a finished bowl of oatmeal with some maple syrup before I'm ready to eat my breakfast. That way, I can see exactly how much natural sweetener I'm adding.
For those of you with kids, topping the maple syrup on at the end also keeps my little one happy because he can see it. If I mix it in before he sees the bowl, he always asks for more. But when he sees me pour the maple syrup on, he's happy.
Can you save oatmeal leftovers?
Yes! You can definitely cook extra so you have healthy apple cinnamon oatmeal leftovers. We do this often in our home.
This is a quick oatmeal recipe, but if you want to skip pulling out the ingredients and using the stovetop the next day, you can make a batch of this oatmeal.
To heat this leftover oatmeal in the microwave: I simply add a splash of milk to it, give it a good stir, then pop it in the microwave for about 1 minute. The exact time for your microwave may vary though.
You can also heat this leftover oatmeal up on the stove top. Add in a bit of milk just to loosen it a bit, then warm it up, stirring on low heat.
Oatmeal tends to keep absorbing liquid, so you might find that it has congealed a bit in the refrigerator overnight. That's why you need to add a splash bit more liquid in it.
Get cooking your own homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal
Like I said, this healthy oatmeal breakfast is really straightforward. So I'll leave you to the recipe below.
As always, any questions, comment below or drop me an email. I don't think you'll have any trouble making this easy apple cinnamon oatmeal. But I'm always happy to help you troubleshoot if you do.
If you love oatmeal, here are a few other oatmeal breakfast recipes:
Lots and lots of other apple and cinnamon breakfast recipes you might love:
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Print Recipe Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 medium apple - chopped
- 2 tablespoons cold-pressed virgin coconut oil
- ¾ cups old fashioned rolled oats (jumbo rolled oats) (use gluten free for gf)
- 1 ½ cups water
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Additional Suggested Toppings (optional)
- maple syrup
- walnuts
- pecans
- pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan on medium heat, add in the coconut oil. Once hot, add in the apples and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the apple soften and are fragrant.
- Add in the oats and sauté for about 2 minutes to gently toast them.
- Add in the water, and turn up the heat to bring to a boil. Mix in the cinnamon. Once the oatmeal is at a gentle boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently (use a porridge spurtle for best the best stir) and cooking until the oats are done and the apples are tender.
- Serve immediately with your favorite toppings.
Joy says
I went a little off piste and used butter instead of coconut oil and applesauce instead as a sweetener, but this recipe is a keeper! The toasting step is key!
Laura | Wandercooks says
Cooked this this morning and it was delicious thank you! I sprinkled the top with LSA and nuts because I think it looks (and tastes!) so nice as a garnish, and served with maple syrup like you said. Di-vine!
fatima says
currently making it for the first time and let me just tell you it smells divine!
Mone says
This homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal really never fails me. Lots of good heart-healthy fuel for when you might need to chase a puppy across a school parking lot.