Extra Luxe Oats with Apple-Pear Sauce
I’ve been changing up my breakfasts lately, while gravitating to heartier breakfasts. Making a very luxe and creamy bowl of oats has become an almost daily routine. This oatmeal recipe involves some extra steps, which yield extra cozy results. First, we use a combination of rolled oats and steel cut oats, which makes for really nice textural interest. The rolled oats melt and become very creamy, while the steel cut stay intact and contribute a toothsome bite. We also toast the oats in some oil before cooking them, which leads to warm, toasty flavor notes. Lastly, we blend a small portion of the cooked oats, making a sort of oat cream, then stir it back in. This step is optional, but I highly recommend trying it for that extra luxe quality :)
This oatmeal can be filled out with any topping of your choice, sweet or savory. I for some reason especially love it with an apple-pear sauce. The creaminess, slight tartness, and sweetness of the sauce just tastes so good to me, when swirled into the oatmeal.
Extra Luxe Oats with Apple-Pear Sauce
serves 4-6
for the oats
1 tablespoon refined coconut oil
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup steel cut oats
1 teaspoon sea salt
7 cups water or 4 cups water + 3 cups dairy-free milk
vegan butter, to taste (optional)
for the apple-pear sauce
2 or more apples
2 or more pears
to make the oats
Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add the oil and let it heat up. Add the rolled oats, steel cut oats, and salt. Toast the oats, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, until fragrant.
Add the water (or water and milk) and bring to a simmer, covered. Let simmer, covered, and stirring periodically for 25-30 minutes, until cooked through and creamy, with a little bite from the steel cut oats. Optionally, measure out about 1 1/2 cups of the cooked oats and blend in an upright blender until smooth. Return the blended oats to the pot, stir them in, and let everything warm back up. Stir in some vegan butter, to taste, if using. Taste for salt and adjust if needed.
Serve the oats with the apple-pear sauce or other toppings of choice. To reheat the oats, add a few splashes of water or milk and mix over medium heat, until warm and creamy.
to make the apple-pear sauce
Start with at least 4 pieces of fruit total (this yields about 2-2 1/2 cups sauce). You can use more and can play with the ratio of apples to pears. I usually don’t bother peel the apples and pears because I use a high-speed blender to puree them. However, if using pears with a tougher skin, like Bosc pears, I prefer to peel those. Peel your fruit if using a food processor, food mill, or masher to puree them.
Core and cube the fruit, then transfer to a saucepan. You can add some spices here, to taste, like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, etc., or leave the sauce plain. Add a splash of water, cover, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat down to low once the simmer is established and let the fruit cook, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until soft. Add another splash of water, if the pot gets too dry at any point.
Puree the cooked fruit in a high-speed blender, food processor, food mill, or using a masher. Let cool and keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week.
Intuitive Cooking Takeaways
I believe that the secret to a really good bowl of oatmeal is plenty of liquid + time. Oats can take so much liquid, and they only become creamier as they release their starches into the liquid. I usually increase the water/milk in most oatmeal recipes I try by at least 1 cup to ensure that my oats don’t become too dry. Because I use extra liquid, I like to give my oats extra time to release their starches and become the creamiest, dreamiest version of themselves :)