Several months ago, I was filling out one of those icebreaker questionnaires—the sort of thing with questions about what famous person you'd like to have over for dinner and how you spend a typical Friday night. One of the questions was "What six things can't you live without?" My list (in no particular order) was my husband, my running shoes, podcasts, oatmeal, the Internet, and indoor plumbing.
Including oatmeal on that list ended up being more of a conversation starter than I would have guessed. Mostly, people wanted to know what exactly I was doing to my oatmeal to make it so vital to my life, and a lot of them also wanted to know exactly how much oatmeal I was eating.
The answer: a lot. When I decided to compile a round up of my blog's oatmeal recipes, I was expecting there to be five or six...there are actually a dozen. From overnight oats to energy bites to fudge oatmeal bars, here are 12 delicious ways to eat oatmeal—whether or not it makes your list of things you can't live without.
Overnight oatmeal recipes:
- Overnight Oats with Yogurt and Berries: hands-down, this is my favorite oatmeal recipe. I make four jars every Sunday for easy weekday breakfasts; my favorite combination is nonfat plain yogurt and frozen raspberries.
- Overnight Oats with Blueberries: basic overnight oats made with milk and flavored with cinnamon and brown sugar. Can easily be made vegan by substituting a non-dairy milk.
- Holiday Spiced Overnight Oats: a gingerbread-inspired recipe with molasses and ginger.
Breakfast recipes:
- Savory Oatmeal with a Hard-boiled Egg: oatmeal doesn't have to be sweet. Try topping your morning bowl of oats with an egg for an added protein boost.
- Oatmeal with Sautéed Apples and Yogurt: steel-cut oats topped with cooked apples and drizzle of yogurt for a weekend-worthy bowl of oatmeal.
- Vegan Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal: a better-for-you version of baked oatmeal sweetened with apples and maple syrup, with ground flax seed standing in as an egg substitute.
Dessert recipes:
- Grandma Ruth's No-bake Cookies: this one is a classic. These chocolate cookies are an easy baking project, and unlike many no-bake cookies they're peanut-free.
- Vegan Chocolate Oatmeal No-bake Cookies: a vegan version of my Grandma Ruth's recipe, made with soy milk and coconut oil.
- Fudge Oatmeal Bars: one of my all-time favorite bar cookies, with a gooey layer of fudge sandwiched between layers of oatmeal crust. It's a great recipe for potlucks, since it makes a large batch.
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Maple Glaze: soft, cake-like cookies spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and drizzled with a maple glaze.
Snack recipes:
- Baked Apples with Oatmeal and Maple Syrup: just don't try to pass them off as dessert.
- Peanut Butter Oat Energy Bites: fuel up before a workout with these nutrition-dense energy bites.
What's your favorite way to eat oatmeal?
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