Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oats – Slow Cooker!
These Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oats are as easy as it gets! Put the ingredients for this healthful and delicious breakfast in the crock pot and go to bed! Wake up to the beautiful smells of carrot cake!
“I gave up sweets and had really been craving something decadent. This took care of the craving and was still reasonably healthy. My whole family loved it. Will definitely make again.”
—Paula
I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but I’ve kind of been on an oatmeal kick lately.
For most of my life I’ve had a pretty solid “eh” attitude toward oatmeal. It’s always been fine, but never more than that.
But for some reason, I really came around to it this past winter. I think I finally realized that oatmeal didn’t have to be boring.
Just like any other meal or dish, it could be livened up with a ton of flavor, like ricotta cheese and figs or Meyer lemons and poppyseeds.
You can even eat oatmeal for dinner!
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As we transition from winter to spring, I figured my oatmeal routine could be seasonal, too. And what’s more “Hi. Spring!” than carrot cake? These Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oats recipe really couldn’t be simpler.
About these Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oats:
Simply throw some steel cut oats, water, shredded carrots (shred extra when you make wonton nachos for dinner the night before!), chopped pineapple, half and half, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla in your slow cooker, then just go to bed!
In the morning, scoop into bowls and garnish with toasted coconut and walnuts for crunch and dig in! Carrot cake, for breakfast, but healthy, and easy, in a bowl. Got all that?
Psst – these oats are great to include as one of a few brunch ideas for a crowd
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Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oats
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ¾ cup chopped pineapple
- ½ cup half and half
- ½ cup raisins
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup walnuts
- ¼ cup toasted coconut flakes
- Honey, maple syrup, or additional brown sugar, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In bowl of slow cooker, stir together water, oats, carrots, pineapple, half and half, raisins, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Cover and cook on low 8 hours (overnight).
- Stir well and divide between serving bowls. Garnish each bowl with 2 tablespoons walnuts and 1 tablespoon coconut flakes. If a sweeter oatmeal is desired, drizzle with honey or maple syrup, or sprinkle with additional brown sugar.
Can the left overs be refrigerated? I’m the only one in my house that will eat (and loves) oatmeal!
Oh, definitely, Emily! When you reheat, you may just want to stir in a little extra water or milk to loosen it back up 🙂
Can I use regular quick oats in this recipe? I don’t like the taste of steel cut oats.
Hi Jackie – I would definitely not recommend quick oats. I think with the overnight cooking time, they’d just turn to mush. I’m sorry, but I haven’t tested this recipe with anything other than steel cut oats.
I just found this recipe and I’m lactose intolerant. I’m wondering if I could use almond/cashew milk instead of half and half? I love all the steel cut oat recipes with such delicious add ins.
Hi Kelly! Absolutely, I think almond/cashew milk will work here just fine 🙂
Could I double (or even triple) this recipe? I have a large group for Thanksgiving and this would be great for the morning after!
Hi Martha! If your slow cooker is big enough, I don’t see why not! Mind you, I’ve never tested a double or triple batch, but I’m pretty sure it would turn out OK. You may need to adjust the liquid if it turns out too dry or something, but that shouldn’t be a big deal.
What size slow cooker did you use? I only have a 6 qt oval one and I’m afraid it may be too big.
Hi Amanda – I also have a 6 qt. slow cooker, and it’ll be just fine. Enjoy 🙂
This was great!
I halved the recipe and then still used half the brown sugar (but dark) and it was plenty sweet for me.
I put the raisins in, but I think I would skip them next time. And I’ll try to do smaller shreds of carrots. But still a great recipe that I’ll be using again!
I’m so glad you liked it, Erin. Thanks so much for stopping by!
You are very welcome, Lori. We buy ours at Vitamin Shoppe, and they periodically have it on sale, too, which is nice. Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks Susan! I found it on Amazon and just ordered it there 🙂
First time we’ve seen something like this. Very interesting considering it’s a healthy fix! Thanks, Lori!!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Thanks so much 🙂
This sounds great. I still have a bunch of steel-cut oats I need to use up, so this would be a perfect way to do that. I would most likely add some protein powder to it – my pesky desire for more protein than I can get from oatmeal. It seems to me that it ought to be possible to make this as refrigerated overnight oats, which would make it work all year long. I’ll have to play with that idea.
Susan, why type of protein powder do you use? I’d like to get something to add to my smoothies but I honestly don’t even know where to start with it. I don’t want to waste my money on something that has a bad flavor/texture.
Lori, the first thing I have to tell you is that taste in protein powder seems to vary wildly in different people. For instance, we tried the organic one from Costco and threw it out because it tasted terrible to us (there were many reviews of it where people praised both the flavor and texture, while we liked neither). I had a free sample from Quest nutrition the other day, and while the flavor was initially not bad, it left me with an unpleasant aftertaste. The one we have settled on is Designer Whey in French Vanilla, Double Chocolate and Plain flavors. We like the texture and the flavor, and also that the ones we use are sweetened with Stevia rather than Sucralose. There’s also Gourmet Chocolate flavor (which isn’t bad, but we like the double chocolate better), Vanilla Almond and Strawberry, all sweetened with Stevia. The plain is not sweetened at all, and it would appear that the white chocolate is also not sweetened. The smallest size of container they have is 12 oz., which is less wasteful if you decide you don’t like it. We’ve had the vanilla almond and strawberry flavors. Don’t care for the strawberry, and for me the vanilla almond is too strong on its own, so I mix it with plain or vanilla. We have tried a LOT of different protein powders, and this is the only one we really like. The texture of Designer Whey is granular rather than a very fine powder, and that’s one of the things that makes it more pleasant, I guess because it dissolves better that way. I hope this helps you.
Thanks SO much for this info, Susan. I have heard good things about Designer Whey. I’ll probably go with a vanilla flavor, as I think that would be good in my typical banana/pineapple/spinach smoothies. I’ll have to look up if I can buy it around here, and try it out. Thanks again!
Oh yum! Is it acceptable to eat with cream cheese frosting? I’m definitely going to try this before it gets too hot for oatmeal to be appetizing!
Cream cheese frosting on oatmeal? Yep, I’ll allow it! Go for it, Hannah 🙂
Oh my goodness. This looks delicious. I love the idea of making oatmeal in a slow cooker. This would be an awesome brunch option. 😀
Thanks so much, Erin! This was my first slow cooker oatmeal, but it won’t be my last!