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As my fellow Slow Cooker Chronicles buddy, Heather, pointed out recently: we all have go-to recipes that we rely on. The recipes that we love so much that we just have to make over an over again. Obviously they’re big hits with the family but, most of all, they’re easy and delicious. My go-to recipe, for months now, has been slow cooker oatmeal. I just love it so much that I can’t stop making it!

This time I decided to try a new version. I’ve wanted to keep most of my oatmeals without too much added sugar, so I’ve been using bananas almost every time to add some sweetness. However, I recently bought a bunch of apples at the farmer’s market and they turned out to be pretty sweet. Remembering how much I loved my slow cooker apple butter, I decided to combine my two loves into one.

It was a pretty easy recipe, and I decided to work off of instinct: putting in the base of one cup of steel-cut oats and 4 cups of water, I sprinkled some brown sugar, cinnamon and just a bit of cocoa. Then I topped it all with the chopped, sweet apples and set the slow cooker overnight.

When I woke up, my house smelled like the apple butter. I opened the slow cooker and saw that everything was pretty well cooked. The apples were soft and delicious, and I served it immediately. It was the perfect breakfast and is now officially my second favorite oatmeal, right behind the slow cooker peanut butter banana oatmeal I made a few months ago.

Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Makes: 6 servings
Prep: 10 minutes
Slow Cook: 7 hours on Low

Ingredients:
1 cup steel-cut oats
4 cups water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cocoa
3 small apples, cut into small pieces

Directions:
Chop the apples into very small pieces. Pour in the oats and then water into the slow cooker. Top with brown sugar, cinnamon and cocoa. Mix it around and then top with the apples. Set the slow cooker to 7 hours on low, overnight. In the morning, simply serve and enjoy it!

What’s a dish that you’ve recreated several times in the slow cooker? Have you made slow cooker oatmeal yet? Share your tips and tricks in the comments below!

Irina Gonzalez blogs about healthy slow cooking, nutrition, and weight loss maintenance on her blog The Fit Flexitarian, and here on Momster.com.

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