Carrot Halwa Steel Cut Oatmeal

I sometimes receive requests from readers for a particular recipe. Many times, they are ideas that I have already considered but just haven't figured out how to make yet. Sometimes, they are recipes that I immediately set off to create and appear on the blog within days. And then there are ideas like this one, for which I only have one response: "I don't know what that is and have no idea how I would make it."

Considering I've only eaten Indian food four times in my life, my knowledge of Indian cuisine is minimal. I have never eaten "Indian dessert" and have absolutely zero concept of what it's like or what it should taste like. Thus, when a reader begged me to create a halwa recipe, I had to reject her, claiming that I had no idea what it was or what it should taste like.

Pumpkin, Apple, and Cranberry Oatmeal

Pumpkin. How can I make more pumpkin recipes? What else can be done with pumpkin? These are the questions I ask myself twice a day.

What spices and herbs go well with pumpkin? What fruits pair well with pumpkin? What different forms of oatmeal have I not tried with pumpkin?!

The result of this never-ending search is today's recipe. Seeing how well apples paired with sweet potatoes, I knew they'd be smashing with pumpkin. Of course, cranberries are my go-to dried fruit for autumn recipes, so I threw those in as well. Aaaand bam, cue the world's coziest breakfast.

Pumpkin Pie Steel-Cut Oatmeal

For over a year, I had to stomach the fact that my Salted Brownie Baked Oatmeal was my #1 most viewed recipe. I mean, that recipe was fine and dandy, but number one?? C'mon. Not even close. I could name thirty recipes that I'd pick over that one.

Luckily for me, the most wonderful thing happened about a month ago. As always, August and September ushered in the yearly pumpkin craze, and my Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal received a great deal of love on Pinterest. Out of nowhere, this recipe vaulted into the #1 spot and surpassed the Salted Brownie by thousands of views. COOL. I feel like my Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal is a much better representative of my blog than the Salted Brownie.

I love my pumpkin pie recipes. Certainly, they're not my MOST favorite, but they're in my Top Ten. You might think that I'd be satisfied with a stove-top, baked, and overnight version, but no, I'm not finished. Now that I've fallen in love with steel-cut oats, it just made sense to add another variation to my pumpkin pie family.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Oatmeal

To all of you who turn your noses up every time I stir bananas into my recipes where they don't belong, you are in luck! With great self-control, I resisted the mashed banana. I did it for YOU.

Obviously, regular hot chocolate is brilliant. I never realized how much I loved hot chocolate until I moved to the East Coast and experienced the brilliance of L.A. Burdick's and City Bakery. These places serve up rich, thick, chocolate goodness that just coats your throat with luxury. What makes Mexican hot chocolate unique is the addition of cinnamon (and occasionally other spices). I included an optional pinch of cayenne, for I never turn down an opportunity for a little fire!

Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal

When was the first time you experienced Nutella?

I had never even heard of it until my freshman year of college when I was taking French 101. A number of my classmates had birthdays within a week or two of each other, so one day, our professor walked into class carrying a stack of crepes and a jar of Nutella. Bon anniversaire, indeed!

Tiramisu Oatmeal

I once told you that peach cobbler is my favorite dessert. Another time, I told you it was pumpkin pie. Well, both of those statements are only partly true. Actually, it's a three-way tie...with tiramisu.

In fact, when my birthday rolled around, what did I chose for my "birthday cake?" Yep. Tiramisu. From Vivaldi Cafe in Greenwich Village. There was live jazz. :)

Brownie Batter Oatmeal

Cocoa powder is just the best. It's really one of the few ingredients that can turn anything into a decadent treat without harming its nutritional profile. I think I've put cocoa powder in all my breakfasts for the last week and a half. I used to save that only for weekends (so it felt special), but now I'm just throwing it in everything with reckless abandon.

This is a porridge that's been ruling my mornings (and a couple dinners...) lately. It actually began when I was making my favorite Fudgy Banana and Peanut Butter Oatmeal, but I used Country Choice Organic quick-cooking steel-cut oats instead. I noticed the consistency and flavor was highly reminiscent of brownie batter. Thus, the idea was born.

Oatmeal-Raisin Cookie Baked Oatmeal

Okay, let me be upfront: Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies do not rank high on my cookie list. I'd much rather have a Snickerdoodle. Or a Peanut Butter. Or a Chocolate Chip. But not an Oatmeal-Raisin.

But I still felt like it was wrong to have an oatmeal blog without an Oatmeal-Raisin Cookie recipe, so here it is. Humble, but with the earthy comfort of cinnamon.

Overnight Tea-Steeped Oatmeal

Coffee or tea?

Six years ago, I would have responded, "Neither." I started drinking tea toward the final months of my senior year of high school as a way to calm my ever-tormented digestive system. I wasn't crazy about it at first, but I learned to tolerate it. Now, I drink a glass of tea almost every day. (I've also learned to like coffee, too, but that's beside the point.)

Candy Cane Cookie Dough Oatmeal

There will be two reactions to this post. Half the people will rejoice the festive nature or "special treat" aspect of it. The other half will be appalled that I just put candy on top of my breakfast. To both of these camps, I say: happy holidays?

I couldn't resist doing something with candy canes, despite the fact that I would consider myself in the second aforementioned camp. I would never crumble up a Snickers bar over my oatmeal, after all. However, once this idea came into my head, I just couldn't ignore it. It had to be done.

Eggnog Oatmeal

Sadly, my family was never an eggnog family. It wasn't until I was in high school that I asked my mom what it was, so she bought me a carton of the store-bought variety so I could try it. I'll admit now that most of it ended up being poured down the sink two weeks later (i.e. I was unimpressed). I've never had homemade eggnog, but it's never been high on my priority list for foods to try, either.

Now that I avoid dairy, I have even less desire to try the real stuff. However, I was exceptionally curious to try the dairy-free varieties after reading some reviews. I saw the rice 'nog appear in Whole Foods even before Thanksgiving, but it wasn't until a week ago that I finally captured the coconut 'nog! As soon as I spotted it on an obscure refrigerated shelf in the corner of the store, I snatched a jug up in less time than it takes for my roommate to complain whenever we play Christmas music. ;)

Cookie Dough Overnight Oatmeal

Edit: I have new pictures!! I remade this recipe this weekend, and I snapped some better shots for the blog. Enjoy!

Another lazy blog week. And I promised myself I'd be better in December! The sad thing is, I actually had recipes I could have posted. In my defense, they were terrible pictures that I wasn't desperate enough to publish. Seriously. You try taking good photographs at 5:30 am.

This is one of those refrigerator recipes that will actually be perfectly satisfying cold. I rarely eat my oatmeal cold, but this one is an exception. (To be honest, though, I still heated this one up a little bit!)

How to Make Any Stove-Top Recipe in the Refrigerator

Remember eight months ago when I got a kidney stone? Yeah, well, it happened again. I won't bore you with the details, but the pain was awful enough that I couldn't bother to work on a new post yesterday/today.

I did, however, manage to come up with something. If you haven't noticed, the baked oatmeal recipes have been much rarer lately. That is because I've been making refrigerator oatmeal instead, which essentially allows me to enjoy stove-top oatmeal without waiting for the oatmeal to cook on the stove!

It also occurred to me that I've been taking all my favorite recipes and just making them in the fridge. I figured instead of posting each of them as overnight recipes, I would just post a how-to for how to take ANY of my stove-top recipes and convert them to an overnight masterpiece.

1. Stick to half a cup of rolled oats. Another excellent option is quick-cooking steel-cut oats. I've had great success with the Country Choice Organic brand. If using this option, use only 1/4 cup oats.

2. Use only 1/2 cup of liquid. Almond milk is perfect. Do NOT use all water.

3. Chia seeds make the final product creamier and pudding-like, but it's not necessary, especially if you're using banana (which also yields creamy oatmeal). A small spoonful is all that's needed. Alternatively, you can use flax.

4. Combine all listed ingredients at once and shake, shake, shake. Exception: if you're working with fresh berries or chocolate chips, I sometimes hold off adding them until the morning.

5. Chopped dates work beautifully as a sweetener in refrigerator oatmeal because it has all night to absorb the sweetness. Consider replacing any honey, maple syrup, or agave with a chopped date! Any dried fruit will also help.

6. Frozen fruits work great in overnight oatmeal (better than in stove-top, in my opinion).

7. You can eat these cold, but I rarely do. Typically, I transfer the oatmeal to a real bowl, add a tiny bit of water if the mixture is too solid, and microwave for a minute and a half. Perfection. :)

And yes, I know this recipe has "LAZY" written all over it. Cut me some slack; I'm a little preoccupied trying to get a spiky little rock out of my body!

**You can also find hundreds of other oatmeal recipes (as well as tons of other meatless recipes) on my Pinterest account!  You can also like The Oatmeal Artist on Facebook. Thanks!

French Toast Overnight Oatmeal

There are some recipes that take me forever to get right. Then, there are others that turn out exactly as I had imagined on the first try (like my Carrot Cake Oatmeal and Peanut Butter Cookie Baked Oatmeal).

Add this one to the list!

Admittedly, I spent a while mentally concocting this one, but after I bought some pitted dates, it all came together. This is the first time I've used dates in a recipe (let alone oatmeal), and I must say, I'm impressed! Letting it soak with the oatmeal overnight softened it up and let the oatmeal absorb the sweetness. It was the perfect amount of sweetness, especially when I added a touch of maple syrup on top.