Believe it or not, one of the questions I get asked the most lately is how to make steel cut oatmeal! It seems that more and more people are reading about the benefits of eating steel cut oats and want to know how to make steel cut oatmeal for a healthy and hearty breakfast.

In case you aren’t familiar with steel cut oats then lets back up a step shall we?  Steel cut oats  are different from the rolled oats you might be more familiar with.  Steel cut oats are the whole toasted oat grains (otherwise knows as “groats”) that have chopped into smaller pieces. Other names you may have heard for them are Scotch, Irish or Pinhead oats.  They’re an excellent source of protein, soluble and insoluble fiber as well as vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B-6, iron, thiamine, vitamin A, niacin, folate, riboflavin, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and zinc.

I’ve been a huge fan of steel cut oats for some time now, but it was only recently that I figured out how to make steel cut oatmeal QUICKLY!!! By processing steel cut oats (and I like adding chia seeds for good measure) until they are a flour like consistency, you can cook them in a fraction of the time as opposed to cooking the whole groats.  They don’t have that same chewy texture, it’s more like a cream of wheat, but they are quick and nutritious so that’s a fair trade off in my books.  I like to add a mashed banana to mine when cooking them and playing with toppings makes these different every time you eat them. Some of my favourites are peanut butter, almond butter, unsweetened flaked coconut, almonds, chocolate chips, and maple syrup.