By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 15 minutes, plus brining overnight
- Rating
- 5(136)
- Notes
- Read community notes
You can now find steel-cut oats that cook quickly. If you steep them the night before in boiling water (pit the cherries then, too), this breakfast is a quick one to put together.
Featured in: A Short Season for Cherries
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Ingredients
Yield:Two servings
- ½cup steel-cut oatmeal, preferably the quick-cooking variety
- Salt to taste
- 1½cups water
- 1 to 2teaspoons honey, brown sugar or agave nectar
- 1 to 2tablespoons pistachios, lightly toasted
- 3ounces cherries 12 to 14, depending on the size, pitted and halved
- Milk or almond beverage as desired
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
The night before you plan to make this dish, place the oatmeal in a large microwave-safe bowl or in a saucepan with the salt. Bring the water to a boil, and pour over the oatmeal. Cover tightly and leave overnight.
Step
2
In the morning, stir in the honey, pistachios and cherries. Cover and microwave three to five minutes, or simmer for 10 minutes or so until the oatmeal has absorbed the liquid remaining in the bowl. Stir in milk or almond beverage as desired.
- Advance preparation: I like to have this oatmeal cooked and ready in the refrigerator to reheat before I leave in the morning. It will keep there for three days.
Ratings
5
out of 5
136
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Cooking Notes
Thomas Burke
Bettina: We live in Central Florida, and we leave the oatmeal out overnight. We cook the oatmeal on a cast iron diffuser over that stove's gas burner. We boil the water, stir in the oatmeal, let it co*ck for four minutes, turn off the gas, cover the pan, and let it slowly cook as the diffuser cools down. In the morning, we reheat, adding more water as needed. We typically make four servings, place the leftovers in the refrigerator, and reheat in the microwave.
BEVERLY A SAUER
You can also cook steel cut oatmeal in a rice cooker. If you set it for morning, you'll wake up to fresh oatmeal.
Pam from NJ
I saved this recipe for the cooking method, and it came out perfectly. Didn’t use the cherries or pistachios as did not have those items. Added raisins for some sweetness during cooking and a little milk and cinnamon. Perfect!
r. alphonse
This works. Go heavier on good maple syrup and top the oats with a little extra of the milk (I use oat milk). Dates and golden raisins are my only mix ins. Refrigerate in smaller mason jars-I double the recipe and can make 6 small jars. Top with fresh fruit in the morning.
Amy
Prepped oatmeal night before. Used 1/4c or so of apricot syrup to sweeten.Needs pinch of salt, not to much if using salty nuts.Frozen cherries worked great for this.
Alexis
I followed this recipe exactly (except for adding some cinnamon). Overall, I found it pretty bland, and the oatmeal boiled over during the final minute in the microwave, which was a hassle. I might make this again, but would add more spices and use less water and/or monitor the microwaving process very closely!
Janet
I found it bland too. Won’t make it again. I had to cook it about 10 minutes.
Left Coast Cook
This was so great! I had some fresh cherries too past-their-prime to eat as-is. I used the method for Genevieve Ko's Overnight Oats (also on NYT Cooking) but subbed the cherries for Ms Ko's dried fruit. As I used milk, I put the oatmeal in the fridge over night. In the morning I added the pistachios, and was so glad I'd doubled everything because then I could have it right away again for lunch! Mmm! And so easy.
Tallyd
Made this morning and found it a bit bland. It seemed to be lacking a spice, but I can't think what to add. Maybe because i didn't measure anything. I used up all the fresh cherries, 3-4 cups, 2 handfuls of pistachios and a few squirts of honey, to the preferred sweetness for each of us. It looked similar to the picture, as far as ratios. My spouse and mother enjoyed it.
K Beck
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! Covered the container, put it in the micro for 5 min. Made coffee, alarm sounded, 50% of the liquid was on the rotating micro plate! 15 min. to clean up the mess. Could have just as well put it in a pot and cooked it there! Tasted good. Used 20 dried cherries (winter, who has fresh cherries?), no sweetener (cherries are sweet enough) or salt (pistachios already salted). Oats were fully cooked. I will make this again with WAY less water! And a loose fitting lid.
BEVERLY A SAUER
You can also cook steel cut oatmeal in a rice cooker. If you set it for morning, you'll wake up to fresh oatmeal.
Bettina F.
In Step 1, is it okay to leave the oatmeal on the counter overnight? Or do you need to put it in the refrigerator. Where I live in the South I'm afraid it might start to ferment overnight!
Thomas Burke
Bettina: We live in Central Florida, and we leave the oatmeal out overnight. We cook the oatmeal on a cast iron diffuser over that stove's gas burner. We boil the water, stir in the oatmeal, let it co*ck for four minutes, turn off the gas, cover the pan, and let it slowly cook as the diffuser cools down. In the morning, we reheat, adding more water as needed. We typically make four servings, place the leftovers in the refrigerator, and reheat in the microwave.
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