Toasted Brown Butter Steel-Cut Oats Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Make Ahead

by: AntoniaJames

March25,2014

3.5

4 Ratings

  • Serves 3 to 4

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

Think of this as a quick, sweet, and slightly spiced breakfast pilaf, made with pan-toasted steel-cut oats and brown butter. Putting your tea kettle on to boil at the outset will get this on the table sooner. ;o) —AntoniaJames

Test Kitchen Notes

Toasting the oats here adds layers of nutty, semi-sweet flavors to this traditional Irish breakfast. Still, this dish is best for folks who like their breakfast to err on the side of less sweet -- packets of maple-brown sugar instant oatmeal need not apply. A bit of heavy cream added at the end gave this oatmeal a rich sidecar that complemented the dry toastiness of the oats. —Erin

  • Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • 1 cupsteel-cut oats (regular or quick-cooking)
  • 2 tablespoonsunsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoondark brown sugar, plus more for serving, if desired
  • Tiny pinch of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoonground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoonground allspice (optional, or use freshly grated nutmeg, or the tiniest pinch of cloves -- whatever you like)
  • A small piece of best-quality cinnamon stick (you’ll need a fine microplane-style grater for this)
  • Add-ins: Dried fruit (raisins, dried sour cherries, and dried cranberries are my go-to add-ins), spiced applesauce, toasted chopped nuts, or whatever strikes your fancy
  • Sweeteners to taste: Maple syrup, sorghum, or honey
  • Almond milk (ideally homemade) or cream, to taste
Directions
  1. For regular steel-cut oats, boil 4 cups of filtered water. If using quick-cooking oats, boil whatever other amount is recommended on your package.
  2. Put a heavy 2- or 3-quart saucepan on the stove over a medium flame while you measure the oats. When the pan is good and hot, add the oats and shake the pan a bit. Let them toast, shaking every 30 seconds or so (Be patient! They need time to darken a bit.) for about 3 minutes.
  3. Turn the heat off and remove the oats from the pan. (I put them in one of the bowls in which I’ll be serving the porridge.)
  4. Add the butter to the hot pan, stirring briskly. It will melt immediately and start to evaporate. Turn the heat back on to medium. Keep stirring!
  5. When the foaming subsides and the solids have started to darken, add the one tablespoon of brown sugar. Stir it for about a minute to get a mild toffee flavor.
  6. Add the oats and a tiny pinch of salt and stir thoroughly, letting the ingredients brown, stirring all the while, for one minute. Turn the heat off and continue to stir for another minute.
  7. Very carefully and slowly, pour the hot water into the pan. It will send off a lot of steam, so be careful. Stir the oatmeal thoroughly and let it come to a full boil. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t boil over.
  8. At this point, I usually add about half of the dried fruit we plan to use.
  9. Once the oats start to boil briskly, turn them down to a slower boil. If you let them cook too fast, the water will evaporate before enough of it has been absorbed.
  10. Cook for about 15 minutes, or as long as necessary to absorb the water to your desired consistency. (Quick-cooking oats should require only about 6 to 8 minutes) Sprinkle the ground spices on and stir them in.
  11. Top with whatever add-ins you like. Use a microplane-style grater to grate a touch of cinnamon over each bowl.
  12. Serve with whatever sweeteners you like, and almond milk or cream, as desired.
  13. Enjoy! ;o)

Tags:

  • American
  • Milk/Cream
  • Grains
  • Oat
  • Butter
  • Make Ahead
  • Father's Day
  • Mother's Day
  • Christmas
  • Easter
  • Thanksgiving
  • Winter
Contest Entries
  • Your Best Weekday Breakfast Recipe

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Robert

  • AntoniaJames

  • Fen

Recipe by: AntoniaJames

See problem, solve problem. Ask questions; question answers. Disrupt, with kindness, courtesy and respect. ;o)

Popular on Food52

3 Reviews

Fen December 26, 2022

Came out very bland and tasteless for the butter and sugar used. Not a fan.

Robert April 10, 2014

Would it be possible to cook up to #10, but use the overnight-soak-in-milk method?

AntoniaJames April 10, 2014

You bet! I almost always make our steel cut oats that way. Thanks for suggesting it. ;o)

Toasted Brown Butter Steel-Cut Oats Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Should I toast my steel cut oats? ›

In recipes where the oats are simmered, toasting them first will give the finished dish a rich nuttiness. Toasting works best on heartier textured oats, like rolled, steel cut and whole groats, and the process is extremely easy – all you need is a skillet, a stove and about five minutes.

Is it OK to eat steel cut oats everyday? ›

Steel cut oats are a good source of fiber. This is about 20% of your recommended daily intake. Because the American diet today can be so deficient in many ways, eating steel cut oats on a regular basis can help you meet your body's daily fiber requirements and help keep your body healthy and functioning at its best.

Should I rinse my steel cut oats before I cook them? ›

Step 1: Rinse: Place steel-cut oats in a strainer and rinse well in warm filtered water. Step 2: Soak: 1 cup steel-cut oats with 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (ACV) or lemon juice overnight in filtered water overnight at room temperature. Step 3: Cook: Rinse & drain in warm water.

What does toasting do to oats? ›

How to Upgrade a Basic of Oatmeal. The solution is simple: Give the raw oats a quick toasting. This will add depth, complexity, and a rich caramel-like flavor to your oats without having to toss in any additional ingredients. The process is easy.

What happens if you don't soak steel-cut oats? ›

Steel cut oats dont need to be soaked in water prior to eating them but it helps with the cooking process. Soaking makes vitamins and minerals in the oats more absorbable for your body, it helps you digest the grain more easily, so that would be a yes.

Are steel-cut oats harder to digest than rolled oats? ›

To get steel cut oats, the oat kernel (called a groat) is cut into two or three pieces with a sharp blade. They are not steamed and rolled, like old fashioned (regular) oats. They take longer to digest and absorb than regular (old fashioned), quick, or instant oats.

Why does Dr Gundry say not to eat oatmeal? ›

Did you know that oats in oatmeal are packed with lectins which poke holes in your gut lining and can lead to health issues in the future, according to Dr. Gundry. One great way to avoid this is by using sorghum in your breakfast bowl rather than oats.

Are steel-cut oats anti inflammatory? ›

Steel-cut oats are an excellent soluble fiber to add to the diet that also acts as a prebiotic food. These oats are beneficial to promote anti-inflammatory integrity in the intestinal bacteria. Steel-cut oats are less processed than old fashion rolled oats and have a lower Glycemix Index.

Do steel-cut oats spike blood sugar? ›

Your body digests steel-cut oats slowly, but that doesn't mean they're hard to digest. It's actually better to digest slowly because it doesn't cause your blood sugar to spike.

Do you add milk or water to steel-cut oats? ›

For every 1 cup of steel cut oats, you'll need 3 1/2 to 4 cups of liquid, depending upon how thick you'd like them to be (less liquid = thicker steel cut oatmeal). I like to do a mix of water and milk to make the steel cut oats extra creamy. The ratio is flexible. I generally use 2 1/2 cups of water and 1 cup of milk.

Why do steel-cut oats turn green? ›

Steel-cut oat groats can turn brown-green color when cooked in alkaline conditions (pHs 9 to 12). Extraction of this color with methanol, and high-pressure liquid chromatography indicated a direct association of this color with the phenolic acid or avenanthramide content of the oat.

Can you just add boiling water to steel-cut oats? ›

Boil water, add oats, reduce heat, and simmer. Cooking steel-cut oats is easy, but it does require some patience. The oats take a good 20 to 30 minutes to become tender, and decide they want to make a porridge.

Can you just toast oats? ›

It's simple. Follow these steps: Add raw oats to a dry skillet and heat the pan over medium. Toast the oats, stirring occasionally until they turn golden brown and smell slightly nutty, about two minutes.

Are toasted oats still healthy? ›

If you like oat granola or oatmeal for breakfast, then you'll love having toasted oats as another healthy meal option! Good old-fashioned rolled oats are great breakfast food options for your gut since they're filled with so many nutrients.

Are toasted oats as healthy as oatmeal? ›

All forms of oats are 100% whole grain, a good source of fiber and have the same nutritional information – same calories, fiber and protein per serving.

Do oats need to be toasted? ›

When you toast your oats, you're actually preserving them a little,” Jullapat notes. Toasting dries the grains out, removing moisture that could eventually cause the oats to rot. That drying also changes the texture of the oats, making them a little chewier, though perhaps imperceptibly.

Does toasting oats make it easier to digest? ›

Decortication and toasting did not affect small intestinal AA digestibility, but did increase the total digested amount of AA by 154 and 250 g/d, respectively. Milk production was not affected by treatments.

Is steel cut oatmeal supposed to be crunchy? ›

Steel cut oats have a different texture, they are chewy and a little crunchy-not mushy at all.

Does toasting oats reduce phytic acid? ›

Heating or cooking the oats reduces the phytic acid to some extent but it also kills off the phytase.

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