Toasted steel-cut oatmeal with brûléed bananas

So we go now from cake to oatmeal.  I am a huge oatmeal eater (I eat more oatmeal than cake).  I know I've mentioned my affinity for it before.  It started as more of a subtle liking, occasional bowls of old-fashioned oatmeal growing up. The smell of plain oatmeal has always been something familiar that I love.  

Toasted steel-cut oatmeal, slightly sweetened with honey and topped with brûléed bananas

In the last few years, oatmeal has become such a regular part of my diet and I honestly love it.  It started about five years ago when I wanted to shed a few pounds. If you can believe it, I started eating oatmeal as an after dinner dessert to fill me up! Eating it became a habit and I discovered steel-cut oatmeal and became hooked.  I now often have a big bowl of steel-cut oatmeal as the basis, or carb portion, of my dinner.  My son either assumes or will ask me if I need an "oatmeal spoon" when he sets the table for dinner. 

A warm bowl of steel-cut oatmeal is one of my favorite things

So I have been really intrigued by the idea of toasting the oats before cooking.  I think the idea's been around a while but I'd never thought about it.  With the growing interest in eating whole grains and books like Whole Grain Mornings and Good to the Grain (I love the titles of these book, by the way) bringing it to our general attention, I started seeing it touted everywhere in the last year or so (here and here, for instance).

Being a creature of habit, I didn't finally try toasting my oats until recently.  You take a little bit of butter (a tablespoon for 1 cup of oats; I use steel-cut), melt it in your pan, then add the oats and let it toast for about 4-5 minutes.  The oats will brown a bit and you'll smell a nutty aroma by the end of that time.  Then, you add your liquid and continue to cook your oatmeal as you normally would.

This toasted oatmeal makes for a firm and chewy texture 

Toasting the oatmeal should bring out the oats' nutty flavor.  I think when we eat anything, we want maximum bang (flavor) for our buck (calories).  So is toasting the oats worth the extra fat and calories from that pat of butter?  Here's what I came away with:

- The added flavor in the final oatmeal from toasting the oats was subtle.  I think I expected a big punch of extra flavor (like you get when you freshly toast nuts for baked goods) but it was more of an accentuation of the oats' nutty flavor.

- The big surprise for me was actually the impact on the texture of the oatmeal! Toasting the oats seems to keep them firmer, to keep the integrity of the oats more intact so they don't break down as much during cooking (I think the effect of toasting makes the oats cook more slowly, absorbing the water a bit less readily).  So if you're like me and love your steel-cut oatmeal firm and chewy - as opposed to more creamy - toasting them is a great way to ensure the texture. 

- While I don't have plans to toast the oats for my near-daily doses of oatmeal, I would when I want to make a truly "special" bowl of oatmeal.  Like many great recipes, it's often the culmination of small steps and ingredients that make for something special on the whole.  So for times when I want to "do up" my oatmeal and make a true meal out of it, I would toast the oats.  Maybe I'd cook the oatmeal with a bit of milk (instead of just water) for a little more sweetness and richness, and add a pinch of spice.  I would think about adding other special touches to it like, say, some brûléed bananas and nuts on top.  This was the first time I added caramelized banana slices to my oatmeal (I knew that kitchen torch would come in very handy!) and it was so delicious that it almost stole the show.

I generally have my oatmeal quite "plain".  That is, I cook it in water, and eat it with a little honey.  I love that simplicity but now, I'm more inclined to think about jazzing it up on occasion to keep things interesting!

Part II...
So maybe you figured I couldn't possibly talk any more about oatmeal but no...there's a little sequel to this story!  Bear with me, if you're willing...  

After making this and writing about it, I was watching a cooking show with Bobby Flay and he made toasted steel-cut oatmeal by dry-toasting (no butter) the oats first in the oven.  He asserted that the way to make the creamiest steel-cut oatmeal was to cook the toasted oats for just 1 minute before storing it in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 8 hours).  When the time comes to finish it, the cooking time should be cut by about half.  I may prefer a firmer, chewier bowl of oatmeal in general but I wanted to give his method a try...

Chocolate oatmeal...breakfast or dessert?

I've mentioned I love oatmeal.  I eat it regularly and I can have it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner - or as part of those meals.  I don't remember when or where I first saw this idea of chocolate oatmeal but I did see it once and then it started popping up everywhere I turned...that's rather typical, isn't it?  

Chocolate oatmeal: Steel-cut oatmeal cooked with a bit of cocoa powder

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure I liked the idea.  I figured chocolate oatmeal was similar to something like chocolate rice pudding but the problem was, I haven't ever had that either!  I don't know...I couldn't really picture the flavor and I wasn't sure I wanted to mingle my oatmeal and chocolate together.  Both things are awesome on their own but maybe they should remain separate, savored individually?  I was curious though, and since I love oatmeal and I most certainly love chocolate, I wanted to give the combination a try.  And seeing this post from The Kitchn recently inspired me to make it sooner rather than later.  

So, have you had chocolate oatmeal?  If so, do you like it?  And would you say this is something to eat for breakfast or dessert?  I suppose it can be either or neither.  I had it for lunch, actually.  

Topped with a little bit of dark chocolate, hazelnuts, and almonds

I can tell you that at first bite, I thought: "mmm...well, this is pretty good!"  Despite appearances, I have to say that there really isn't anything too dramatic or even overly decadent going on here. As much as it looks like a very rich, almost sinful, chocolate pudding-like concoction, the base oatmeal is nothing more than my usual bowl of steel-cut oatmeal cooked in water.  A mere tablespoon or so of unsweetened cocoa powder transforms it into this dark, chocolate concoction, and I didn't have to use much more sweetener than I normally do...just about a tablespoon of honey for a cup of oats.

Then, you move on to toppings, however.  Real chocolate enters the picture but use restraint and it's nothing to feel guilty about.  I sprinkled no more than a third of an ounce of chocolate over my bowl of oatmeal and added some nuts - hazelnuts and almonds in this case.  I have to say the best part was spooning up and tasting this oatmeal with some bits of melting chocolate mixed in.  It once again shows that everything is better with chocolate - at least for us chocoholics!  Somehow, I managed to resist the urge to add more chocolate as I went along.

This was a fun trial.  I enjoyed it though I don't see myself eating this regularly.  I really enjoy my regular bowl of plain oatmeal, sweetened lightly with honey, and I eat chocolate every day (it makes me a better, calmer person).  I think I prefer to savor each separately but now that I know what the combination tastes like firsthand, I will say it's nice and I'd enjoy it once in while as a way to mix things up a little if I get tired of my usual routine (I'm pretty much a stickler for routine though).  

Leftover oatmeal muffins

Am I a little weird for being very excited about a recipe for "leftover oatmeal muffins"?  This might be a bore to non-oatmeal lovers but if you're a fan like me, you might enjoy this as much as I do.  I've been casually looking for a good oat muffin recipe for a long time since I adore oatmeal and oatmeal cookies.  I haven't had much luck but then Molly came along recently with something very interesting...

This one's for my fellow oatmeal lovers: Leftover steel-cut oatmeal muffins, with walnuts and mini chocolate chips

Why had I never thought of oatmeal muffins?  As in cooked oatmeal in the muffins as opposed to using rolled oats.  And I get to use my favorite steel-cut oatmeal at that.  I loved the idea and I had to try it.  

To explain why I really wanted to make these, you have to understand that I really, seriously, love oatmeal - crunchy, chewy steel-cut oats, to be exact.  I buy tins of McCann's Steel-Cut Irish Oatmeal almost as regularly as I buy eggs and milk.  I eat it almost everyday, not because I'm purposely trying to be healthy but because I honestly crave that texture and it fills me up properly. My son once asked me why I always eat oatmeal at dinner because I often have it as the carb portion of my meal.  I had to explain that I just really love it; he's used to it now and accepts it as one of my quirks.

The bulk of these muffins: leftover steel-cut oatmeal and a blend of walnuts and miniature chocolate chips

So maybe it'll come as no surprise that I really, really dig these oatmeal muffins!  They are hearty, not heavy.  With very little butter and just a bit of milk in them, the flavor is mild but texturally, they're a little magical because the steel-cut oats snap under your teeth in a very satisfying (at least, for me) and somewhat unusual way.  If you use old-fashioned rolled oatmeal instead, I imagine you'd get the more standard chewy texture, which is surely not a bad thing at all either.    

These muffins leave some room for add-ins and I went with walnuts and miniature chocolate chips. You could use other nuts or some fruit.  I feel like you could never go wrong with the subtle crunch of walnuts in baked goods and I'll grab any chance to add a little chocolate into anything so those were my natural choices, and I'm sticking with it.   

I think it's safe to say that no one will mistake these muffins for cupcakes and that's perfectly suitable here.  I feel good eating it.  The bits of chocolate chips add just enough allure and a little extra sweetness to make the muffins satisfying.  Because there's just a small amount of butter in these muffins, they are one of those baked items that are inevitably best fresh.  In fact, they taste best fresh from the oven, eaten while they're still warm. 

I made a small, half batch, of these in my first endeavor because of that very reason but I'm happy to report that a day-old leftover oatmeal muffin was still very tasty after it'd been refreshed for a few minutes in a warm oven.

One last thing...in my attempt to jazz things up and since it was on hand, I had the idea of crumbling some homemade granola over the top of the muffins so I tried it on a couple of them.  In the end, I discovered that granola makes a great add-in for cookies but they have no place here. It just did not work well on these oatmeal muffins.  All of us (surprisingly, even including the little one who I thought the crunchy top would appeal to) much preferred the muffins without the granola.  It was just too distracting and took away from the gentle warmth and snap of the oatmeal muffins.  There's no knowing without trying, I suppose, but I won't be doing it again...and I do plan to make these again.

I can finally say I found myself a good oatmeal muffin recipe.