CrockPot Make-Ahead Apple Pie Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 2 large Granny Smith apples, seeds removed and coarsely chopped
• 2-3 T Stevia in the Raw or other sweetener
• 1 T brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 – 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• Milk or soy milk for serving

Directions

1. Cut the apples away from the cores and seeds, then chop them into pieces. Make a mix of sizes so some soften into the oatmeal while a few larger bits stay chunky. You do not need to peel them.
2. Spritz the removable CrockPot insert with nonstick spray. Add the apples, whichever sweetener you’re using, the brown sugar or extra sweetener, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Pour in the water: 3 cups if you want a thicker oatmeal, 3 1/2 cups if you prefer a looser one.
4. Stir everything together. Set the slow cooker to high and let the mixture cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
5. Add the rolled oats, such as Bob's Red Mill Extra Thick Rolled Oats, and stir again. Leave it on high for 45 minutes more, or as long as 1 hour and 15 minutes more, until the oatmeal is as soft as you like it. Start taking a look after 45 minutes.
6. Serve it hot, with milk or soy milk.
7. Store the oatmeal in the fridge overnight and warm it up in the morning. Add a little water if it needs loosening, then microwave for about 1 minute or heat it for a few minutes in a small pan on the stove.
8. Freezing was not tested for this version, but a reader who makes a similar recipe with steel cut oats reported that it freezes well.