It’s winter again here in the forest and I woke up craving warm and creamy oatmeal. I also had a few blood oranges that I’ve been meaning to use in a recipe, so I made a quick flavorful blood orange vanilla oatmeal. There are a few simple tricks to making creamy oatmeal so I thought I’d share my tips with you. Hope you find them helpful!
How to make creamy oatmeal
- Water and plant-based milk: I put my rolled oats in a saucepan and pour equal amounts of water and plant-based milk to cover the oats (exact measurements in the recipe below). I’ve come to the conclusion that water really helps make the oats creamier, so I always add water and plant-based milk. The milk adds another level of creaminess and lovely flavor, too.
- Soaking the oats: Next I let the oats soak in the liquid! I let them soak while I make coffee and do some other morning prep. So about 5-10 minutes. Soaking makes the oats cook faster, and I find it makes them creamier too.
- Vanilla: Vanilla makes oats taste creamy and adds a depth of warm flavor.
- Nut butter: Nut butter adds the ultimate level of creaminess…cashew butter is my favorite. Also coconut butter is delicious and the combination of cashew-macadamias and coconut butter is heavenly (get the recipe here)
- Extra tips: I cook my oats in medium-low heat, stirring every now and then. If the oats look too sticky and clumpy, I add a bit more water or plant-based milk. If I have time I let the oatmeal stay covered (under a lid) in the saucepan for a few minutes after cooking. Keeping the lid on adds more moisture to the saucepan making the oatmeal even creamier!
If you’re thinking it’s a bit weird to add citrus fruit to oatmeal, let me assure you it’s a very delightful combo! Here are my favorite citrus combos with oatmeal: blood orange + raspberries, lemon + coconut butter + turmeric, and orange + grated carrot cooked in coconut oil. The combo I’m sharing today is the most “candy” like – there’s something so uniquely sweet about blood orange combined with raspberries 🙂 And I love enhancing the unique flavor by sprinkling coconut sugar on top.
Sending you sweet vibes from the forest!
♥ Tiina
Blood Orange Vanilla Oatmeal
Ingredients
Blood orange vanilla oatmeal
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup oat drink (or other plant-based milk) I use Kaslink AITO organic oat drink
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp cashew butter coconut butter works too! And also white chocolate butter (recipe link in this post)
- pinch of salt
- if you want a sweeter oatmeal, you can add sweetener e.g.maple syrup would work well
- the juice of one blood orange
Toppings
- blood orange slices
- cashews
- raspberries
- coconut sugar
Instructions
- Optional: Place the oats in a saucepan, add water + milk and let soak for a few minutes.
- Bring the oats + liquid to a boil and reduce heat.
- Cook the oats in medium - low heat stirring every now and then until the oatmeal is soft and creamy (5-10 minutes). Add more liquid if needed.
- Optional: Turn off heat and remove the saucepan from the heat. Put a lid on and let the oatmeal stay covered for a few minutes.
- When the oatmeal is ready stir in the vanilla, cashew butter and salt.
- Squeeze the juice of one blood orange to the oatmeal, give it a little stir and serve the oatmeal with toppings.
- Enjoy this lovely sweet breakfast!
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