Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Stovetop Recipe
If you love apple pie or apple crumble, you'll LOVE this Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal! Warm, cozy, and loaded with cooked apples plus all the delicious spices.
Note: This recipe dates back to 2013! But it's still one of my favorite breakfasts. So I have added some new photos and am sharing it again, for those of you that haven't been hanging around that long.
I can't think of anything better on a cold morning than a cozy bowl of oatmeal. I think that stovetop recipes can get a bad rap - they really don't take more than a few minutes. You can still get breakfast on the table (or in a to go cup) quickly, and the possibilities are basically endless.
This apple cinnamon oatmeal is my current favorite.
Fresh apples, apple pie spice, just a little brown sugar, and old fashioned oats. You can have a hearty, happy, warm, delicious breakfast in less than 10 minutes.
I think it's time for a Lucy update.
My little Lucy girl is getting big!! If you're new around here you can read more about Lucy here and here.
She is my snuggly little companion. She is smart and sweet and might be the laziest puppy ever.
I was sifting through some blog things today and I noticed that I might be a pretty slack Lucy mama because I never updated my "About"page to include her. Oops.
So here she is...
She really is a doll.
Like any puppy she has a few issues, but nothing major. Mostly she just doesn't like to be left alone. Ever. At all. She's not the greatest car rider either. She adjusts. And then readjusts. And then she fusses a little. And then she drools.
This morning I drove Evan to school. So we brought Lucy with us. We were completely engrossed in this puzzle game that Chad put on my phone while we waited in the neverending line of non-moving vehicles. We weren't really paying attention when it was time for Evan to get outta the car. Evan leaped out...
...annnnnd so did Lucy.
Evan exclaimed, "Oh no!, Lucy!!," and then took off running after her.
Fortunately Lucy wasn't trying to run away. She was just really excited about all the little kids and she was really sick of sitting in the car.
I had this brief flash of me having to leap out of the car to chase my puppy down. Just so we're clear about my carpool attire, it consists of a sports bra under a tank top, a pair of sweat pants, flip flops, a mop of curly disaster hair, and a cup of coffee glued to my hand. I was majorly relieved that I did not have to exit the vehicle.
Oh morning.
I eat oatmeal at least 3 mornings a week. It's basically perfect. You can dress it up or dress it down. You can make it taste like your favorite dessert. You can add fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, CHOCOLATE! Oatmeal is amazing.
This homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal really never fails me. Lots of good heart-healthy fuel for when you might need to chase a puppy across a school parking lot.
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Stovetop Recipe
If you love apple pie or apple crumble, you’ll LOVE this Apple Cinnamon Stovetop Oatmeal! Warm, cozy, and loaded with cooked apples plus all the delicious spices.
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 medium crisp apple, about 1 ½ cups diced
- 3 tablespoons honey (OR 2 tablespoons brown sugar), plus a little more to drizzle over the finished oatmeal
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup old fashioned oats (or gluten free oats!)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- ½ cup milk (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add 1 cup of the apples, the honey or brown sugar, and sprinkle in the spices and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the apples are softened.
- Pour in the water, turn the heat up to high, and bring to a low boil. Add the oats and reduce the heat to medium/medium high. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3-5 more minutes.
- Add the walnuts (if using), and continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed. Divide the oatmeal between two bowls, sprinkle each with the remaining apples, drizzle with a little more honey, and splash ¼ cup milk into each bowl.
If you love oatmeal,you should also try...
Iced Apple Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
Can you cook the oats using milk instead of water?
My 21 month old son and I made this for our breakfast this morning. It's so yummy! Definitely going to make thos recipe again and again. ❤️
Thank you Sarah! I love a good kitchen helper!
Hands down the BEST oatmeal I have ever had. My son requested it for his birthday breakfast! I'm making it for extra people, should I make any adjustments for 6 people, or just triple the recipe? Thank you so much for sharing, I wish you could have seen my 6 year olds reaction. Love at first bite.
Thank you so much Moriah! I think you should easily be able to triple this recipe - oatmeal is very forgiving!
What’s the best way to reheat leftovers, I’m about to make some in a few minutes unfortunately The rest of my family I’ll be the instant or bacon eggs or banana and coffee breakfast people
Heather, thank you for this recipe! I enjoyed reading your blog, and I'm cooking it up right now. I'm a busy lady, but not too busy to leave you a nice comment instead of trying to be a twat 🤣
You have a beautiful day! I'm looking forward to returning for addition recipes, and a few chuckles at your replies!
Thank you Alysha! So glad you're here!
Thanks for sharing this recipe I made it this morning for breakfast and it gonna to be my stable recipe in the future (^-^)
Can you make extra and heat the next day? Heat up with extra milk?
@Sue, I think if you leave out the milk the night of and add only when you’re warming the next day it will be good. That’s what i’m doing now.
This recipe is just what I was looking for. I just added cranberries and brown sugar. Delicious. Thank you. I loved hearing about Lucy. Keep us updated. I have a Corgi and she is my love.
This recipe was great if I followed the instructions. I decided to sub out the water for whole milk and it split and curdled the entire pot. I redid the recipe with the 2cups of water and it was creamy and rich.
I used a granny Smith apple and a few extra spices (all spice, a pinch of cloves, and a tablespoon of Saigon Cinnamon). My entire house smelled like an apple pie. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi! Do you think I could make a bigger batch and freeze some?
I'm not sure -- I've never tried to freeze oatmeal. When you order frozen oats, the oats are dry and the add-ins are frozen in blocks, so I think you could try in that way. Melt the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, etc together and then freeze into a silicone mold. then add milk or water and microwave with the oats. Worth a try!
@Heather Tullos, I made this for my baby and froze it sans milk in 1/4 c portions in glass jars. Reheated in microwave from frozen in glass jars 2 min at half power, then 30 seconds full power. Then added a splash of milk. Perfect! (I tasted it!)
I know this post is older but thought others might have the same question about freezing.
Thank you so much for sharing, Erin!
Thank you for this AMAZING recipe! I seen someone said they put a dash of vanilla extract in it so I tried it and to anyone reading this I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
I’m feeling really sorry for the people who struggled so much with scrolling ALL THE WAY past the blog post to find the recipe. What a serious inconvenience. It must’ve taken so much extra time from their very busy and important lives to undertake such a task.
With that being said, we loved the oatmeal. I made it for my 1 and 2 year old (and myself) and was wishing I had doubled the recipe because we gobbled it up so fast! I didn’t follow the exact measurements (I tend to just eyeball stuff most of the time) but I used a little honey AND brown sugar and made the oats with half water and half milk. It was phenomenal and my 2 year old has already told me “this is my favorite” and “we having apple oatmeal for dinner tonight?”.
Thank you so much, Kathryn!
@Kathryn, I feel like that is any recipe on pages these days... they do have a hyperlink at the top that says "jump to recipe" that automatically jumps to the recipe...just an fyi
@Kathryn, is it really that serious kathryn
I made this today using Old-Fashioned Oats. I followed the recipe ingredients with the exception of using Date syrup for sweetener.
I added walnuts to Vegan Butter to bring out their toasty flavor.
I steamed dates in boiling water and then added that water to my pot. Lastly, I added 8 coarsely chopped dates in with the oats.
I served it with Silk Coconut Milk. It’s thick and yummy!
Who knew Oatmeal could be so delicious! It was out of this world! Tasted like delicious Apple Pie with a Streusel topping!
This has a special place on our breakfast menu. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Thank you so much, Susan!
This oatmeal is delicious! It reminded me of apple strudel that an elderly lady from my family's church was famous for. I used dark brown sugar and added a splash of vanilla (I LOVE the pairing of cinnamon and vanilla!)Next time I'm going to add shredded coconut and raisins.
So so good, definitely a keeper!
Thank you so much, Laura!