Oatmeal is the perfect warm, nourishing and healthy breakfast that's so cosy for the middle of winter. These oatmeal bowls are loaded with healthy toppings that turn this ho-hum breakfast staple into something quick and easy and totally worth getting up for. Honey, blood oranges, chopped pistachios and peanut butter elevate create a truly power packed breakfast.
Can you believe we're already into February??? Not sure about you, but it almost seems like winter might go on forever. I need some sun, some warm temperatures and some big flavours in my world. Enter these winter glow oatmeal bowls.
Oatmeal often gets a really bad wrap for being far too thick and pasty, being tasteless and just being bland and boring. Let me show you how to flip the script on boring oatmeal and make it creamy, flavourful (yes, it's possible!) and so nourishing that you actually don't mind the bite of winter in the air.
Oats- What's the difference?
We've got a few different kinds of oats to choose from.
All oats come from groats. That's the whole oat without the hull that's been toasted and cleaned before it gets cut or rolled.
- Steel cut oats- The whole oat cut with a steel blade into 2 or 4 pieces. Not great for baking. Awesome for overnight oats in the crockpot.
- Scottish oats- Groats that are not cut but ground into a meal like texture for quick cooking. They're creamy with a nutty flavour.
- Old fashioned rolled oats- Made by steaming and rolling the whole groat. A very creamy texture when cooked. These are my favourite oats because they are so lovely in cookies, muffins and granola, while also being so thick and creamy for oatmeal bowls like this one.
- Quick oats- Similar to old fashioned but steamed longer and rolled thinner. They tend to lose their texture when cooked and can become pasty.
- Instant oats- Steamed longer and rolled thinner than quick oats and then dehydrated. Instant oats usually have sugars, salts and other additives in them.
Are oatmeal and porridge the same thing?
Great question! They're often used interchangeably, but they're not quite the same thing. Oatmeal is a type of porridge, but porridge can also be made from other grains like quinoa or cream of wheat. You can read more about it here.
The prefect ratio for breakfast oatmeal bowls:
- 1 cup of old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 ¼ cups of water
How do you make them taste good?
- Add 1 teaspoon of flaky sea salt
- ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
And that's it.
The rest of the oatmeal is a blank canvas for all the winter flavours. I had a heck of a time finding blood oranges last week, so when I did finally find them, I bought about 40! So they are making an appearance in everything. They'll be showing up again tomorrow too!
And the usual cast of breakfast characters like peanut butter, honey and bee pollen are there too. I know bee pollen may not be your thing, but it's a super food at immunity boosting. Just make sure it's organic so you know it's harvested ethically. This bee pollen is a great choice. (affiliate link).
Winter Glow Breakfast Oatmeal Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups water
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
Toppings
- Blood orange sliced
- 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 Tablespoons honeycomb
- 1 Tablespoon organic bee pollen
Instructions
- Place a medium sauce pan over a high heat and bring the water to the boil. Add the oats, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Stir until the water has been absorbed and the oatmeal is creamy. About 5 minutes.
- Divide into bowls and top with the orange slices, peanut butter, bee pollen and honeycomb
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen says
Lovely and delicious looking bowl Debs! So nice and hearty to keep me satisfied all morning! Can't get enough of those blood oranges!
sue | theviewfromgreatisland says
This is breakfast fit for a Queen, shared!