Peachy Pie Steel Cut Oats

Name: Peachy Pie Steel Cut Oats
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 c steel cut oats; 4 c water; 1 tsp vanilla; 1/4 tsp salt; 2 peaches, cored and cubed; 1/4 banana, mashed; 2 tbsp coconut oil; 1 tbsp coconut sugar; 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg; 1/2 c coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Our oldest daughter absolutely adores peaches! Which is pretty convenient, being that we moved to the Peach State of Georgia, just last year 🙂 Since peaches are on the Dirty Dozen list, I only choose organic, to minimize the toxic load on our bodies. With 4 kids, and the prices of organic peaches being so high, I have formed a silly habit of stockpiling them at the bottom of the fruit drawer where they aren’t to visible to little eyes. After all, if they eat them too fast, they’ll be gone, and then it’s back to the grocery store for me. It’s a pretty lame habit, does anyone else find themselves doing that?

I definitely have budgeted for organic foods, but it just feels wrong to pay $1.26 per peach! We are a family of six, so one peach per person, per week, is $7.53 – yikes! To some, it may feel very tempting to go conventional, but knowledge is king and knowing what pesticides do to our bodies is enough to make me buy only buy organic… and then hide them in the fridge, I guess. Haha! This is where sourcing an organic farmer at your local farmers market comes in handy!

Due to this hide-and-seek game I’ve made of peaches, sometimes they over-ripen before we get a chance to eat them all, but that’s exactly when this Peach Pie Steel Cut Oat recipe does its best!

How to Make it

Choose the softest, juiciest peaches you can find, and chop them up into tiny bite size pieces. I always set aside 1/2 a cup of sliced or diced fresh peaches to garnish the top of my oatmeal bowl with.

Dig up some nuts from your pantry, and coarsely chop them. Honestly, any nut will do, but pecans fit the theme, so we will go with that for the sake of the recipe.

Have you ever cooked steel cut oats? I know it’s frustrating that they take longer to cook, especially when you’re trying to get kids out the door to school, or you’re just really hungry and WANT FOOD NOW! Have you wondered about steel cut oats v. rolled oats? Steel cut oats are far less processed and I love the chewy texture. If you really want to step up your game, try dry-toasting the oats over low heat before you add the liquids! The first step in this recipe, is to combine the oats, water, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium-sized pot. Set the temperature to high until the oat mixture begins to boil, and then cover and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. You can shorten the cooking time in half, if you soak the oats the night before. I add in my chopped peaches about halfway through, because if you include them at the beginning, they’ll overcook and lose much of their flavor.

My biggest piece of advice? Do NOT skip the peach pie topping! It’s literally SO delicious and adds a lot of flavor to the finished product. I use coconut sugar in most of my cooking because it’s much lower on the glycemic index than refined sugar and won’t cause a spike in blood sugar. This becomes especially important when we are talking about the first meal of the day. Normally, I prefer not to add any sweetener to oatmeal, because I’d rather save sugar for a dessert and minimize it elsewhere in my diet. However, 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar spread out over 4 servings in this recipe, isn’t going to be an issue and it really helps the nuts get that caramelized flavor. So first, you’re going to break down some of that sugar into the oil over medium-low heat, making sure to stay close by and stir as needed because it’s really easy to burn the coconut sugar. Next, add in the nuts and spices, to get that delicious, toasty flavor. This really is the perfect transition recipe from summer to fall!

My kids just love this oatmeal recipe, and I hope you all love it too!

oatmeal in a bowl topped with peach slices and toasted pecans

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