{Overnight} Slow Cooker Apple Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal
Overnight Apple Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal is easy to throw in the slow cooker before bed for an effortless breakfast the next day...and with a special, no-stirring-required trick, you won't have to worry about burnt edges in the morning!
Locate an oven-safe, not-too-shallow baking dish (such as Corningware or Pyrex) that will fit in your slow cooker. In the baking dish, place oats, diced apples, apple juice, milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; stir to combine. Carefully place baking dish down in slow cooker and slowly pour water into the bottom of the slow cooker until its level is about 1 inch below the top of the baking dish. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours. Stir before serving.
Notes
You may leave the skin on the apples, if you wish.
I use a 2.5-quart/liter round Corningware baking dish in a 6.5-quart slow cooker. It's okay if your baking dish is suspended by its sides on the edges of the slow cooker and doesn't touch the bottom...the lid of the slow cooker just needs to be able to close securely.
Once the oatmeal is cooked, be careful stirring it or removing the baking dish from the slow cooker as the water in the slow cooker will be extremely hot.
Some older model slow cookers run much cooler than newer slow cookers. In such a case, the oatmeal may still be liquid-y at the end of the directed cooking time and may need longer to cook or a higher temperature to finish thickening up.