Heidi's Golden Steel Cut Oats

For my family, especially the teenage boys, who’ve been working outside really, really hard getting our homestead rolling this spring, a hearty breakfast is essential. Our winter breakfast staple was a huge crock pot of steel cut oats (with eggs and fruit on the side) but it’s really just too hot to think about warm oats right about now. But as we buy hundreds of pounds of oats every fall for breakfasts all year, I still have plenty to cook. What’s a homesteading gal to do? Make granola, of course!

We’ve eaten plenty of rolled oats granola (the kind you think about when you hear “granola”) around here. Still, I love cooking steel cut oats. We love them for their higher fiber, fewer calories, and lower glycemic index than rolled oats, in addition to their amazing chewy, nutty flavor. But homemade steel cut oat granola was new to me. So I set out to create the perfect recipe. Considerations: It had to be whole, healthy, and delicious — because what’s the point of using up your store of oats if no one will eat it?

Using a few recipes online, I mixed and matched and played around until I finally came up with something so good that they are clamoring for it every morning. Flavor it how you like: You could add a little cinnamon and nutmeg for fall flavor, make it summery with whatever dried fruit you process from your garden or orchard, or by adding shredded coconut and chocolate chips, you could imitate that most delectable (but very expensive) grocery store delight: Love Crunch Dark Chocolate Macaroon (Oh. Yum.)