Not Your Average Oatmeal

I have always had a love-hate relationship with oatmeal. Whenever I tried the instant oatmeal packets from Quaker, I loved every bit of them. But when I tried to make oatmeal at home, I was left with an underwhelming experience.

To understand why that was happening I started learning more about the different varieties of oats. Turned out, my grocery store in Amsterdam only carries instant and old fashioned oats, also called rolled oats. I did not want to buy the instant packets because the cost adds up, so I bought a large bag of rolled oats and began recipe testing oatmeal.

Every YouTube cook recommended adding mashed or frozen banana to attain a creamy texture. Some blogs recommended trying milk instead of water. A few cooks even recommended adding egg whites!! I tried every “secret” ingredient on the internet, but my oatmeal remained chewy when I was aiming for a melt-in-your-mouth consistency.

One day after a bad recipe experiment, it hit me that instant oats are processed that is why they cook faster and creamier. That realization brought me to my secret, yes secret, ingredient, drumroll please: oat flour.

In my first attempt, I used only oat flour to make oatmeal. Well, that was a sorry ass oatmeal with zero texture. Then I began introducing rolled oats to the recipe and very soon I found the perfect balance between oat flour and rolled oats that makes the creamiest, heartiest, and most comforting bowl of oatmeal. The consistency and texture with this recipe is a dream, my dream come true. Okay…I will bring my drama down a notch and just give you the recipe. Hope you like it as much as I do–who am I kidding actually, you are about to become a convert.

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

• Rolled oats (1/4 cup)
• Unsweetened almond milk (1/2 cup)
• Cinnamon powder (1tsp)
• Vanilla extract (1tsp)
• Banana (1)
• Oat flour (1/4 cup) sifted
• Ground flax seeds (1 tbsp)
• Water (1/2 cup or as needed)
• Maple syrup (1tbsp) optional

Method:

• In a pot, add rolled oats, almond milk, cinnamon powder, and vanilla extract.
• Mash half of the banana and keep the other half for toppings.
• When everything in the pot comes to a boil, lower the heat and add the mashed banana, sifted oat flour, and ground flax seeds..
• Keep stirring on medium-low heat and add half a cup of water to adjust consistency. Continue to add water and cook the oatmeal to your desired consistency.
• In about ten minutes, the oatmeal should be done. You can serve it with the remaining banana and maple syrup on top. I also love adding berries, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and chia seeds.
• This oatmeal stores beautifully in the refrigerator for up to three days. I heat mine in the microwave, and it turns out like new.