Feeling fancy for breakfast? This is a favorite at our house on Saturday mornings when I wake up a little later and have time to spend in the kitchen making breakfast instead of rushing out the door smoothie-in-hand.

Typically I make a big batch and then save it in single-serve pyrex containers so I can rush out the door oatmeal-in-hand the coming Monday. If you've never tried steel cut oats, they're a little chewier than the rolled kind.

Here's what you'll need:

1/4 tsp salt
1 c. steel cut oats
1 T + 1 tsp butter
1/2 c. pecans
2 tsp sugar
2 pears (peeled, cored, sliced into chunks). If you don't have or don't like pears, try this recipe with apples instead.
3 T honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Half and half

In a medium size sauce pan, boil 4 c. water and salt. Add steel cut oats and wait for it to boil again. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer (uncovered) for 25-35 minutes, stirring often.

In a frying pan, melt 1 tsp butter. Add pecans and sugar. Stir 1 minute: the sugar should melt and coat the toasty pecans. Move them to a cutting board and chop coarsely when cooled.

Right before your oatmeal is done, melt a tablespoon of butter in the frying pan again. Add the pears and stir occasionally for 3 minutes. The juice should come out of them and they should be hot all the way through. Add honey and cinnamon.

Split the oatmeal into 4-5 bowls (depending on how hungry you are). If you don't have enough people to eat it all immediately, portion some into individual pyrex bowls for reheating later. I have a pyrex obsession. Store leftover pears and pecans separately so the pears stay juicy and the pecans stay crunchy. When I reheat the oats in the microwave, I add a little milk to keep them from getting sticky.

Serve hot oatmeal topped with pears, sprinkled with pecans, drizzled with cold half and half. Not room temperature, not skim milk.


I always run out of pears and pecans by the time I get to the last of the oatmeal cups, but then I eat it with coconut or maple syrup or blueberries ... etc. What's your favorite way to eat oatmeal? Are you more of a steel-cut or a rolled oats family?

See more recipes I've been trying in the recipe tab up top!