This recipe came to my mind while I was thinking about how to make a bowl of oatmeal a bit more interesting. I thought about different flavor pairings and realized that many people enjoy the nostalgic taste of peanut butter and jelly together! I figured that the oats would accept this flavor just as bread does and went ahead with making this recipe. (P.S. there is no jelly in this recipe). It is not difficult and is ready in just about 15 minutes!
My list of ingredients allows for a single serving, but you can simply double these measurements to have breakfast for two!
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup frozen or fresh fruit (blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries work best to mimic the flavor of jam!)
- 1 T natural, creamy peanut butter
A NOTE: If you are using frozen fruit, be sure to thaw it before you begin preparing the oatmeal if you are using the method of letting it sit out at room temperature. I recommend just defrosting it using the microwave by using the “defrost” setting, but if you do not have that or would rather not use the microwave, just allow it to sit out until the ice is gone.
The procedure:
To make this oatmeal, start by adding 1 cup of milk to a saucepan. Then, turn the heat right up to high to allow the milk to come to a boil. Be sure to stay right by the saucepan as it heats because the milk boils and begins to quickly rise, as evidenced (You do not want to have to clean sticky milk off the stovetop 🙂 …
After the milk boils, you will add the oats to the milk. Immediately turn the heat down to medium for the oats to cook on. It is very important that you stir the oats in the milk right after you add them because they will want to stick to the bottom of the saucepan.
You will then stir occasionally, continuing to scrape the bottom of the saucepan with the spoon, for about 5-7 minutes, or until the oats are tender. As the oats are cooking, you should be thawing the berries if using frozen ones. Remove the saucepan from the heat once the oats have been completely cooked. This will allow them to thicken.
For the fruit, you will add either fresh or frozen berries to the bowl you will serve the oatmeal in. If frozen, this should already be done. If using fresh fruit, simply add the fruit of your choice to a bowl.
For a before and after of frozen fruit after using the defrost setting of the microwave:
Only difference is a little bit of juice! But, the fruit retains its shape very well and looks pretty fresh!
