Up Too Early = Sunday Morning Oatmeal Creme Brulee

Up a tad bit early this Sunday morning. Was thinking about making this last night for dinner, but when my eyes started blinking open and my mental to-do list started kicking at 6:30AM this morning - it seemed like an even better time to try it out!

I have researched two variations of Oatmeal Creme Brulee, one with eggs and one without - it is really the creme brulee element I am interested in, being the sweet tooth that I am. So, this morning I am trying out the recipe without the eggs (gotta save my eggs for all the meringue kisses I am making as guest favors for the baby shower!).

Another appealing aspect of this first recipe I am going to try is that you cook the oatmeal first in a rice cooker instead of on the stove - any recipe where I can push a button and walk away is fabulous! To create the crunchy topping we'll take the cooked oatmeal out and transfer it to either ramkins (which I don't have - sensing a Christmas Wishlist item here...) or into a baking dish, sprinkling with the brown sugar and white sugar mixture and popping it into the preheated broiler for about a minute.

Oh, I am also leaving out the fruit - I would like to try raspberries - but alas the fruit I have in my fridge and freezer right now are apples, grapes and frozen strawberries. If I am going to use strawberries I prefer fresh - so we will just try the recipe without the fruit element this time - just for sake of convenience.

Recipe #1 (w/out eggs)


Creme Brulee Oatmeal
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
berries of choice
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Additions: I ended up adding about 2 tablespoons white sugar and 2 tablespoons brown sugar to the oatmeal after it cooked - was a little bland for my taste - but if I had added fruit I may not have had to.

P.S. I may never go back to regular oatmeal again!

Update @7:11AM - Well, it certainly smells delicious just cooking in the rice cooker! I could see have the liquid ingredients mixed together beforehand, left in the fridge of course since it's milk, having the oatmeal already measured out in the rice cooker and waking up early Sunday mornings to come downstairs mix together and turn on the cooker and walk away to get ready, etc.

Update @7:51AM - (Delayed by doing dishes, putting up meringues I had drying overnight in the oven, cleaning the rice cooker, etc) Oatmeal is really good! I don't think my broiler got hot enough because the sugar just melted on top of the oatmeal - didn't crispen. The oven was asking me too many questions when I hit the broil button - Hi or Lo? Set Temp or Auto Set???

It "auto-set" at 350 but I think this needs to be hotter. I left it in for longer than a minute too because I could see it was melting and not necessarily burning on top. :( Still tastes good nonetheless!. (Possible mini-kitchen torch on my Christmas wish list??) :)

Warning: It did make quite a mess out of my rice cooker. I have a large rice cooker, but somehow the oatmeal managed to boil up over through the steam spout. :( AND it did burn/scald and make a little weird skin on the bottom of the pan - but I did just have to hit the button and walk away so not sure which is worse. Standing over a saucepan making oatmeal or cleaning up a messy rice cooker?

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To try next time - when I am not rationing out my eggs for other things or if I happen to have egg beaters in the house...

Recipe #2 (w/eggs)

Oatmeal Creme Brulee
2-1/4 cups Steel Cut Oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped Fruit of your choice (Sliced and Chopped Apples are Great)
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
3-1/3 cups non fat milk
1/2 cup egg substitute (such as Egg Beaters)
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place oats, chopped fruit and sugar in the prepared baking dish. Stir until well combined. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together milk, egg substitute, and vanilla extract. Pour over oatmeal mixture. Stir to make sure the oatmeal mixture is well-coated. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake. You want the center to still be moist, like a thick soup. Remove from the oven. Turn oven temperature up to broil. Sprinkle with the brown sugar in a thin layer, making sure the sugar coats the entire surface of the oatmeal. Return to the oven and broil 2 to 3 minutes, until the top is browned and crusty. Serve warm. For the Individual Ramekin Oatmeal Recipe Click HERE.