Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Baked Oatmeal
Loaded with fresh cranberries, oats, and a hint of orange, Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Baked Oatmeal is the perfect healthy breakfast for fall and winter!
Equipment
- 5 quart slow cooker
- Nonstick cooking spray
- microplane or zester
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup milk I used oat milk
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 medium Naval orange (zest & juice) (approx. 1/4 cup juice)
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 pinch cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped fresh cranberries (approx. 3 1/2 ounces)
Instructions
- Spray the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add the wet ingredients to the slow cooker: milk, honey, vanilla. Zest the orange into the slow cooker, then slice the orange in half and either manually or with a citrus juicer, extract the juice from the orange. You want about 1/4 cup. Add it to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the slow cooker: oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cranberries. Stir, making sure everything is well combined.
- Cook on low for 2 1/2 hours. If your slow cooker has a hotspot, I'd rotate the crock at the halfway point. It's done when the oats have absorbed the liquid and the edges have browned. If it still looks wet, add a little more time and check it again. Best served warm. Enjoy!
Notes
- Every slow cooker runs a little differently. For mine, this was perfect in 2 1/2 hours. If yours runs a little hot, feel free to check it a little early.
- If you use a different size slow cooker, the thickness of the baked oatmeal will change, thus, so will the cooking time. This recipe was developed using an oval 5-quart slow cooker. A larger slow cooker will make a thinner baked oatmeal and a small slow cooker will make a thicker baked oatmeal.
- I intentionally developed this recipe to be healthy, therefore, there's no granulated sugar, only honey. Feel free to add a little brown sugar before it cooks if you think you'll want it sweeter. You can also drizzle a little maple syrup over it afterwards.
- You can use store-bought orange juice instead of using an orange, but you won't get the great flavor from the orange zest.
- This recipe hasn't been tested with dried cranberries, as it was created to celebrate fresh fall fruit.
- Refrigerate in air-tight containers and use within 4 days. Can be frozen, but the texture may change as it will dry out.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!