It’s a rainy and gray Wednesday morning that has me moving slowly and reaching for my hot cup of coffee. Days like today beg for a hot breakfast that requires little effort.

This week’s From Scratch Club book club chapter features cereal and snacks. I absolutely LOVE the intro to the instant oatmeal recipe, where Alana talks about her and her husband’s philosophy that parenting doesn’t have to equal the dreaded Saturday 6am wake-up call. In an attempt to train their two year old, they would leave a bowl of cold cereal on the shelf and a small pitcher of milk in the fridge for a DIY breakfast. (Hilarious! Also, it didn’t work.) As her kids grew older, she started making this easy instant oatmeal with instructions for the “oats to water” ratio.

I decided to give this recipe a whirl because I already had everything I needed in the house and because I love me some sweet, warm oatmeal on a cold, dreary morning. Well, the weather definitely got the memo, so with that on my side, I got to work. Here goes!

Alana’s Instant Oatmeal – makes 12 to 15 servings

• 6 cups (1 pound, 3 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) packed light brown sugar, or more or less to taste
• 1 Tbs ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• Optional: dried or dehydrated fruit

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spread the oats on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine 4 cups of toasted oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse until the mixture is a rough powder.

Pour into a large wide-mouthed jar or container. Pour in the remaining 2 cups of oats and the fruit, if using. Stir thoroughly and top with the lid.

Easy as 1-2-3!

To prepare the oatmeal, simply combine 1/2 cup mixture with 1 to 1 1/2  boiling water (or if you know your oatmeal consistency preference, just eye it.) Cover with a plate and let sit for 5 minutes before stirring and serving.

A few notes:

Alana says that the oatmeal will keep for 4 weeks at room temp, 3 months in the fridge, and 6 months in the freezer.

I halved this recipe and it didn’t dawn on me until about 18 minutes into the 20 minute baking time that perhaps it didn’t need the full 20 minutes in the oven. The oats did not seem overcooked, but they did give off a nutty, toasty smell, which I took as a good sign. But I think if they had been in there a few minutes longer, it may not have been so subtle.

This is definitely the fluffiest instant oatmeal I’ve ever eaten! It might be because I decided to put half (rather than 2/3) of the oats in the food processor, because I wanted to leave more whole oats in the oatmeal. They really plump up when you add the water!

Making your own instant oatmeal gives you the freedom to add more or less salt and more or less sugar than the packaged stuff. I added just a touch of maple syrup on top and I plan to play around with adding different dried fruits as well. The result of just a bit of prep time is a warm, filling, and perfectly sweet breakfast perfect for a rainy morning!

Enjoy!

P.S. – It’s not too late to join the fun! Hop on over here and here to try your hand at the FSC’s book club cook-along! And check out last week’s dairy challenge and my cheese-making prowess over here.