Coconut Strawberry Steel Cut Oats
Steel cut oats that actually soften on trail, built on coconut milk powder and freeze-dried berries.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 4.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 148
- protein
- 13 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 14 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Quick-cook steel cut oats | 1/2 cup | the pre-steamed kind; standard steel cut will not soften in under 30 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered coconut milk | 1/4 cup | |
| Brown sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Cinnamon | 1/4 tsp | |
| Nutmeg | 1/8 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | |
| Freeze-dried strawberries | 1/3 cup | |
| Shredded coconut | 2 tbsp | toast it at home in a dry pan |
| Ghee or coconut oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 1 tbsp | stands in for the condensed milk drizzle |
Method
- Bring 400 ml of water to a boil and stir in the oat and coconut milk powder mix.
- Drop to the lowest flame that keeps it moving. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often so the bottom does not scorch.
- Kill the heat, stir in the fat, and put the lid on for three minutes.
- Scatter the strawberries and toasted coconut over the top. Whisk the milk powder with a spoonful of water and pour it over.
Slow cookers and steel cut oats go together because steel cut grain needs an hour it will never get on a stove that is burning fuel by the minute. Quick-cook steel cut oats are the fix. They are pre-steamed, so they hydrate in about ten minutes and still keep the chew that makes steel cut worth carrying over rolled oats.
Canned coconut milk becomes coconut milk powder, butter becomes ghee, fresh strawberries become freeze-dried, and the condensed milk drizzle becomes milk powder mixed thick. The fat is not optional. Coconut milk powder is where most of the calories live, and the spoon of ghee at the end is what keeps this from tasting like thin porridge. Keep the flame low and stir; steel cut oats will weld to a titanium pot given the chance.
Packing
Oats, coconut milk powder, sugar, spices, and salt premixed in one bag. Strawberries and toasted coconut in a second bag so they stay crisp. Fat in a leakproof jar.
Variations
- Freeze-dried blueberries or peaches swap in one for one.
- Cold-soak it overnight in a jar instead: same mix, cold water, no stove, but expect a chewier bite.
- Skip the milk powder and use more coconut milk powder to make it dairy-free.
https://domesticsuperhero.com/slow-cooker-creamy-coconut-strawberry-steel-cut-oats