I was recently asked, do I ever have any disasters with my recipes? (Shout out to Evie, for such a great question!) Sometimes it takes several attempts before I’m satisfied with a recipe, and other times I just declare defeat! My taste-testing crew can vouch for me. If you asked them, they would say …. “Oh no….not the fruit crumble bars AGAIN!!” You see, I’ve been trying to make fruit crumble bars, and boy did they live up to their name (crumble to say the least). Actually, mine should have been called fruit flour bars.  After my first attempt, I went back to the kitchen and got my creative juices flowing. I was so excited because I was setting out to make the most remarkable crumble bars yet! I envisioned the photograph in my head: three beautiful layers, a buttery crust, then the middle layer of luscious, vibrant fresh fruit and finally the layer of crumb topping.  Before they came out of the oven, I had my camera ready to shoot the most beautiful dessert ever. To my dismay, my dreams were dashed when I saw my bars had suddenly become fruit soupy bars. 🙁 I just couldn’t master the fruit crumb bars (however….something good came out of the fruit crumb bar experience). You guessed it — this remarkable, scrumptious steel cut oat crumble. The oats are cooked overnight in a slow cooker, so you wake up to a hot breakfast. The topping is unbelievably delectable, and you can’t go wrong with the mouthwatering fresh fruit.  You will wake up and think you are at a bed and breakfast! So maybe I wasn’t cut out to make fruit crumble bars after all, but as my high school French teacher would say, “un mal pour un bien” (a bad for a good)! 🙂

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats Fruit Crumble

You'll wake up and think you are at a bed and breakfast. Steel cut oats are simmered all night in a slow cooker, and then topped with a scrumptious crumble topping and fresh fruit.

Ingredients

Slow Cooked Oats

  • 1 cup steel cut oats (Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free)
  • 4 cups water
  • salt, dash
  • butter for coating slow cooker
  • 1 Tablespoon roasted Flax Seed (optional)
  • 1 cup almond milk (or your choice of milk)

Sweet Crumble Topping

  • 1 Tablespoon chopped pecans
  • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon butter

Fresh Fruit

  • 1 banana, sliced
  • 4 ounces blackberries

Instructions

  1. in a small bowl, mix all of the crumble topping ingredients together. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter to form a crumbly mixture. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

  2. Coat the insert of the slow cooker with a thin layer of butter. Add the water, oats, and salt and stir to combine.


  3. Cover and cook on low until the oats are cooked through and creamy, about 7 to 8 hours. 

  4. Stir the oats and then add the milk. 

  5. Divide oats evenly between 4 bowls. Top each with a spoon full of topping and fresh fruit, serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

To prevent the oatmeal from sticking to the sides of the slow cooker, I have found coating the sides with butter and then spraying generously with cooking spray works the best.

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