Cherry Almond Crumble Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Bing cherries, fresh, halved and pit removed
• 1/4 cup (40g) steel cut oats
• 3/4 cup water
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 medium banana, sliced into thin pieces
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp stevia
• 1 tbsp (6.5g) flaxseed meal
• 1/2 sheet of a graham cracker (two small rectangles), crumbled (I use organic)
• 0.2 oz walnut pieces, toasted

Directions

1. The night before you plan to eat the oatmeal: In a medium size pan, heat the oats, water, and salt over medium-high heat, with a lid on. Once the mixture reaches a boil, turn the burner off. Make sure to keep a close watch, because a boil over can happen very quickly (speaking from experience). You do not want to lose half of your oats all over the stove top.
2. DO NOT REMOVE LID. This is very important. This keeps the moisture inside, which is going to continue to cook the oats. Leave the covered pot on the stovetop overnight.
3. In the morning, remove the lid, add half of the cherries now, and give it a stir to incorporate. Turn the burner on to medium heat. Once the mixture begins to simmer, approximately 5-6 minutes, stir in the sliced banana. Continue to stir until the banana breaks down and the mixture thickens.
4. Then add the vanilla extract, almond extract, stevia, and ground flaxseed, and stir until incorporated. Pour into a serving bowl and top with the rest of the cherries, crumbled graham crackers, and the walnut pieces.

Enjoy! Note: I sprinkled walnut pieces on top, but if you want even more almond flavor, you could use slivered almonds instead. By completing this challenge I have realized how much I love almond extract, and I definitely plan to use it more often in my oatmeal, as well as, baking! This recipe was great! Ryan isn't much of a cherry lover, and he even really enjoyed it.

Nutritional Info

1 servings = per serving Calories: 326 Fat: 10 g Carbs: 54 g Protein: 9 g Check out more recipes from my 30-Day Oatmeal Challenge.