We are hereby liberating oatmeal from its association with boring, unexceptional, default pantry breakfasts. It’s time to raise it up to the level of boujie, brunch-worthy Belgian waffles, French toast, and eggs Benedict. Because what’s more sophisticated than infusing your oatmeal with tea? And besides making you feel like you have mastered life, the mouthwatering marriage of flavors will make you swoon.
And it’s so much easier to make than you’d think–more about highlighting quality ingredients than any kind of over-the-top effort.
The magic comes from simply steeping tea in the cooking liquid before making your oatmeal. The possibilities are endless depending on the type of tea you use, the kind of oats and milk, the mix-ins, and toppings. Because this particular combo was out-of-this-world yummy, I wanted to share the specific ingredients I used. But feel free to take creative license or sub your personal favorites and definitely report back. 🙂
This Ginger Peach Black tea by Allegro is easily one of my favorite teas of all time. I get it from Whole Foods, and it’s also on Amazon! My next choice for this recipe would be any Earl Grey.
Microwave your milk (I use 1%), and let the tea steep for 5-10 minutes. If you’re really looking to cut time in the morning, you could always do this step the night before and keep the milk in the fridge, ready to go for breakfast.
(For those wondering why dirty another dish to microwave the milk when you’re about to heat it on the stove anyway, it’s because I got really nervous about the paper end of the tea bag catching on fire when I first tried steeping step on the stove. If you’re feeling rebellious and want to cut the microwave step, be rebellious with the utmost caution.)
The type of oats is up to you–the cooking time and amount of liquid will just vary. The quickest option (and my trusted go-to) is 1-minute rolled oats (1/2 cup) with 1 cup 1% milk. Quick steel cut (1/4 cup oats with 3/4 cup milk and additional water) gives a wonderful rustic-feeling, chewier texture, and can still be done in a reasonable time (although invariably longer than the package says).
Pictured is quick-cooking steel cut, which took about 20-25 minutes to get the creamy texture.
At the end of cooking, I whipped in a dash of cinnamon and a splash of bourbon (!!) and vanilla. Try not to overdo the seasonings so you don’t overpower the delicate flavor of the tea.
Then chopped juicy ripe peaches, blackberries, banana, and raisins.
Finally, the bowl is topped with a hefty glob of almond butter (I used Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter for a little extra indulgence), which becomes gloriously melty and drippy on top of the hot oats.
And the extra special kick: high quality thick balsamic vinegar! I found a blackberry ginger balsamic recently and it is heavenly drizzled over the oats. If you’re going to splurge on an ingredient, balsamic is definitely something that I recommend going all-out on. Because the quality makes a HUGE difference in flavor, complexity, richness, sweetness, and even uses. Genuine aged balsamic is thick, sweet, and rich enough that a teensy drizzle (1/2 tsp) goes a LONG way, and it pairs with everything from cheese to ice cream, on its own. I wouldn’t use it for salad dressings, marinades, or anything that requires a large volume.
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 1 bag Allegro Peach Ginger Black Tea*
- 1/2 cup quick rolled oats (or 1/4 cup quick steel cut)
- dash cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp vanilla and/or bourbon
- ~1/4 cup chopped fresh ripe peach
- ~1/4 cup fresh blackberries
- ~1/4 banana, sliced and halved
- ~1/2 Tbsp raisins
- 2 tsp almond butter**
- 1/2 tsp high quality aged balsamic***
- Microwave the milk in a large measuring up about 2 minutes. Add the tea bag, cover, and steep 5-10 minutes. Remove tea bag.
- Pour infused milk into a saucepan with the oats. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cook on low heat until the liquid is absorbed and the oats are creamy, stirring frequently. Add water as needed to keep a creamy/stirrable consistency until the oats are done. (A couple minutes for quick rolled oats, 20-25 minutes for quick steel cut.)
- At the end of cooking, stir in a dash of cinnamon, plus a splash of vanilla and/or bourbon if you're feeling adventurous. Then fold in the fruit. Cover a minute until warm throughout.
- Transfer the oats into a bowl and top with almond butter** and a drizzle of balsamic.***
- *This tea is sold at Whole Foods and on Amazon. Earl Grey would also work great in this!
- **Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter tastes fabulous here.
- ***The quality of the balsamic is essential when used as a topper on its own. It should be naturally very thick, sweet but also complex and rich-tasting. I used a blackberry ginger-flavored balsamic that tasted heavenly with this.