The Round Cottage

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From Scratch Creamy Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Make the best, from scratch, SIMPLE real maple syrup and brown sugar oatmeal on a cold morning for a hearty and cozy breakfast!

oatmeal with chocolate chips in a white bowl with a small green bowl with chocolate chips on a granite countertop
While my kids were really little I used to put some dark chocolate chips in their oatmeal. It was a way to entice them to try a bite, at first. Ended up sticking all through the years and we still sprinkle some in. Our favorite is the “enjoy life” brand!
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I always loved the little maple and brown sugar packets from Quaker and similar brands as a child. Especially in the fall and winter when you are wanting something to eat that warms your insides!

When I was in high school my mom worked at a small natural food grocery store. She ran the deli there that served vegetarian and vegan dishes. After some time they offered me to come in and do some filing and work for a couple hours after school each week. Essentially becoming my first real job. I stayed on there until about four to five years later when I got married, up to a month before my first born daughter arrived.

My time spent there I really truly enjoyed and I learned so much. I had no prior knowledge to what natural or organic even meant. Customers would come in for so many different types of vitamins, homeopathies, or some sort of natural care. If you worked there, you needed to pick up on what all the different products and vitamins were used for. Then you could help if a customer had questions about remedies and the like.

I still have a lot to learn about natural health. It’s amazing how one product can help so many different ailments. Looking back, I’m so grateful for that job. I now realize, it was preparing me to be a better wife and mom. It’s a gift having a better understanding on how you can take a much bigger approach in you and your families own health care. I now use this wisdom and the skills I learned there to research different methods all the time.

You may possibly be wondering how all this goes along with a simple oatmeal recipe.

This oatmeal recipe was one of my first steps towards a more from scratch and natural way to cook and live. It was one of the first ‘boxed’ items I gave up and replaced with something we learned to make ourselves. I have a little tiny delight in me every time I make this. It stirs up a lot of good memories of working at the little food store. If you are unseasoned in learning to cook food from scratch. This is a perfect recipe option to start with.

“This oatmeal recipe was one of my first steps towards a more from scratch and natural way to live.” (Learn more about our homestead and me here.)

I’ve made this since my daughter was maybe 3 years old. She’s 14 now, so it’s been a breakfast staple on our table for years. We have this once every other week or weekly. The recipe hasn’t changed either (except we did start adding salt about a year ago which came highly recommended to me but otherwise it hasn’t been changed.) Most all my children love this meal, although I’m more of a farmers breakfast gal myself (eggs, toast, & bacon.) So if you need a little protein with this, maybe stir in some peanut butter or protein powder.

Did you have a favorite packaged oatmeal flavor you loved or love still? See if you can recreate it with raw ingredients!

Another favorite one was the apples and cinnamon packaged oatmeal. It would be easy to add some cinnamon, dried or very tiny diced bits of apples, with some natural sweeteners. Pick a favorite out and play around with it. I think I would like this flavor even better then the one below! Maybe I’ll shock my kids and make a new version sometime!

STEP BY STEP SIMPLE MAPLE & BROWN SUGAR OATMEAL

milk, brown sugar, vanilla, oats, salt, and maple syrup on granite countertop

First gather your ingredients: oats, whole milk (or raw preferably,) sea salt, vanilla extract, brown sugar & real or pure maple syrup. That’s it. And maybe a pretty porridge bowl to serve it in like these (they are nice and extra deep and large for soups or oatmeal. They have some perfect mini ones for kids here also.)

raw oats in a large glass container
Bulk Oats from Azure Standard.

Scoop about 2 1/2 – 3 C. of oats into a medium sized sauce pan. I used to start with 1 1/2- 2 C. but as our family has grown, so has the amount of oats we needed. Some of my kids eat a bit more than those earlier years. So no matter how much of the oats you use I use 1 1/2 C. milk per 1 C. of oats. You can easily make this flexible to how much you actually need for your family.

raw milk in a glass liquid measuring container in a granite countertop
So add your milk and a little bit of water(1/2 C. per 1 C. of oats) to help keep it from scalding. Stirring it occasionally or often.

Example: I used 3 C. of oats so I cooked it in 4 1/2 C. of milk and 1 1/2 C. of water. That’s 2 C. total liquid per 1 C. of oats. This may seem excessive on liquid but it’s really not. We are using regular oats and not quick oats. Heavier on the liquids like this seems to make the oats cook quicker on a medium to high heat.

Make sure to stir often so the milk does not scorch. The water helps but so does stirring frequently. You can play with the liquids to get your desired texture or porridge consistency as well. We then cook it until its thickened and has soaked up all that creamy milk. As it sits and cools it will thicken even more.

creamy oatmeal in a saucepan
This is what the oats look like while starting to soak up the milk.

thickened oatmeal on an electric stove top in a soup pan with salt being poured in
Its starting to thicken and when its really hot or bubbling, I add a little bit of salt. Just a teaspoon or so.
hot electric stove with oatmeal cooking in a pan and maple syrup being poured in.
Once its getting very thick, I take it off the heat while I pour in the PURE maple syrup(1/4 -1/2 C.), vanilla (1 tsp.), & brown sugar(1/4-1/2 C.), then stir it up real good. Put it back over the heat for just another minute or so then turn off the stove and let it cool a bit before serving.
view of black stove with saucepan on top of electric stove
Letting it cool so I can serve it up!

Sourcing Ingredients

If you are making a recipe and trying to turn it more healthier than a boxed item, its good to start by sourcing your ingredients with places that align with the health choices you are trying to achieve. When you order from places like this you are supporting smaller companies or family owned businesses. Owning a business ourselves, we know how much this means to the owners. Below is some of my favorite resources to get organic or natural, raw nuts, spices, bulk items, and just overall really yummy and good quality ingredients!

AZURE STANDARD

You can find them at www.azurestandard.com and make an account for yourself. This is like the online organic style version of Costco and it comes on a truck to you once a month. Hopefully you have a truck drop within an hour or so and that is where they drop your monthly purchase (as you want it) unless it’s to far they will ship certain items. Our drop is 15 minutes away and most everything in this recipe I order through them and most half to three-fourth of our pantry is stocked with their items. They are very particular in what they sale and that it coincides with their mission and what they stand for in quality food. We get most of all our chicken feed from them, too.

maple syrup, vanilla, & brown sugar in a counter by a soup pot with oatmeal & a hot electric burner.
Maple syrup, vanilla extract & brown sugar. All ingredients sourced from Azure Standard.

Thrive Market

Thrive market you can join with a monthly or yearly membership and I know they carry many great products as well and you would be able to get probably all these ingredients from them. I hear only good things and have actually tried a membership with them in the past. Eventually I realized I was still ordering so much from azure that I just stuck with them and canceled my thrive membership. This may be a good option for you though, if an azure drop is to far from you or you don’t necessarily want or need bulk items. Maybe you have a smaller pantry and prefer to buy as needed. Thrive would be a great option and it ships directly to you.

LOCAL NATURAL FOOD STORE

If you are in a pickle and need something quick. I recommend giving your local natural food store some love. Mine is of course, the one I worked at as a teen so it’s fun to run in and grab a couple items and relive my glory days while I’m in there. If you sadly, don’t have one close enough then most grocery stores have sections for natural living now.

LOCAL MARKETS

When your local farmer markets are happening depending on where you live you can get some yummy local maple syrup and can hopefully make friends and have a new forever source for your syrup. We use real maple syrup for so many things and its probably up there with milk and butter for us!

Not ready to source out specialty spots quite yet? Your local grocery store, Costco, Aldi, or Trader Joes will help you out, too.

plain oatmeal porridge with honey in the background

From Scratch Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Make the best & simple every day maple and brown sugar oatmeal that dosent come in a box!
5 from 2 votes
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Equipment

  • 1 Soup Pan
  • 1 wooden spoon or stirring spoon
  • perfect porridge bowls (optional)
  • measuring spoons
  • liquid measurer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 C. -3 C. Oats
  • 2 C. – 4C. Milk
  • 1/4-1/2 C. Pure maple syrup
  • 1/4-1/2 C. Brown Sugar
  • 1/2-1 tsp. Salt
  • 1/2-1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • pinch dark chocolate chips (optional)
  • 1/2 C. – 2 C. water

Instructions
 

  • Grab a sauce pan and place 2 C. oats into it along with 3 C. of milk and 1 C. water. (Note: for every 1 C. of oats I have 2 C. of liquid. 1 1/2 C. milk and 1/2 C. water. Adjust to how much oats you are cooking with.)
  • Next put it on the stove top on medium to high heat. Stir a lot to keep the milk from scorching. Once it starts to bubble or you can see smoke rising turn it a little lower then medium and allow it to continue to cook.
  • Once its pretty hot and starting to thicken put around 1 tsp. of salt in.
  • Give it another minute or so and then pull it off the heat and add your maple syrup, vanilla extract, & brown sugar. Stir it all together. Place back on the heat for another minute or two to let the flavors melt together.
  • If its to your desired porridge consistency, take it completely off the heat and allow to cool. You can let it cool then serve or get it into bowls right away and let them cool on the table individually.
  • Sprinkle on some dark chocolate chips as my kids do or some fruit or nothing! Enjoy especially on a cold morning!

Notes

Keep in mind the changes depending on how many oats you decide to cook up. I put the liquid equivalents above with the milk and water step. It’s the same with the syrup and brown sugar or even salt. Add a bit more (or less) depending on the quantity you are making. You may decide you like a bit more syrup or need a little less brown sugar. It’s really hard to mess this recipe up and its easy to make it meet your needs! 
***I use raw milk which means the cream is not separated from the milk we use which is what I credit the creaminess from. You may want to lessen your milk and put some heavy whipping cream in if your not getting the creamy texture you’d hoped for.***
from scratch maple syrup and brown sugar oatmeal with oats in a white bowl and chocolate chips. A green bowl sitting next to it on a granite countertop.
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Leave a comment below and share your favorite from scratch oatmeal mix -ins!

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Comments

  4. Julie says

    Looks delicious! There is nothing quiet like homemade oatmeal seasoned with real maple syrup. Thank you for sharing, can’t wait to make some using your directions.

    Reply

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