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Todays combo for my other was a disk of TJ's frozen steel cut oats, butter, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, maple syrup and a handful of TJ's pecan praline granola....he likes it sweet and claimed that was my best version yet!

Butter and a pinch of salt.

old-fashioned scottish style porridge oats soaked overnight with sliced banana, fresh raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, dried fig, date, raisins, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and dried coconut. with a dash of cinnamon and a sprinkle of salt. top it off with some silver moon bakery (upper west side manhattan) fruit and nut granola (the best!), agave nectar, and west soy unsweetened soy milk. the key is a tiny bit of all the ingredients. i eat this for breakfast almost every morning.

I'm topless over here too

I'm a fan of brown sugar and cinnamon. And sometimes raisins.

*tudogostoso- your combo sounds crazy.

being tudogostoso's sister, my oatmeal bowl looks almost identical. we perfected this concoction as a team (and really got it down over the summer). it was especially wonderful when we would add in the bounty of the season like nectarines or peaches, fresh figs, and sometimes even muscat grapes from the farmer's market. she forgot to mention that a dash of cardamom is essential. i tend to add very little to no sweetener to my oatmeal because i find that all the dried fruit along with the melty banana makes it perfectly sweet enough. i could eat oatmeal for days. and i do.

I add craisins, a tiny bit of real maple syrup or brown sugar, strawberries, and extra bran. Oatmeal is a great way to sneak even more good stuff into you.

I usually like my breakfast oatmeal pretty plain - I dust it with cinnamon and nutmeg. Sometimes, I stir in frozen fruit - blueberries, raspeberries, or bananas.

I used to top it with raisins and brown sugar, but somewhere along the line, that got too sweet for me . . .

I make my porridge with salt, and sometimes add a bit of milk. That's about it. I hate sweet things in the morning.

salt, milk, butter, pure (grade B) maple syrup

You all may object to this, but I always cook my oatmeal (as in, I add these things at the beginning, so the raisins get really big and soft, and the milk is soaked up) extra long with double the liquid (half milk, half water), a little splenda, cinnamon, and raisins. It's a little weird, and I'm very particular about the proportions and how long it cooks. That's a little embarrassing...

@christineb: that's EXACTLY how i make oats when cooking for my whole family. the only thing i change up is sometimes i use chopped apple instead of raisins and I don't use splenda for the whole family. i use it for me, due to diabetes, but there's no need to use when cooking for the troops since i can't eat it due to the milk in it..

Trader Joes has the most amazing Pumpkin Butter out right now. I add a spoonful to my Kashi outmeal. Really yummy.

Cinnamon and dried mixed fruits from Trader Joe's. Dried cranberries. Dried, unsweetened sour cherries from Michigan. Dried apricots poached w spices. Peaches canned in pear juice, drained, cut up, w powdered ginger. Pinch of salt when done. No additional sweetener. Milk only afterwards and never butter. Too rich, otherwise, for me.

COOKING TIP: I've started to purchase rolled oats in bulk at Whole Foods which are thicker (and less expensive) than the flakes processed by Quaker Oats and manufacturers who supply supermarkets w their store brands. First time I cooked them, I found it took quite a while to get the creamy consistency I prefer. So, I've started to soak the oats overnight in a small lidded pot that I place in the unlit oven of my gas stove (110 F). Perfect! 1/3 c raw oats prepared this way is as satisfying as the 1/2 cup-cup serving QO now recommends.

I like to saute apples in butter and brown sugar and mix them in my old-fashioned oats oatmeal with a splash of milk. I prefer old-fashioned because I can make it so it's more crunchy. I don't care for the smooth texture of quick-cooking oats (since childhood, I never liked oatmeal but just got back into it a couple years ago!). I do like Irish oatmeal as well.

Look how popular your forum posts are JEP!

I never knew people out there topped their oatmeal...I almost eat mine plain especially because I just use the convenience packs that you add hot water to and I generally use the flavors. My favorites are maple brown sugar (so I suppose I'd top with mine with maple syrup and brown sugar) or apples and cinnamon (self-explanatory!)

Hillary
Chew on That

Thanks for sharing your toppers, both sweet & the savory!

I'm losing count on our # but we are well on our way to exceeding that 101 marker :)

Tomorrow, I'll throw on some bite-sized prunes...

Karen---you provide us with the most interesting bits of info & links on every "talk" post--thanks!

I don't add any toppers, but I do add either raisins or dried cranberries to the water as I am cooking my oatmeal. I find that it adds more flavor this way. I use either old fashioned or steel cut oats. I don't add sugar or other sweetners, so I rely on the dried fruit for some sweetness. I guess I am a bit boring with my oatmeal!

Over on the Mr. Breakfast site, he gives us 10 reason why we need to eat oatmeal as well as some additional oatmeal topping ideas---check it out!

Dark amber maple syrup, toasted nuts/seeds (pecans, walnuts, sunflower, pine), fruit (fresh added at the last minute of cooking, dried added at the beginning. I love Silver Palate's Thick and Rough oatmeal though I haven't seen it around for a while. Steel cut is good also. Can't stand quick cooking or 1 minute oats.

I loathe sweet oatmeal so I usually cook it with milk and savory seasonings like garlic powder, onion pwoder, curry, paprika and cayenne.

Sugar

I like to make steel cut Irish oatmeal with butter, clotted cream and jam.

However, if I want something savory, I'll make a polenta with cheddar cheese -- served in a small bowl -- topped off with a poached egg. It's fantastic!. The egg yolk makes a carmonara-like sauce in the cheesy polenta -- yummy.

Thanks for sharing favorite oatmeal toppings---I pretty sure we exceeded that 101# :)

I just discovered this post, it looks a little old but I'll share my favorite toppings too. I use quaker old fashioned oats with honey, currants, and margarine. In fact, I just ate that for breakfast this morning! :)

I top my oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon.

I stir matcha into mine sometimes, usually when I'm eating it as a late night snack before bed. Morning oatmeal is cinnamon (lots), cloves, nutmeg, and ground ginger with a spoonful of either buckwheat honey or molasses.

I am not sure where I fit in. My favorite oatmeal is baked oatmeal that I started to have when I moved to the Pennsylvania Dutch country of southeastern PA. I can offer a recipe but more or less it is some of your typical oatmeal combinations with egg and baking powder mixed in and then baked like a coffee cake. It is hard to describe if you never had it - the oats have more texture (stay more intact) yet they stick together into a cake. Here is a basic recipe that serves about 6.

3 cups Oatmeal (old-fashioned = best texture), ¾ cup Brown sugar,
1 ½ cup Milk, 3 whole eggs, 1 ¼ tsp. Baking powder, ½ tsp. Salt
6 Tbsp. Melted butter or margarine

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into a greased 3 qt casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 ½ hour or until center seems set and top is golden brown. Serve straight from the oven or keep it warm. Serve with warm milk.

You can add vanilla, spices, dried or fresh fruit, or about anything else folks have suggested.