Cardamom and Tea

Cinnamon Oatmeal

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The best cinnamon oatmeal is simple: Just make your favorite oatmeal and top it with cinnamon sugar. But simplicity cuts both ways: it’s just as easy to get wrong as it is to get right. Here’s everything you need to do to get it right:

  • Do you want your oatmeal to be chewy or creamy? This recipe gives you both options.
  • Make sure your cinnamon sugar has the right ratios (as well as a nice pinch of salt!).
  • Don’t mix the cinnamon sugar into the oatmeal. Top it at the table instead. The contrast is everything (otherwise the sweetness and spice will become background noise).
  • Don’t be shy. The biggest mistake here is doing a dainty little dusting of cinnamon sugar. Be bold!

Jump to the recipe if you’re good to go, or read on if you need a little help deciding on chewy vs. creamy.

cinnamon oatmeal
cinnamon oatmeal

Chewy or creamy?

This probably isn’t the most important decision of your life, but it is certainly the most important decision of your oatmeal: Do you like chewy oats or creamy oats?

Here’s a little personality test to help you decide:

cinnamon oatmeal
option a
cinnamon oatmeal
option b
  1. Looking at the photos above, which looks more appetizing?
    • a. The blue speckled bowl (left)
    • b. The beige bowl (right)
  2. When you make old fashioned rolled oats according to the package instructions, how do you feel?
    • a. I’m a fan!
    • b. I’m usually disappointed in the texture.
  3. How do you feel about oatmeal that’s the texture of crème anglaise (custard sauce), like the kind you might find in a chafing dish at a fancy hotel breakfast bar?
    • a. No thank you—it’s too runny!
    • b. I’m a fan!

If you answered (a) to most, you’re a fan of chewy oatmeal. If you answered (b) to most, you’re a fan of creamy oatmeal. If you couldn’t care less, chewy is probably a safer bet (but to my mind, creamy is elite).

cinnamon oatmeal
cinnamon oatmeal

Cinnamon sugar notes:

Now that we’ve got the oatmeal itself figured out, let’s talk cinnamon sugar:

  • Don’t skip the pinch of salt (unless you have to for dietary reasons). Even a tiny pinch makes a huge difference. Salt has a way of highlighting while balancing out sweetness.
  • You might notice that I use a heavier ratio of cinnamon to sugar than most recipes. That’s because it’s easier to add more sugar at the table than to add more cinnamon at the table. There’s nothing worse than a mouthful of dry cinnamon without any sugar. The ratio in this recipe is perfect for me, since I love a not-too-sweet oatmeal with lots of cinnamon flavor. But if you want a sweeter oatmeal, you can always add more sugar (either at the table or in the cinnamon sugar topping).
  • I prefer using cinnamon sugar as a topping instead of adding it while the oatmeal cooks. Oatmeal is at risk of being homogenous and boring, but using cinnamon sugar as a topping keeps every bite dynamic and interesting.
  • And don’t forget to be bold! Don’t be shy! Sprinkle away!
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Cinnamon Oatmeal (creamy or chewy)

cinnamon oatmeal
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  • Yield: 2 small chewy servings, 2 large creamy servings

Ingredients

for the oats:

  • ¾ cup old fashioned oats [75g]
  • Between ¾ – 1½ cups water* [175g – 355g]
  • Between ¾ – 1½ cups your milk of choice* [180g – 360g]
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

for the cinnamon sugar:

  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar or granulated sugar
  • 2 to 3 tsp ground cinnamon
  • a pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. For the oats: Bring the oats, water, milk, and salt to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring every minute or so. Once it comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally. With the larger amount of liquid, this will take about 15 minutes**, until the liquid thickens and the oatmeal softens. With the smaller amount of liquid, this will take about 4 to 5 minutes, until the oatmeal thickens significantly.
  2. Pour into bowls and let it cool off for a few minutes (it will thicken a little more after a couple minutes).
  3. For the cinnamon sugar: Stir together the sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Sprinkle over bowls of oatmeal at the table.

Notes

* If you are a fan of creamy oatmeal (see photos above the recipe), use the larger amount of both the water and milk.

If you are a fan of chewy oatmeal (see photos above the recipe), use the smaller amount of both water and milk.

Use whatever milk you’d like. I prefer using either soy milk or cow’s milk. In my experience, oat milk tends to be too starchy for making oatmeal. But any alternative milk will do.

** For the creamier, longer-simmering version, it will start out watery, and at a certain point it will noticeably thicken (e.g., the bubbles will get bigger), while still remaining very pourable and creamy. Leave it uncovered the whole time, and be careful not to let it bubble over. If you’re using a wide pan instead of a small saucepan, you may need to add a bit more water as it cooks (more water will evaporate from a wide pan).

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Eggless Banana Bread

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I recently had a major realization about eggless banana bread: You don’t actually need an egg substitute to make a great loaf! That’s right—you don’t need to make a chia egg, buy any applesauce, or shell out $10 for a little bottle of vegan “eggs.”

You’ve already got everything you need: just some extra banana and a tad more flour. It’s as simple as that!

That’s not to say that you should just take your favorite banana bread recipe and substitute extra ingredients (it’s a bit more of a science than that). But you can borrow mine! I tinkered and tested until I got the texture just right. And it happens to be vegan—what’s not to love?

Jump to the recipe if you’re ready to hit the ground running, or read on for more details.

eggless banana bread
eggless banana bread

One very important note…

Don’t over-mix this one!

This is good advice for just about any quick-bread or cake. But it’s especially important here. Without the eggs, the batter is at higher risk of becoming gluey and glutinous. I have a whole post about avoiding over-mixing, which you can read/watch.

As long as you sift your flour, mix the wet ingredients well, and then mix everything just enough to bring it together, your loaf should turn out with a moist and tender crumb. If you over-mix, you will end up with large pockets of air and a tough, dry texture.

sliced banana bread
sliced banana bread

A few ingredient notes:

It’s vegan! (as long as you use the right mix-ins)

This loaf happens to be both dairy-free and egg-free, and it’s vegan as long as you don’t add any animal-product-containing chocolate chips.

Oil is better than butter

I didn’t really set out to make a vegan banana bread recipe, but over the years, I’ve found that I strongly prefer banana breads made with oil instead of butter. Oil leads to an optimal texture, and its flavor is somehow more buttery than butter itself. I love olive oil in particular, but you could use a neutral oil if you prefer.

Milk has no place in banana bread

My biggest banana bread hot take is that milk, yogurt, and other bland liquids (or semi-liquids) should be 100% off-limits. If you want a loaf with a ton of banana flavor, nearly all of the moisture needs to come from the mashed banana. Adding milk (or yogurt or sour cream) means you must add less banana, and thus its flavor gets watered down.

Here, we have an opportunity to add even more banana flavor, since we’re not even adding eggs. This version of eggless banana bread turns out even more banana-ey than one made with eggs, which is an extra bonus.

banana nut bread slices
slice of double chocolate banana bread
olive oil banana bread, sliced

More banana breads!

These are not all eggless, but you can easily use this eggless recipe as a base, while incorporating some other mix-ins and flavorings into your loaf.

Onto the banana bread inspiration:

eggless banana bread
eggless banana bread
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Eggless Banana Bread (with no extra ingredients)

sliced banana bread
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cup [320 g] mashed banana from about 3 to 4 very overripe bananas
  • 1/2 cup [105 g] neutral oil or olive oil
  • 2/3 cup [130 g] granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 2/3 cups [215 g] all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • Optional mix-ins (see notes***)
  • Optional: 1 ripe banana, split lengthwise

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F [180° C].
  2. Grease an 8 x 4 inch [20 x 10 cm] loaf pan.*
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the mashed bananas together with the olive oil until very well combined. Add the sugar and salt, and whisk together until completely incorporated.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.**
  5. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture along with any mix-ins and stir to combine. Do not over-mix (stop mixing as soon as there are no dry pockets of flour).
  6. Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan.
  7. Place the banana halves cut-side-up on top of the loaf (if using).
  8. Bake for about 65 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer into the center of the loaf. If it comes out with batter, it needs more time, but if it comes out with just some crumbs, it’s ready to take out.
  9. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

* To make this into muffins instead of a banana bread loaf, place 9 muffin liners in a muffin tin (homemade parchment liners or store bought paper ones). If using parchment ones, drizzle them lightly with olive oil. Evenly distribute the batter between the 9 liners, then top each with a 1/2 in [13mm] banana slice. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

** If you want to save on dishes, place a fine mesh sieve over a paper towel and add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder to the sieve. Sift the dry ingredients directly onto the wet ingredients (and don’t forget the dust that filtered onto the paper towel too).

*** 1/3 cup [85 g] chocolate chips and/or 1 cup [100g] coarsely chopped walnuts.

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