Apple and Cinnamon Porridge

Apple and Cinnamon Porridge or Oatmeal, a delicious and healthy breakfast recipe that is comforting and soul-warming. The porridge is milky and smooth, while the spiced apple compote adds a lovely Autumn touch. It's the perfect family-friendly recipe that goes down a treat on a cool morning.

A sample breakfast recipe in the UK, porridge is thousands of years old, and the modern-day recipe isn't much different from the olden days. Granted, nowadays we are overwhelmed by an avalanche of different brands and instant oats that can be cooked in less than a minute or so.

But the very basic recipe is always the best, and I always cook my own porridge - it's way tastier and healthier than the one that comes in a sachet and has sugar or sugar substitutes added.

While some people prefer a simple oats and water porridge, I quite like mine milky, as it has a natural sweetness that can't be beaten. But top it with some delicious apple cinnamon compote and you've taken the good old porridge to the very next level.

And if you wonder if porridge and oatmeal are the same thing- they are. Whereas in the US oatmeal is usually made with steel-cut oats, in the UK we use rolled oats, or porridge oats, as it's advertised.

Jump to:

• Ingredients used
• Easy swaps
• Step-by-step photos and instructions
• Expert tips
• What to serve with porridge
• Other similar breakfast recipes
• Apple and Cinnamon Porridge

Ingredients used

• porridge oats - or rolled oats, are a lot finer than the jumbo oats, and make a great porridge that is smooth and creamy
• milk - I used semi-skimmed milk
• apples - you can use any kind
• light brown sugar - it adds a slightly caramel taste to the apples
• cinnamon - I used ground cinnamon, but if you have cinnamon sticks only, you can add one to the apples and remove it before serving
• lemon juice - it prevents the apples from browning too quickly
• water - if the apples don't release enough liquid, this helps them cook better

Easy swaps

If milky porridge isn't your thing, you can cook this porridge with water only - add the same amount of water, the general rule for me is 1 part oats, 2 parts liquid.

Or you can add one cup of milk, and one cup of water to make the porridge less milky, it will still be creamy though. If you cook it for babies and young kids, I would recommend full-far milk instead.

Light brown sugar can be swapped for dark brown sugar, or omitted altogether if you are cooking the apple compote for young children and the apples are sweet and well ripe.

Step-by-step photos and instructions

• in a non-stick pan set over a medium heat, pour in the milk, add a pinch of cinnamon, and bring it to the boil
• add the porridge oats and mix well
• lower the heat to low to medium, and continue to cook the porridge until most of the milk is absorbed, and the porridge is creamy
• meanwhile, peel, core and cut the apples into wedges
• add them to a pan set over a medium heat and add the sugar, cinnamon, water and lemon juice to them
• place a lid on the pan until the liquid comes to a boil, then remove the lid, and continue to cook the apples until the liquid is absorbed and the apples are tender
• transfer the porridge to a bowl and top with the apple compote

Expert tips

Make sure you use a non-stick pan to cook porridge, as otherwise this tends to stick quite badly to any pan. If that does happen, to clean the pan, leave it to soak well with plenty of hot soapy water, it should make the cleaning way easier.

Heating up the milk first and then adding the oats tends to cook the porridge a bit quicker, although you can also add then oats at the same time and cook them together from the begging.

Do not be tempted to increase the heat, and the resulting porridge won't be as creamy and smooth, it's best to cook slowly to get the best consistency.

There is no need to cook the porridge until the milk is the all absorbed, as it gets transferred to a bowl, it will harden further.

What to serve with porridge

This apple and cinnamon compote is absolutely delicious, but any other fruit compote can do too, like my plum compote. Or any jam of your choice, I have quite a few homemade preserves for you to choose from.

I also added a touch of maple syrup, but honey or any other syrup can be used instead if you wish. Nuts of all sorts, either raw or roasted are a good addition here, as well as cocoa nibs, or chocolate chips.

Other similar breakfast recipes

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