Soaking Oats for a Beginner

Ew, doesn't the word soaking sound gross, especially when you are talking about food?  It makes me think... soggy.  I used to reason, Isn't it enough that I am eating oatmeal, do I really need to soak it to make it even healthier?  Then, one day when I was prepping to make these muffins (that I make almost every other week if you haven't noticed), I decided to let the oat/buttermilk mixture soak overnight.  And the result was delicious, smoother, less chewy muffins.

So I first came to appreciate the benefits of soaking for taste and texture, rather than health.  About the same time, our microwave went out.  So long oatmeal, you cheap, healthy breakfast.  I had been hearing about the benefits of soaking whole grains for awhile, mostly from Passionate Homemaking, and no more microwave was the perfect time to give it a shot.  I wanted to try Lindsay's recipe the cheapest, easiest way.  I followed directions, but I used lemon juice for the acid medium, and left out the wheat flour for simplicity.  If you read the comments following the recipe, you find that lemon juice, or even vinegar, are appropriate acid mediums as well.

So 1 and 1/2 cup oats, water to cover, lemon juice (just a splash, or it will be too tangy).  Shake it up and set out overnight.  Add more water in the morning to cook.  Takes about 5 to 10 minutes to be ready in the morning - I usually let it get going on the stovetop while I am getting something/someone else ready for the day nearby.  My husband likes his oatmeal much better this way.  It is creamy and not chewy.  You would think we used milk!  It really makes our oats go a lot further, too.  A cup and a half of dry oats will make plenty for 3 of us.  We typically add some combo of brown sugar/honey/tubinado/cinnamon/vanilla/peanut butter/banana/blueberries (but not all!) after cooking.  I have also found that if there are leftovers, gross as they may look, you can put them back in the sauce pan with a tad bit of water the next day and once they are heated through, will be good to go.  (We buy the old fashioned Quaker Oats, 9 lbs. for about $6 at Costco, and this lasts us awhile.)

I am a beginner when it comes to soaking grains. Recipes with oats are all I have tried so far.  And I don't have kefir or even buttermilk on hand, typically.  So I use water/lemon juice or milk/lemon juice (aka mock buttermilk).  These are the recipes I have tried so far, and have found them to be good for a beginner like me - relatively easy and delicious:

Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins (soak overnight instead of 5 minutes)
Soaked Oatmeal
Oatmeal Pancakes (This is my newest favorite pancake recipe.)

If you have aother recipe you think we would like, please feel free to share!