I love oatmeal and I am looking for healthy ingredients that I can use to sweeten my oatmeal. I am trying to get away from artificial sweeteners like Splenda, Equal, etc.

I was using the oatmeal packs but I am switching to the Quaker Oats because the packets have too much sugar in them.

Can anyone suggest anything please? I'm desperate.

I like Stevia -- it is not an artificial sweetener, it is all natural. Works great for me! I don't eat or drink any products with artificial sweeteners in them; freaks me out.

Another option might be a touch of natural maple syrup or maybe agave...

I tried Stevia about a year ago and it tastes horrible.

But thanks for the suggestion.

date sugar, or dates!
honey, a bit of yogurt, dried cranberries, fruit, cinnamon, vanilla, coconut sugar.

If you add fruit in you can get your sweetness that way. Oatmeal and fruit is a huge staple in my diet!

I am a fan of steel-cut oats and I cook them overnight in my crock pot.

http://annkroeker.com/2008/03/25/ove...l-cut-oatmeal/

I add a chopped-up apple to the oats in the evenings, and it adds just the touch of sweetness that I like. Raisins or dried cranberries also work well.

Molasses?

mmmmmmmmmmmm. That sounds yummy!

I have seen steel cut oats in the store but never have tried them. I will try it and see. Thanks!

Although I DO use Equal in mine, I also like flavoring it up a bit. I make a pot of 5 servings every Sunday to have for the next week. I put in lots of cinnamon and/or apple pie spice, and a dollop of butter flavor extract. Sometimes I'll dump in some fresh or frozen blueberries before reheating or cooked apple. Light canned peaches are amazing in it, too!

Maybe you could just add a dab of brown sugar. I use the Splenda brown sugar blend in mine, too.

In my humble opinion, banana is the best fruit to give your oatmeal sweetness! I like other fruit in my oatmeal but I like to whip the banana in specifically for sweetness. If you're cooking on the stove top, slice the banana thinly in a few minutes before cooking is done. Stir it in, let it warm, then stir stir stir and it will dissolve. If you're microwaving, I microwave my oatmeal for 2 minutes, thinly slice banana in it and stir it in, microwave for 30 seconds more then stir to dissolve the banana. Sometimes I use a whole banana but a half banana sweetens well too!

Ok, so I splurged and bought some oats for oatmeal and I have been trying everything that I could to try to sweeten it up. I have used strawberries, peaches, raisins, blueberries and bananas AND added a little bit of agave nectar. Well, I'm sorry to say but nothing has worked. The oatmeal tastes like CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! The only thing that sweetened it up a bit was the raisins and I think I put a cup in there which was way too much. I so love the instant packs of oatmeal but I know it has a lot of sugar in them. I guess I'll use the rest of the oats to make oatmeal cookies.

I tried. *sigh*

I like oatmeal and I like it sweetened with brown sugar. I like fruit on it too but I must have the brown sugar on the oatmeal. I use skim milk so I'm not giving up the sugar.

Fresh fruit or dried fruit works. Lately I've been using a teaspoon natural peanut butter. It's high in fat, but it's the good kind, and there are other nutrients in there, it beats sugar.

I make my oatmeal with frozen blueberries, cinnamon, I chop 10 almonds and use almond milk to make it, if you cut down on sugars in other areas you will be surprised how sweet things begin to taste.

best to all