r/Oatmeal

I have a super busy college schedule this year so I’m looking for some tried and true baked oats to prepare on Sundays :)) I’m not picky about flavors and will try just about anything!!

Hi, I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this or has advice.

For the last two years, Nature’s Path Maple Brown Sugar instant oatmeal has been one of my go-to foods. I put the kettle on, add sunflower butter (yay peanut allergy) to the bowl, then add two packets of oatmeal, brown sugar, and a little bit of salt. Then, I add the boiling water from the kettle as soon as it’s done, and stir it around until the sunflower butter is dissolved. I like my oatmeal to have more of a soupy texture and for the oats to be fairly soft, and for two years, I’ve been able to achieve that.

However. I recently bought two new boxes of the oatmeal, and despite no changes to the way I make my oatmeal, it seems like it’s just. Not cooking. The oats have a more crunchy texture, and it seems like they aren’t absorbing the water the way they used to. Like I said, I like my oatmeal with more of a soupy texture, but the texture now is more like actual soup. I’m really not sure what’s going on.

Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have thoughts to what might be causing the difference, or advice for how to deal with it?

(P.S. I cannot tell y’all how excited I was to discover that there is a subreddit for oatmeal - this is great!!)