Creamy Breakfast Oatmeal (Rice Cooker)

I usually have oatmeal for breakfast and I like steel cut oats best, but they take a long time to cook, plus they leave my stovetop super messy from all the bubbles spurting out. So I thought I would try some cooked in a rice cooker. They were so good. I just put them in my rice cooker and while I was feeding my kids, they cooked. It was so nice to have a hot breakfast with such little effort. I didn't add the dates or syrup and I used water instead of milk and they turned out great. It would be good served with chopped walnuts and any dried fruit (cranberries, dates, apricots).

2/3 cup steel cut oats
1 2/3 cups milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 pinch fine sea salt
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 cup chopped dates

Place all ingredients, except dates, in cooker; stir gently to combine; sprinkle dates on top.
Close the cover, set on Porridge cycle.
NOTE1: This recipe is designed for a rice cooker with fuzzy logic - use the porridge setting. If you have a regular rice cooker, you will need to watch it to determine when the oatmeal is done, probably 25 to 30 minutes, depending on your cooker.
NOTE2: Steel cut oats vary slightly. With some brands I find I need to reduce the milk to 1 1/2 cup to get the right consistency.
NOTE3: You can substitute vanilla flavored soy milk for the milk plus vanilla extract.

original recipe