How to Eat Oats in the Summer

Not just for winter anymore.

During the winter, oatmeal is practically all I eat. Sliced bananas, toasted nuts, swirls of peanut butter in the morning, and more savory oatmeals with curry spices and apples make a great afternoon snack.

But a steaming hot bowl of gut-sticking oats loses its appeal once you’re wearing short sleeves. And oatmeal, like snow boots and knit scarves, goes into hibernation during the summer months.

Wait a minute, though. The flavor combinations in a bowl of oatmeal aren’t out of season. Pretty sure berries are better now than ever. And oatmeal is really good for you. So why ditch oatmeal during the summer?

Here’s how to get your oats without the steaming bowl.

Muesli

When it's hot out, go with muesli, oatmeal's cooler sibling. This Scandanavian breakfast staple is chilled in milk overnight; by morning, the oats soften into a pleasant porridge. At Huckleberry Café in Santa Monica, California, the muesli gets mixed with wheat germ and chia seeds. The more time muesli spends soaking, the better the texture becomes. Top if off with traditional oatmeal toppings, like crushed nuts, berries, or dates.

Granola

News flash: granola is mostly oatmeal that’s been baked with syrup, butter, and more butter. It's easily portable, making for a great travel snack or a picnic treat. Eat it with milk or sprinkled on top of vanilla or coffee ice cream, but if you really want to change up the oatmeal rules make it savory and sprinkle on top of salads for extra crunch, or use it to add a crust to fish or chicken.

Bars

For all you sweet oatmeal lovers out there, bars are your breakfast best friend. Stir oats into your next bar (especially with chunks of banana and chocolate), or use it as the crust in a fig and walnut bar.

Smoothies

Smoothies are a refreshing way to start your morning off in a healthy way, but too often you're hungry again by the time you get to work. Enter: secret oats for breakfast. Sneak some oats into your next fruity smoothie and hold yourself over until lunch time.

Cookies

Oatmeal cookies seem like they only work in the fall, right? Wrong. As the outer layers of an ice cream sandwich filled with nectarine ice cream, they're great for summer.