Chocolate Oatmeal

I love oatmeal. Eating a bowl of creamy oats takes me back to the cold Winter days of my childhood. Oh, for the snow days of my youth, when I’d load up on a double serving of oatmeal, don my puffy snowsuit and head out for a fine day of sledding and snowball fights.

I also love chocolate. In all its forms. I swear I could eat a pine cone if it was covered in Hershey’s Syrup. Chocolate is one of the major food groups in my food pyramid. It’s pretty much a law that I have a little every day.

Last night, a friend and I were watching a movie. We took a munchie break and we both thought of chocolate. Only one problem: there was no chocolate in the house! My first thought was to call 911, but I realized they wouldn’t understand the emergency. I also thought paying a couple of thousand dollars for an ambulance to brings us some candy bars was ridiculous even for me. Not wanting to take the time to drive to the store, I came up with idea of using some cocoa powder to flavor some oatmeal. It would be chocolate, and warm. It would be healthy because of the oats. And it would be ready in just a few minutes.

Ingredients:

Oatmeal
Cocoa powder
Brown Sugar (or substitute sweetener)

Optional:

Chopped pecans, walnuts or other nuts
Chocolate chips
Whipped cream for topping

Instructions:

Prepare oatmeal according to package directions. Make sure to add a bit of salt. You can also add a few drops of vanilla for extra flavor.

Near the end of preparation, add in equal amounts of cocoa powder and brown sugar. Start slow and remember that you can always add more, but you can’t take it back out.

Last night, I prepared 4 single cup servings. For that I used 4 tablespoons each of brown sugar and cocoa.

Serve immediately with nuts and/or whipped cream. You can also serve some chocolate chips for those who want even more magic in their bowl.

Variations:

Mexican – add cinnamon and perhaps a touch of cayenne pepper.

Chocolate Banana – Top with slices of banana. Done!

Coconut Dream – Top with shredded coconut before serving.

Almond Joyous – Use almond milk instead of water, and add shredded coconut and almond slices.

PBC – Add dollops of peanut butter to almost finished oatmeal. Let it melt in, then serve.

Notes:

I always use half water, half half-and-half when preparing oatmeal. I find it makes it creamier and richer-tasting.

For those who need to avoid sweeteners, this will work without the sugar as well.

If you don’t have cocoa powder, you can substitute other things, such as chocolate chips, or part of a candy bar. If you go this route, omit the sugar until the chips have melted into the oatmeal. Taste for sweetness and adjust if needed.

Once, when I was completely out of chocolate, I actually used a K-cup of cocoa mix to make this recipe. And it worked out very well. So don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

Some may have noticed this is in the Dessert section as well as Breakfast. That’s because, when you top it with whipped cream and more chocolate, it really is a great dessert. It may not make it on anyone else’s Healthy Food list, but it’s on mine because it’s made with oatmeal. And a healthy dessert gets extra Manly Points!

Try this out – for breakfast or dessert – and see if you don’t agree that this is a great way to get your oats. And don’t forget:

Play with your food!

Lane

Check out more Breakfast Recipes here.
Check out more Dessert Recipes here. 

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