This delicious chocolate brownie baked oatmeal recipe is ultra rich, gooey, fudgy, easy to make, super filling, and secretly healthy at the same time!
Table of Contents
- Healthy chocolate breakfast oatmeal
- Recipe flavor variations
- Brownie oatmeal recipe video
- Ingredients for brownie baked oatmeal
- How to make brownie baked oats
- Brownie baked oatmeal with no banana
- Chocolate brownie baked oatmeal toppings
- Recipe tips and tricks
- Health benefits of brownie baked oats
- More Brownie Recipes
- Brownie Baked Oatmeal Recipe
Healthy chocolate breakfast oatmeal
Cook just once, and you get an indulgent, healthy breakfast for the entire week!
The recipe can easily be prepared the night before, giving you an instant morning meal any time you are craving a sweet and chocolatey breakfast.
It’s perfect for taking on the go and yields a large number of servings. So it’s a great option for feeding a large family or serving to overnight guests.
And leftovers freeze well too!
Also try this popular Protein Banana Bread
Recipe flavor variations
Mocha baked oats: Substitute half the water or milk of choice with brewed coffee or espresso. Alternatively, you can stir a teaspoon of instant coffee (regular or decaf) in with the dry ingredients.
Protein brownie oatmeal: Swap the cocoa powder with your favorite chocolate protein powder. Use peanut butter or another high protein nut butter.
Mint chocolate chip: Add half a teaspoon of pure peppermint extract and a handful of mini chocolate chips. Garnish with fresh mint leaves if you wish.
Chocolate coconut: Stir in half a cup of shredded coconut. Use canned coconut milk as your milk of choice in the recipe.
You may also add in a handful of peanut butter chips, chia seeds or hemp seeds, raisins, dried dates, chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds, or a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Still craving brownies? Make Sweet Potato Brownies
Brownie oatmeal recipe video
Above, watch the step by step video showing how to make the recipe
Ingredients for brownie baked oatmeal
The chocolate peanut butter baked oatmeal can be low fat, low calorie, gluten free, soy free, egg free, refined sugar free, nondairy, and vegan, with just eight ingredients.
Here’s everything you need to make it:
Gather together rolled oats, unsweetened cocoa powder, milk of choice or water, peanut butter (or your favorite nut or seed butter), pure vanilla extract, liquid sweetener of choice, salt, banana, and optional chocolate chips.
There is also a version without banana included below.
If you prefer to use quick oats instead of rolled oats, that is perfectly fine. Spelt flakes, kamut flakes, or quinoa flakes work as well. I do not recommend using steel cut oats here and have not tried oat flour.
Liquid sweetener options include pure maple syrup, honey, agave, date syrup, or sugar free maple syrup. Using granulated sugar will result in a more crumbly texture.
I like to use half unsweetened cocoa powder and half Dutch cocoa powder. Feel free to substitute raw cacao powder, hot chocolate powder, chocolate protein powder, or sweetened cocoa powder for the unsweetened cocoa if desired.
If using peanut butter, the recipe will taste like a Reese’s peanut butter cup, with a strong peanut butter flavor. Almond butter, cashew butter, Coconut Butter, pecan butter, or sunflower butter are all great alternatives to peanut butter if you prefer a more neutral flavor.
Frozen bananas or roasted sweet potato or kabocha squash puree can be substituted in an equal amount for the ripe bananas.
How to make brownie baked oats
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line the bottom of a nine by thirteen inch baking dish with parchment paper, or grease the bottom and sides of the pan with oil spray or oil.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, milk of choice, pure vanilla extract, mashed overripe bananas, and sweetener. Whisk until well mixed.
Stir in the rolled oats, cocoa powder, salt, and any optional add ins.
Smooth the oatmeal brownie batter into the prepared pan with a spoon or spatula.
Place the baking pan on the oven’s center rack, and bake for thirty five minutes without ever opening the oven door.
Once time is up, remove the pan from the oven using pot holders. Let the baked oatmeal cool on the counter before slicing and serving.
To serve, garnish with additional peanut butter, maple syrup or pancake syrup, and chocolate chips if desired. Serve hot or cold.
If you can wait, I like to very loosely cover the cooled pan with a towel and refrigerate overnight, because the flavors develop and the rich chocolate taste becomes more pronounced by the next morning!
Leftovers should keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. They can also be sliced and frozen for up to three months. Thaw frozen brownie baked oatmeal in the microwave or on the stovetop or a warm oven before serving.
Brownie baked oatmeal with no banana
Whether you do not like banana or simply do not want a banana flavor in your brownie baked oats, the following recipe without banana is just as tasty as the original!
In a large bowl, whisk together half a cup of peanut butter, two cups of plain or Greek yogurt (dairy free yogurt works too), one cup milk of choice, half a cup of pure maple syrup, and two and a half teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.
Add three cups of rolled oats, half a cup of cocoa powder, a teaspoon of salt, and a generous handful of chocolate chips.
Follow the same preparation and baking instructions as the instructions for the banana brownie baked oatmeal version in the recipe box below.
Chocolate brownie baked oatmeal toppings
The baked oats are wonderful on their own or topped with sliced strawberries or raspberries, bananas, and Coconut Whipped Cream.
My favorite way to top the recipe is with a swirl of melted peanut butter and sprinkle of chocolate chips. Chocolate peanut butter brownie baked oatmeal for the win.
Or slice and serve the bars with Coconut Butter or Homemade Nutella.
Other topping ideas include fresh or frozen blueberries, sliced apples, roasted hazelnuts, blackberries, cacao nibs, granola, mini marshmallows…
Have fun creating your perfect chocolate oatmeal breakfast. The sky is the limit!
Recipe tips and tricks
If you’d like to use a food scale, here are the amounts to measure:
80 grams peanut butter, 360 grams mashed banana, 270 grams rolled oats, 40 grams cocoa powder, 240 grams milk of choice, 60 grams pure maple syrup, 10 grams pure vanilla extract, 6 grams salt, and there’s no need to measure the chocolate chips.
If you are making the banana version of the recipe, make sure your bananas are ripe. The peels should be at least partially brown and spotted before peeling.
The recipe can easily be made dairy free. For vegan brownie baked oatmeal, simply use your favorite nondairy milk (such as almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk). Choose plant based chocolate chips if you will be adding those. And go with pure maple syrup or agave instead of honey.
To save time in the morning, you may either bake the recipe the night before or prepare the batter and spread it into the pan, then refrigerate overnight and bake in the morning so the chocolate brownie oats are hot for breakfast.
Health benefits of brownie baked oats
The healthy recipe is packed with protein, iron, fiber, and potassium.
It is naturally sweetened and low in sugar and saturated fat, with no eggs, no cholesterol, and no dairy required.
And at just 100 calories per square, the baked oats are great for Weight Watcher’s or a weight loss diet. Or the low calorie base can be bulked up with extra chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and additional toppings for those who are not counting calories.
More Brownie Recipes
The recipe was inspired by my Chocolate Baked Oats and Chocolate Overnight Oats.
Brownie Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup peanut butter or allergy friendly sub
- 3 cups mashed banana (there's a banana free version above!)
- 1 cup milk of choice or water
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey or agave
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder or chocolate protein powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line or grease a 9×13 inch pan. Whisk all ingredients in a large bowl to form a batter. Smooth into the pan, and bake for 35 minutes. Let cool, then serve hot or cold. If you can wait, the flavor is even richer the next day!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Healthy Breakfast Recipes With Chocolate
This happens to me so often! The other day I had every ingredient ready to make some vegan strawberry shortcakes— but I forgot the milk! I had to wait a couple days before I could make them. I didn’t know you could buy the shelf-stable stuff and just use it the same way! I’ll have to try it out!
I always have Almond Breeze or equivalent handy just in case I run out of milk! The last time this happened was just last week, when I wanted to make baked oatmeal for Father’s day, and ran out of milk. Good thing I had an extra waiting!
This looks decadent. I can’t wait to try it. I love having shelf stable almond milk in the pantry for when we go out of town. It’s nice to know I won’t have to run out to the store if we get back late at night since there will be milk in the pantry.
Actually last year during Hurricane Irma, I specifically bought shelf stable almond breeze, because I knew we’d loose power. And we did. Being able to still have yummy oatmeal kept the two weeks without power feeling normal. I’ll be doing the same this year.
I went to make my morning smoothie today and realized I had no almond milk (or any milk) to use! Normally I have shelf stable almond milk in my pantry but I took it camping and used it and had forgotten to replace it. Thanks for the new recipe Katie. Out of bananas as I use them in my smoothies normally and only have enough in freezer for tomorrow’s smoothie. So need to shop for bananas and almond or coconut milk for rest of week.
I found I prefer the Almond Milk in my tea in the morning. I ran out of milk and found that I had almond milk . What a difference in my tea! Now I use it in my overnight oats too! Delicious! I even got my husband using it.
I vividly remember a time when I ran out of milk and was lucky because I did have some shelf stable Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk to save an otherwise miserable experience. It was Thanksgiving time, and I was traveling to Chicago from the east coast to spend the holiday with my family. Since I was going to be gone for several days, I had drank all my almond milk and eaten most of my food. I had an early flight, but the weather ended up delaying the flight all day and after waiting in the airport for about 10 hours, they finally canceled the flight and booked me on a flight the next day. It had been an absolutely horrible day, but at least when I got home that night, I had my shelf stable Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk in the cupboard to put in the cereal I ate for dinner that night and for my cereal for breakfast the next morning before my make up flight.
Just a few days ago, I went to pour almond milk in my cereal and realized I only had enough for about half a bowl. I ended up topping it off with some water rather than settling for dry cereal, but having some emergency almond milk would have been a lot better.
Well since it used to happen a lot, i now almost always have a stock of shelf-stable milk in the pantry. Worst case was when I was making instant mashed potatoes years ago and had to use vanilla flavored! Like the mac and cheese in another comment : no go!!!
I’ve miscalculated how much almond milk I have in the fridge on a few occasions, so when I was making overnight oats I had to use water to make up the difference. The resulting oats were a little bland.