Brownie Batter Baked Oats (With Gooey Chocolate Centre)

These brownie batter baked oats are simply divine. Chocolatey, with a gooey melted chocolate centre, they have a rich chocolate flavour that seems more like dessert than breakfast.

If you like brownies and - more importantly - brownie batter, this is about to become one of your favorite ways to make baked oats. 

Gooey, chocolatey, and indulgent, this brownie oatmeal is one of the best recipes for chocolate lovers. Thanks to a melty chocolate centre, this baked oatmeal recipe feels more like a dessert than a breakfast. It's like eating a fudgy brownie first thing in the morning! 

Whether you're hoping to satisfy your sweet tooth with a healthy breakfast or sweet snack, this recipe is sure to hit the spot. 

Ingredients and substitutions

Though brownie batter baked oats might sound fancy, this recipe can be made with simple ingredients, available at your local grocery store. 

• Rolled oats: This recipes calls for rolled oats but quick oats, old-fashioned rolled oats, and gluten-free oats will all yield wonderful results. The one kind of oats you should steer away from is steel cut oats which have a much different texture and won't bake as nicely. 
• Banana: Ripe bananas are best in this recipe as they help add sweetness. If you don't like banana, you can swap it out for pumpkin puree or your favourite dairy or non-diary yoghurt. 
• Milk of choice: Any diary or plant based milk will work here. We usually use unsweetened almond milk for our baked oats but oat milk, soy milk, cashew milk, and other plant-based milk will also work (macadamia, dairy-free, etc.)
• Cacao powder: If you don't have cacao powder, you can swap it for unsweetened cocoa powder or dutch-processed cocoa powder 
• Maple syrup/honey: Pure maple syrup is delicious in this recipe! A touch of maple syrup adds sweetness and a delightful hint of caramel flavour. If you don't have syrup, honey also works well and equally avoids refined sugar. If you want to avoid sugar altogether, you can substitute a few drops of liquid stevia instead. 
• Baking powder: Don't skip the baking powder! It helps the baked oats rise. 
• Sea salt: A hint of salt goes a long way in creating a complex flavour, but you can leave it out if you prefer. 
• Chocolate: It might sound crazy to eat chocolate for breakfast, but just one square of your favourite chocolate bar will make for an incredible rich chocolate flavor. We used a square of Lindt dark chocolate, but you can also use dark chocolate chips for the same effect. 

How to create a gooey chocolate centre

Admittedly, this takes a little trial and error. 

Different chocolates melt differently, so it can take a few tries to find one that melts perfectly to create a gooey centre. We've experimented with a bunch of different chocolate options, and some create a creamy melt while others simply bake into the centre of the oats without melting completely. 

Due to different sugar and fat contents in different types of chocolate, it's hard to say exactly which chocolates will and won't melt well. Trial and error is your best friend here, and who could complain about testing out a few different baked oats variations?

If you want to skip the experimental phase and go straight to the part where you have a perfectly-melted centre in your oats, here are a few things we've learned through trial and error: 

• Chocolate chips are resistant to melting, so if you can, use a square of a chocolate bar instead. 
• We've tried a few types of dark chocolate with higher cocoa levels (60% and higher), and none of those melted very well. 
• Sugar-free chocolates melts a little bit better inside baked oats. This is also ideal if you want a sweet breakfast, but don't want to jump straight into your day with too much sugar. Lindt also has a wonderful sugar free option for this!

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