Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal

Once again, I was inspired by a Hungry Girl recipe.  This was one of those recipes that I not only had to veganize but I had to eliminate some of the processed ingredients from it.  (Original recipe)  I wasn’t sure about chocolate oatmeal.  I couldn’t decide in my brain if it sounded good or gross.  So, of course, I had to give it a try.  I decided that it’s delicious, but it’s more of a dessert for me than a breakfast food.  But this recipe is flexible.  It could be breakfast, dessert or a snack.  Also, there are a lot of things you could add to this recipe or leave out, depending on your taste.  This is how I made it:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal

-1/2 cup (40 grams) oats (I use the Country Choice Organic Multigrain blend)

-1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk (If this is not available, you could also use regular or vanilla unsweetened almond milk and just add more cocoa powder)

-1/2-1 cup water (optional)

-1 TBSP cocoa powder

-2-3 packets Truvia, Stevia or Organic Zero sweetener

-2-4 TBSP peanut flour (mixed with a bit of water, sweetener, and salt)-or just use real peanut butter if you don’t mind the extra calories and fat

-1/2-1 banana

-sprinkle of cocoa powder on top

Directions:

***I make the Hungry Girl style oatmeal where I add more liquid and cook it longer so the oatmeal gets bigger.  If you don’t like it this way or you don’t have the time, you can omit the additional water in the recipe and just don’t cook the oats as long. 

Pour the almond milk and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Once it’s boiling, add the oats, cocoa powder and sweetener.  I usually let it cook for about 10-12 minutes-stirring occasionally.  Also, I usually lower the heat down if it seems like it’s boiling too rapidly. 

In the meantime, mix the peanut flour with a bit of water, sweetener and salt to taste.  I usually just add 1 TBSP of water at a time until I get the consistency of peanut butter.

Once the oats are finished cooking, transfer to a bowl and top with the peanut butter, a sliced up banana and a sprinkle of cocoa powder. 

Some other possible add-ins:

-Chocolate chips

-Nuts

-A bit of crunchy cereal on top

-Cook chia seeds into the oats for an added nutritional boost

-Real peanut butter instead of peanut flour (or another nut butter)