Ok, that was a teaser.
We’re not actually making brownies today. But we are making something that tastes like brownies but is super nutritious and low in calories: Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal!
Don’t believe me? You will after you make this recipe 
So how is it that I turned this:
Into something that tastes like this?
With a little bit of creativity, and one special ingredient.
It’s no secret that I love oatmeal, and I’m always looking for ways to spice it up to make my breakfasts more interesting and fun. I also like using oatmeal as a base to recreate some of my favorite sweet treats like Banana Bread Oatmeal and Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal. The possibilities really are endless.
So why not make oatmeal that tastes like you’re eating a delicious, decadent chocolate brownie?
Here is my recipe for Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal. I promise, you will love it. It has become a regular staple in my breakfast rotation.
The Ingredients
- 1/2 cup rolled oats cooked with 1.5 cups of water
- 1 tsp raw, unsweetened cocoa powder (you can find this just about anywhere, I used cocoa powder from Trader Joe’s in this recipe, but I have since found even better raw cocoa powder at Whole Foods that is just delicious)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup 1% organic milk
- 1 Tbsp walnuts
- 1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
- Honey, Agave, Maple Syrup, or Stevia to taste (I use about 1.5 tsp of honey)
Step 1: Cook the oats with 1.5 cups of water until the oats are fluffy and all the water has disappeared (I do this by cooking it for 2 minutes in the microwave, stirring, and cooking it for 2 more minutes.)
Step 2: Add the cocoa powder and cinnamon to the cooked oats while they are still hot.
Step 3: Stir until everything is fully combined, and your oats have a deep chocolatey color.
Step 4: Add the walnuts, and the milk (you can add as much milk as you like – I use about 1/2 a cup to give the oats a nice creamy consistency)
Step 5: Add the Stevia, and stir to combine until the oats have the consistency you like.
Step 6: Enjoy the chocolatey brownie goodness of the oatmeal.
This recipe only has about 250 calories, 5g fiber, 1-2g sugar, and 7-8g protein. Not bad for a breakfast that tastes as good as dessert!
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Hello! I'm Anjali. I'm a 20 something living in the SF Bay Area, with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty, and fun! Try some of 
{ 53 comments… read them below or add one }
yum! i wanna try!
hehe it is seriously an addicting breakfast treat
let me know how you like it!
Yum yum yum! Oh my goodness this looks amazing. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
No problem! I’m sure you will love it!
If you want more protein I’ve also used a scoop of chocolate protein powder…DELICIOUS!
Oh what a great idea!! I’ll have to try that next time. I bet it makes it even more chocolatey and delicious
I’m not usually a fan of oatmeal, but this looks pretty good!
Thanks! If you do end up trying the recipe, I’d love to know if it converted you to enjoy oatmeal!
From a Non-Oatmeal Eater it looks too good not to give it a try!
hehe glad you think so! My husband said the same thing
Now that’s smart adding cocoa powder to the oatmeal. I might try this with my crockpot oatmeal.
Crockpot oatmeal is the best! I love that you can just leave it for hours cooking away. Hope you enjoy this!
Now this is a breakfast I can get behind! So delicious and creative!
It definitely gives you something to look forward to in the morning!
Wow… My mom was a beast then! She’s been making me and my bro chocolate oatmeal and chocolate grits since 1992. lol. Word.
Haha wow! That is awesome. Your mom was totally a pioneer – go her!
What a fantastic dessert for breakfast! I might have to make this for tomorrow morning
Yay! Let me know how you like it!
That looks delicious to me!
Thanks!! I’m sure you’ll love it when you try it!
I just used leftover crockpot steel cut oatmeal to make this, and it worked great! I did add some almond butter for extra creaminess…and some cacao nibs. (Why not, right?) Thanks for the recipe!
Oooh I love steel cut oats – they are awesome! Seriously – why not use almond butter + cacao nibs!! What great additions! So glad you liked the recipe
mine did not come out this way, btw am I missing a step or it your instructions did not specify if this needs to be baked or refrigirated?
Hi Ivana! In the directions in the post, I mentioned that I microwave the oatmeal to cook it. But you can also cook it on a stovetop over low heat, in a slow cooker, or even just by putting the oats in a bowl, pouring 1.5 cups of boiling water over them, and letting it sit until the oats have soaked up all of the water. Then you just mix in the toppings, add the milk and reheat in the microwave if needed. Hope that helps!
Hi, I did that but it just did not turn out right. Will try again. Cheers
Oh weird! If you want you can email me the exact steps you followed (at pickyeats@gmail.com) – and I can help you “troubleshoot” the recipe over email
I definitely want to help make sure it turns out right the next time you make it, because it is so delicious!!
Nice recipe. I love a simple brownie recipe which is easy for the kids
I also like the below traditional brownie recipe.
http://www.wascene.com/food-drink/perfect-chocolate-brownie-recipe/
Thanks for sharing,
Jane
I love oatmeal and I love chocolate so I’m going to give this a go!
Woohoo! Glad to hear it Fiona! Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Hi Anjali,
This looks great! I just found you through Oh She Glows and am so glad I did! I can’t wait to explore your recipes more. By the way, which cocoa powder did you find at Whole Foods that you thought tasted so good?
Hi Lauren! Thanks so much – it’s so nice to meet you!
For the cocoa powder, I don’t remember the exact name, but it was the organic, raw, unsweetened cocoa powder in a clear upright ziploc bag that was next to the other raw foods products near the produce section. I just ran out of it, so the next time I do groceries I’ll take a picture and will Tweet it 
I hope that helps!!
Hi Anjali,
Oh no – I was totally fooled by the teaser all the way to the end!…but can’t you add extra steps to really make a healthier oatmeal based brownie substitute? e.g. bake the oatmeal (maybe with a bit of flour and egg or something) to make a healthier real brownie substitute? Do you think this could work?
Worth a try I reckon!
Haha! Oh no – I’m sorry
But yes – you can totally create a healthier brownie recipe if you grind up oatmeal into a flour and use that for half of the white flour used in brownies. You can also totally makeover brownies using my recipe (scroll all the way to the bottom of this list: http://pickyeaterblog.com/five-healthy-valentines-day-desserts/) – let me know if you end up trying it and how it turns out!
OMG! Going to try this now!!! You had me at chocolate brownies and I have been looking for a way to add fun flavor to oatmeal without the unnecessary calories and fat. Luckily I have cocoa powder and truvia. No nuts (I ate my almonds last night as a snack) and instead of cow’s milk, I’ll be using almond milk. . . .
excited to try this!
So I tired this, with truvia, no nuts, and almond milk. It was pretty good! Definitely better than my usual oatmeal!
Woohoo! I’m so glad to hear that Brock!
Haha – that’s awesome – and I promise this will taste just like a chocolate brownie! Almond milk will be delicious in this as well – let me know how you ended up liking it!
LOVED ur falafel recipe
quick question why do you use organic and not regular milk?
Thanks Priti! To your question – I like using organic milk vs. regular milk for a few reasons. 1) I think it tastes better
2) non-organic milk often comes from cows who have received a genetically-engineered hormone called Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), and the milk from those cows likely contains hormones and other things you probably don’t want in your milk and 3) I believe cows on organic farms are treated better than regular dairy farm cows (but I don’t have any facts to back this up, it’s just what I’ve heard). So for all of those reasons, I prefer to buy organic (it’s basically the same rationale that I use when I buy organic produce – it is grown naturally, isn’t genetically modified, and doesn’t have pesticides or chemicals on it). Hope that helps!
OMG yummy!!!
Thanks Trina!! I’m sure you’ll love this recipe!
I just made this for breakfast–yum! I’d never used Stevia before–where has that been all my life? I actually think next time I’d back off to one packet. And I think I will try adding some instant espresso powder, too, just to see what happens. What a great way to get all of the goodness of chocolate without all the badness of chocolate.
Yay! I’m so glad you liked this recipe Terri! And yeah – I love stevia – it’s the only sweetener I’ll use because it’s natural. Love the idea of adding instant espresso powder – I will have to try that next time!
This is seriously the most delicious-sounding oatmeal I’ve ever heard of!! I am also an oatmeal lover and I love, love, love your ideas for different flavors that sound so yummy and still healthy. I cannot wait to give this a try. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe
Thank you so much!! I cannot wait to hear how you like this recipe – given your love for oatmeal – I am sure you will love it!
This recipe is both healthy and delicious and includes some of my favorite foods: cocoa(chocolate) and oatmeal, it is very good with honey added also.Thank you for giving me some ideas for a breakfast
.
Have a nice day,
Adon.
Thanks Adon!! I’m sure you will love this recipe – and yes!! It tastes great with honey added as well
Hope you have a great day too!
Thanks Anjali for a great recipe!
I made it for my husband and I last Saturday morning and he enjoyed it so much that we had it again for breakfast on Sunday! I used almond milk and a little maple syrup rather than stevia. Really like the walnuts in it. I have only just started reading your blog and find it very interesting and inspiring and it is great to find someone else with a passion for healthy eating and a desire to encourage other people in that too. I have just started my own blog on this subject too (five star fuel).
Hi Carol!! Thank you so much – it’s so nice to “meet” you!
I’m so glad you and your husband loved this recipe – I seriously eat it all the time – I can’t get enough of it! Love your substitutions too – thanks again!
This looks absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try it!
Thank you so much!
I’m sure you will love it!
Tried this today
It was delicious!!! I didn’t have stevia on hand so I used organic sugar. Not the healthiest option but ya use what ya got lol.
Yaay! I’m so glad you liked it! And you know, organic sugar isn’t the worst thing – as long as you use it in moderation (e.g. 1-2 tsp is totally fine!)
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