Chocolate Oatmeal Recipe (Healthy, Gluten-Free)
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.This chocolate oatmeal recipe is a healthy hot breakfast that tastes just like a fudge brownie! It’s a decadent breakfast that is guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth. Super easy, gluten-free, and ready in just 15 minutes, this is how to start the day right!
It’s no secret that I love my morning 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?
This is one of my favorite recipes to satisfy my chocolate craving in the morning: Dark Chocolate Oatmeal. I promise, it will become your favorite way to eat oatmeal for breakfast!
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How To Make Chocolate Oats
Ingredients
You just need a few basic ingredients to make these heart-healthy oats!
Gluten-free rolled oats: cooked with 1.5 cups of water. I like using rolled oats better than steel-cut oats or quick-cooking oats because it gives this special breakfast a nice creamy and hearty consistency.
Unsweetened cocoa powder: You can’t make chocolate oats without this!
Milk: I used low fat organic milk, but you can use any milk you like! Dairy-free milk options like light coconut milk, unsweetened almond milk, soy milk, or even oat milk will all taste great in this delicious recipe.
Chopped walnuts: For added texture and to give these chocolate oats that brownie feel.
Ground flax seed: For some healthy fats!
Sweetener – Optional: You don’t have to add sweetener, but you certainly can! Brown sugar, Honey, Coconut Sugar, or Maple Syrup would all give this creamy oatmeal a bit of sweetness.
Spices: A dash of cinnamon and a pinch of salt help bring out the chocolate flavor in this healthy chocolate oatmeal. You could also add a little bit of vanilla extract to bring out the sweetness even more.
Equipment Needed
- A small pot, if you choose to cook your oatmeal on the stovetop, I personally LOVE Green Pan.
- A fun, microwave safe bowl if you choose to cook your oatmeal in the microwave.
Instructions
Step 1: Cook the oats with 1.5 cups of water until the oats are fluffy and all the water has disappeared. The best way to do this is cook the oats for 2 minutes in the microwave, then stir oats, then cook again 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 sweetener if using, and stir to combine.
Step 6: Stir in the flaxseeds, and heat again for 1-2 minutes until the oatmeal is the temperature you like!
Step 7: Serve this bowl of chocolate oatmeal warm, or with your favorite toppings!
What Makes This Chocolate Oatmeal Recipe Healthy?
This recipe only has about 300 calories, and 3g added sugar (0g added sugar if you choose not to use honey!) It also has 7g fiber and 12g protein per serving, which is guaranteed to keep you full. This is the kind of breakfast that will keep you feeling satisfied, so those mid morning snacks won’t be as much of a temptation! This recipe also has:
- Whole Grains: The oats in this recipe are rich in soluble fiber, B vitamins, iron and magnesium. They are also low-glycemic so can improve blood sugar control, and are heart-healthy too! And to make this recipe gluten-free, all you need to do is use gluten-free certified oats!
- Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder is the secret ingredient in this recipe. Rich in polyphenols and antioxidants, it’s amazing that such a nutritious ingredient can make this recipe taste like dessert!
- Healthy Fats: The walnuts in this recipe provide fiber, protein and healthy omega 3 fats!
Recipe FAQs
Are These Chocolate Oats Kid Friendly?
Absolutely! If your kids like chocolate milk, they likely will enjoy this chocolate oatmeal. If you want to make it more decadent (and like a “dessert for breakfast” treat), you can always top their bowls with just a few dark chocolate chips! When I do that my kids gobble this up!
For babies aged 6-12 months, I recommend grinding up rolled oats in the food processor and cooking it the same way you’d cook whole oats – just to make it easier for little ones to “chew,” and omitting the walnuts, sweetener, salt, and reducing the amount of cocoa powder and cinnamon you use.
Is Oatmeal Healthier Than Cereal?
Generally, yes, oatmeal is much healthier than cereal because it’s lower-glycemic, rich in fiber and protein and keeps you fuller longer. Studies have shown that people who eat oatmeal have better appetite control than people who eat cereal. There are a handful of healthy cereals for breakfast that are more comparable to oatmeal, but most of the cereal at the grocery store are definitely less healthy than oatmeal!
What Is The Healthiest Type of Oatmeal?
Honestly, all oats are really healthy for you – they’re a great choice for breakfast. There are 5 different types of oats you can get at the grocery store, and they differ based on how processed they are. The 5 types of oats are: oat groats, oat bran, steel cut oats, rolled oats and instant oats (quick oats).
Rolled oats, which take just a little bit longer than instant oats to cook, are a nice balance between minimal processing and a great texture + a short cooking time. They are also one of the best breakfasts for toddlers and kids.
Rolled oats are mild in flavor and has a creamy consistency when mixed with milk and fruit. They digest slowly, which means they provide long-lasting energy, but they still cook up soft without much time.
Quick oats are the least “healthy” because they are higher glycemic than the other types of oats listed above. They won’t keep you full as long either.
Oatmeal Toppings
Oatmeal can be creamy and delicious on it’s own, but you can top it with all kinds of ingredients to make it taste even better. Here are some of my favorite toppings:
- Nuts (Peanuts, Almonds, Cashews, etc.)
- Peanut Butter (or any nut butter you like!)
- Dark chocolate chips
- Sea Salt
- Banana Slices
- Fresh Blueberries or Strawberries
- A low-sugar Granola
- Seeds (hemp seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds)
Expert Tips
- To ensure this chocolate oatmeal is gluten-free friendly: Use gluten-free certified oats for this oatmeal recipe. Avoid instant oatmeal, since it’s higher glycemic and most instant oatmeals in packets have added sugars. You can use steel cut oats, but if you do I recommend cooking them on the stovetop or the Instant Pot because they turn out much better that way!
- Remaining Oats Storage: Store the remaining unprepared oats in an airtight container in a cool, dark spot in your pantry for up to 12 months.
- Double This Recipe: You can easily cook a double batch of these chocolate oats in the microwave, just be sure to use a larger glass container to cook them in. You can also use the stovetop to cook a large batch!
- Don’t Over-Water: Be mindful of your water to oats ratio, too much will make the oats too mushy.
- Make It Vegan: To make this breakfast vegan, use a plant based non-dairy milk and omit the honey (or use maple syrup).
- Optional toppings include: Nuts (Peanuts, Almonds, Cashews, etc.), Peanut Butter (or any nut butter you like), Dark chocolate chips, Sea Salt, Banana Slices, Fresh Blueberries or Strawberries, A low-sugar Granola like this one, Seeds (hemp seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds)
More Healthy Breakfast and Oatmeal Recipes!
- Vegan Breakfast Cookies
- Skinny Maple Granola
- Protein Baked Oats
- Baked Oats Without Banana
- Bananas And Cream Oatmeal
- Masala Oats
- Tiramisu Overnight Oats
- Matcha Overnight Oats
- Chocolate Chip Baked Oats
- Oat Flour Pancakes
- High Protein Overnight Oats
- Spicy Oatmeal Recipe
- Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal
- Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
- Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas
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🎥 Watch How to Make It
Gluten-Free Chocolate Oatmeal
This gluten-free chocolate oatmeal recipe is a healthy hot breakfast that tastes just like a fudge brownie! Healthy, easy, and ready in just 15 minutes, this is how to start the day right!
Servings: 1 serving
Calories: 293.5kcal
Ingredients
- ½ cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1½ cups water
- 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup low-fat organic milk or any unsweetened, plant based milk
- 1 Tbsp chopped walnuts
- 1 Tbsp ground flax seed
- ½ tsp maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar, or brown sugar (optional)
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Cook the oats with 1.5 cups of water and the pinch of salt 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, and then letting it sit for another 5 minutes.)
- Add the cocoa powder and cinnamon to the cooked oats while they are still hot.
- Stir until everything is fully combined, and your oats have a deep chocolatey color.
- 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)
- Add the honey and stir to combine.
- Stir in the flaxseeds, and heat again for 1-2 minutes until the oatmeal is the temperature you like!
Notes
- To ensure this chocolate oatmeal is gluten-free friendly: Use gluten-free certified oats for this oatmeal recipe. Avoid instant oatmeal, since it’s higher glycemic and most instant oatmeals in packets have added sugars. You can use steel cut oats, but if you do I recommend cooking them on the stovetop or the Instant Pot because they turn out much better that way!
- Remaining Oats Storage: Store the remaining unprepared oats in an airtight container in a cool, dark spot in your pantry for up to 12 months.
- Double This Recipe: You can easily cook a double batch of these chocolate oats in the microwave, just be sure to use a larger glass container to cook them in. You can also use the stovetop to cook a large batch!
- Don’t Over-Water: Be mindful of your water to oats ratio, too much will make the oats too mushy.
- Make It Vegan: To make this breakfast vegan, use a plant based non-dairy milk and omit the honey (or use maple syrup).
- Optional toppings include: Nuts (Peanuts, Almonds, Cashews, etc.), Peanut Butter (or any nut butter you like), Dark chocolate chips, Sea Salt, Banana Slices, Fresh Blueberries or Strawberries, A low-sugar Granola like this one, Seeds (hemp seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds)
Nutrition
Calories: 293.5kcal | Protein: 12.1g | Fat: 11.6g | Saturated Fat: 1.6g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 209mg | Potassium: 242mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 10g
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!
OMG yummy!!!
Thanks Trina!! I’m sure you’ll love this recipe!
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! 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! 🙂
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: https://74.220.215.66/~pickyeat/five-healthy-valentines-day-desserts/) – let me know if you end up trying it and how it turns out!
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!!
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!
Nice recipe. I love a simple brownie recipe which is easy for the kids 🙂
I also like the below traditional brownie recipe.
https://www.wascene.com/food-drink/perfect-chocolate-brownie-recipe/
Thanks for sharing,
Jane
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!!
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 🙂
That looks delicious to me!
Thanks!! I’m sure you’ll love it when you try it!
What a fantastic dessert for breakfast! I might have to make this for tomorrow morning 🙂
Yay! Let me know how you like it!
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! 🙂
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! 🙂
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!
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 🙂
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!
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 🙂
Jeralyn, did you use the protein powered instead of the cocoa or just as an added ingredient?
Yum yum yum! Oh my goodness this looks amazing. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
No problem! I’m sure you will love it!
yum! i wanna try!
hehe it is seriously an addicting breakfast treat 🙂 let me know how you like it!