If you’re like many people, you probably save the decadent breakfasts for the weekend, right? After all, that’s when you’ll have the most time to devote to cooking. During the week, you probably subsist on cereal, toast, and maybe a frozen meal or two.
It actually is possible to make a breakfast that’s Instagram-worthy and ready in less than 20 minutes, though. This Chocolate Peanut Butter Lovers’ Decadent ‘n’ Chunky Nutty Oatmeal fits the bill perfectly. You only need about 10 minutes of prep time to have a hot, filling, and sweet breakfast that you can make any day of the week.
Now, why is this called decadent, chunky, and nutty? I’m glad you asked. The decadence is in the ingredients, such as rich cocoa powder and creamy Nutella. Instead of smooth peanut butter, I use the chunky variety well as whole toasted peanuts. Of course, when you combine all that peanut buttery goodness with the almond milk and hazelnut flavor of the Nutella, you get quite a nutty breakfast!
Admittedly, this isn’t the healthiest breakfast you could make. Sure, there’s the almond milk and the oats, which are good for you. When you toss in as much chocolate and peanut butter as I do, though, you lose some of that healthiness. Still, this recipe is great to bust out when you want to make a special breakfast, like on your birthday, the holidays, or after a tough week at work.
If you’d prefer to use smooth peanut butter instead of chunky, that’s your choice. You can also omit the Nutella and the oatmeal won’t taste too different, just a little less nutty and chocolaty.
Let’s get into the recipe.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Lovers’ Decadent ‘n’ Chunky Nutty Oatmeal Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/3 cups of plain rolled oatmeal
- 1/3 cup of almond milk non-dairy milk can be substituted in a pinch
- One mashed fully ripened banana
- 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon of Nutella
- 1 tablespoon of chunky peanut butter
- A sprinkling of toasted whole peanuts
- A sprinkling of chocolate chunks
Instructions
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Mash the banana
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Prepare the oatmeal
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Simmer the saucepan
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Stir the ingredients for 4-6 minutes
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Pour the oatmeal to a bowl
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Add in the decadence (peanut butter, nutella, anything else?)
STEP ONE – MASH THE BANANA
You want to have the banana ready ahead of time so you can easily add it to your oatmeal mixture, so start with this step.
The banana should be medium or large and very ripe. The banana I used for this recipe had browned skin. If the banana itself is brown, though, pick another one.
I simply used a fork to mash the banana, as you can see here.
STEP TWO – PREPARE THE OATMEAL
Grab a medium-sized nonstick pan and pour in your oats. Then, pour in the cocoa powder and the almond milk. Lastly, scoop in your banana.
You can use sugar-free or regular almond milk. You won’t really taste it with this recipe either way.
STEP THREE – SIMMER THE SAUCEPAN
Now, turn your stovetop to the simmer setting. If your stovetop doesn’t have a simmer setting, then keep the heat setting between 1 or 2. Any higher than that might burn the oatmeal. The milk will begin to absorb on the stovetop.
STEP FOUR – STIR, STIR, STIR
For the next four to six minutes, stir the ingredients in the pan. The milk and banana should be fully incorporated into the oatmeal mix by the time you’re done. Even though the ingredients will look and smell like oatmeal after about a minute or two, keep stirring for at least four minutes.
Personally, I stirred for exactly six minutes with a plain wooden spoon. It’s important not to stop until the time is up, because otherwise you risk burning the oatmeal.
Here’s a tip: set your oven timer so you can keep better track of the time.
STEP FIVE – TRANSFER THE OATMEAL TO A BOWL
Once the four or six minutes have elapsed, turn off the stovetop. Remove the pan from the heat source and scoop the oatmeal into a bowl. You can use the same wooden spoon for this to save on dishes later!
STEP SIX – ADD IN THE DECADENCE
Here’s where you can have fun with things. Grab a spoon and scoop in your chunky peanut butter. Then add the Nutella. I do recommend using separate spoons for this part of the recipe to avoid cross-contamination. You also don’t want to add too much Nutella unless you are a diehard chocolate lover.
Stir with a spoon until both ingredients have fully mixed in with the oatmeal. Alternately, you can leave both these ingredients on the top of your oatmeal for a truly decadent touch.
As a note, I did use room temperature Nutella for this recipe. If you want a really hot breakfast, you can always heat up the Nutella in a microwave-safe bowl until it has the consistency of chocolate sauce. Then you can drizzle it on top of your oatmeal.
STEP SEVEN – MIX IN THE REST OF YOUR TOPPINGS
Take your toasted peanuts and sprinkle them atop the oatmeal. These can be salted or unsalted depending on your preferences.
Remember, there’s already chunky peanut butter in the mix, so you don’t need too many toasted peanuts. Lastly, add your chocolate chunks.
If you feel there’s enough texture in the oatmeal already, you can always substitute chocolate chunks with chocolate chips. You can also experiment with peanut butter-flavored chips if you really can’t get enough of peanut butter!
There you have it, delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Lovers’ Decadent ‘n’ Chunky Nutty Oatmeal in under 20 minutes. There’s no need to prepare your breakfast the night before when you can make a delicious meal this quickly. Next time you feel like treating yourself or someone special in your life, you can make a breakfast so sinful it looks and tastes like it’s dessert. That’s a great way to get your day off on the right foot!
It is possible to make this breakfast gluten-free if you want. Nutella is already gluten-free, as is the Hershey’s cocoa powder in the recipe. You’ll just have buy gluten-free peanuts, oatmeal, almond milk, and chocolate chunks.
Jen Miller is a former electrical engineer and product specialist with more than 20 years of product design and testing experience. She has designed more than 200 products for Fortune 500 companies, in fields ranging from home appliances to sports gear and outdoor equipment. She founded Jen Reviews to share her knowledge and critical eye for what makes consumers tick, and adopts a strict no-BS approach to help the reader filter through the maze of products and marketing hype out there. She writes regularly and has been featured on Forbes, Fast Company, The Muse, The Huffington Post, Tiny Buddha and MindBodyGreen.