Adapted from my basic baked oats recipe but with both chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in the mix, these chocolate baked oats are like having a chocolate muffin for breakfast. You can say that it’s like cake for breakfast if you want to stretch it a bit but it really is more like a very tasty muffin.

Blended oats are really easy to make and great if you don’t love the texture of regular porridge. Just blend everything together – not the chopped chocolate for this recipe, that’s added after – and pour into ramekins before baking. The oats puff right up in the oven and you end up with a light, chocolate-filled breakfast or snack.

If you like chocolate, this is one the best ways to have chocolate for breakfast. You can do a lot with this recipe using it as a starting point. Try adding a little espresso powder, different types of chopped chocolate, make a chocolate raspberry version, and so on.

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Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

You need the same basic ingredients as for the plain baked oats: banana, egg, oats, honey, and a little oil, plus the cocoa and chocolate. These are my notes from recipe testing and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Oats: rolled oats are best for this recipe but quick-cook can be used in a pinch. Steel cut oats are not appropriate for this recipe. Use certified gluten-free oats if needed.
• Cocoa: use Dutch process cocoa for the smoothest, most chocolate-forward flavour. Natural cocoa works too but will have a slightly more bitter taste. Make sure you’re using unsweetened baking cocoa and not hot chocolate drink mix.
• Egg: a large egg, at room temperature for best results. To quickly bring eggs up to room temperature if refrigerated, submerge in a bowl of warm water for ten minutes before use.
• Banana: this should be a medium-sized ripe banana. The riper the fruit, the sweeter the baked oats will be. If you only have extra large bananas just use half.
• Oil: coconut oil is pictured but olive oil is a nice alternative if you like chocolate olive oil cake, or use butter if preferred.
• Honey: maple syrup can be substituted for honey as outlined in the recipe card. I haven’t tested with sugar but I’m sure it would be fine.
• Chocolate: any chopped chocolate or chocolate chips you like. I always use very dark chocolate but anything will work. This can be omitted if you don’t want actual chocolate in your breakfast.
• Vanilla: a little vanilla extract makes everything more balanced and improves the overall flavour. Substitute vanilla powder or paste if preferred. If you don’t have vanilla, try adding a little cinnamon instead.

How to Make Blended Oatmeal

You don’t really need to worry about over-mixing or blending too long here, and it would be hard to really over-mix to the point that the oats would be chewy. It is possible, though, so don’t blend for ten minutes!

Step 1: add everything to a blending container or blender (see tip below). Layering the ingredients can make it a bit easier to mix, with the eggs and banana at the bottom to introduce the liquid ingredients more quickly to being blended.

Step 2: mix until very smooth and the oats have broken down into something with a texture similar to whole wheat flour. Stir in the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips.

Step 3: pour the mixture into greased ramekins and place onto a baking sheet. Baking the oats on a baking sheet makes them much easier to remove from the oven once they’re finished, rather than trying to grab a tiny baking dish with oven mitts on.

Step 4: bake until lightly firm to the touch. You won’t be able to tell when they’re done based on colour, but they should rise just over the edges of the ramekins and feel springy when gently pressed with a fingertip.

Expert Tips for the Best Breakfast

• Use an immersion blender: this can be blended in a standing blender, but it’s much easier to use an immersion blender or bullet blender, if only for the clean-up. It’s slightly too little for a standard standing blender. If you’re increasing the amounts then a blender will be fine.
• Bake in a toaster oven: this makes two servings of chocolate baked oats and it does feel silly to use a full-sized oven for something so small. If you have a toaster oven, it works well for this recipe and doesn’t need nearly as much energy.
• Make more if needed: this recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to serve more people. Tap (desktop) or hover (mobile) on the pink number beside servings in the recipe card to adjust the amounts, and it’ll automatically calculate how much you need. Note that this will only change the metric measurements! The baking time stays the same but you’ll need more ramekins.
• Make it in the microwave: instead of baking, pour the mixture into microwave-safe ramekins and microwave for about 90 seconds. Leave enough space in the ramekins for the oats to double in size. The texture isn’t nearly as good in the microwave but it is faster.
• Don’t add too many mix-ins: overloading the mixture with add-ins, especially on top, will cause uneven baking and you won’t get that fluffy texture. Add extras after baking instead.

Related: Oatmeal Breakfast Brownies