Cashew Brownie Oatmeal

My experimentation with chocolate and breakfast continued this morning. I woke up a bit earlier than usual so I decided to make another variation of baked oatmeal. I wasn’t sure where to start but I knew I was definitely in the mood for something with chocolate, which isn’t exactly a shocker given my extreme love for anything chocolate. =)

After perusing my pantry, I pulled out old-fashioned oats, unsweetened cocoa powder, semi-sweet chocolate chips, chia seeds, and roasted/salted cashews. From the fridge, I grabbed milk and cashew peanut butter. The result? Cashew Brownie Oatmeal, which I thought was a pretty good version of its dessert counterpart.

Cashew Brownie Oatmeal

1/3 C Old-fashioned oats

1/4 C Roasted and salted cashews, roughly chopped

2/3 C Milk

2 tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp Chia seeds

1 tsp Semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp Brown sugar

Pinch of salt

Toppings:

1 tsp Roasted and salted cashews, roughly chopped

1 tbsp Cashew butter

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine all of the dry ingredients into an oven-safe bowl. Pour in the milk and thoroughly mix with the dry ingredients.  Set timer for 12 minutes. When done, spread cashew butter on top and sprinkle the chopped cashews. 

I really liked this baked oatmeal. It was moist and the texture was nice and chewy. The roasted/salted cashews and cashew butter also gave this dish a sweet and salty flavor to it, which I was a pleasant surprise. But in hindsight, I guess I should have foreseen that? Either way, it was pretty yummy.