prep: 15 mins / cook: 40 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 55 mins / quantity: 8 good sized squares Print recipe?
Rich and fudgy, this triple chocolate baked oatmeal is supercharged with protein from a protein shake, spread and protein powder!
If you've followed us for a while, you'll probably notice we're big fans of batch cooking and meal prepping. And baked oatmeal is one of those things I make a couple of trays of every few weeks. Not only is it delicious and really easy to prepare, baked oats is a great standby to have in the freezer. It defrosts at room temperature in just a couple of hours so if, like us, your mornings are a blurry rush you can literally just grab 'em and go!
Phil is also a huge fan of all things Grenade, particularly the Milk Chocolate Spread (and the Hazelnutter!) so I wanted to make him a baked oatmeal that incorporated his favourite flavours. And honestly, when this stuff is cooking – much like these Hazelnut Cookies – the smell that fills the house is intoxicating! It's deep, rich and so so chocolatey. Unfortunately it's not vegan so all I get to do is sniff!
I did get an OMFG from him when he first tried them though.
Phil's been focusing more on weight training at the gym recently over cardio exercise. Apparently strong is the new fit. So he's always looking for ways to get extra lean protein in his diet. And baked oats, as well as overnight oats, are a quick (and easy) way of cramming in extra goodness. They're also quite filling! My personal favourite is these Peanut Butter Baked Oats – because peanut butter. And chocolate.
Bananas – sweetness and all that potassium goodness. And the spottier the better!
Oats – because oatmeal without oats is sweet, milky soup?
Milk – other than these non-vegan ones I always use a plant milk. Almond is lovely, oat milk is even lovelier.
Baking powder – makes the finished, cooked oatmeal lighter and not dense.
You can then customise these basics in almost countless ways! For these I've used Grenade Fudge Brownie Shake instead of the plant milk, Milk Chocolate Spread and Chocolate Protein Powder. Then topped the whole thing with chocolate chips. Because if you're going to call something chocolate, it'd better be chocolate right?
2 large ripe bananas – the spottier the better!
Preheat your oven to 170 Fan / 190 C / 375 F / Gas 5 and line a 7 x 9 inch baking tray with parchment, covering the base and sides.
Put the ground flax seeds into a cup or mug and mix with 1/3 cup (80ml) cold water. Set aside.
Peel the bananas and break into chunks into a large bowl. Mash well with a fork or potato masher.
Add the chocolate spread, fudge brownie shake, syrup and vanilla and whisk together.
Whisk in the flax/water mixture.
Stir in the oats and baking powder and mix well.
Pour into your prepared tin and smooth to the corners.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips all across the top then gently push them into the mixture. You want them visible but slightly submerged so they don't all fall off once baked!
We don't have a microwave so I don't know if these are any good to warm up. Would love to know if anyone tries!