Enjoy chocolate for breakfast with this hearty, naturally sweetened Vegan Brownie Batter Baked Oatmeal!
I feel like the older I get the less spontaneous I get. Or maybe it’s just the craziness of living in China that makes me want to grasp for control in other, smaller areas of my life, such as how I spend my time.
About a month a go I decided to make Sunday a complete day of rest. I’ve never had Chinese class on Sunday, but I always find myself doing things that aren’t really restful for me on Sundays, like going to the market, getting in a hard workout, cleaning and doing laundry, etc.
So in order to go into my week feeling completely rested and filled up, I’ve turned Sunday into a slow, lazy, do-things-that-refresh-me day. And it’s so nice!
I like to start my day by making Brett and I a special breakfast. During the week, we usually eat our our thing at our own time in the mornings, just because we get hungry at different times and crave different foods. But on Sundays it’s fun for us to sit down and eat breakfast together. It’s even more fun when breakfast is Vegan Brownie Batter Baked Oatmeal!
But we’ll get to that in a second.
Outside of cooking breakfast, I really don’t like to cook lunch or dinner on Sundays if I can avoid it. I used to love going to the markets here in China, but now I find it tiring as I have to carry everything I buy myself and I usually buy a lot! Plus everyone staring and yelling at me to buy their produce isn’t the most relaxing atmosphere.
Where are Targets with Starbucks when you need them?!
So yeah, I like to have lots of leftovers on hand for us to just reheat on Sundays. We still get to eat well, but I don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen. This then allows me to go on slow walks, read a book for fun, edit recipe photos, watch movies, etc.
Because I have such a go-go-go-go-do-do-do-do- personality, after spending just one day completely resting and spending my time on things that refresh me, I’m usually rearing to go come Monday morning. I want to crush a workout (as much as I can crush a workout with this growing belly!). I want to be creative in the kitchen. I want to challenge my brain in language class. I want to clean all the things. Basically, slow Sundays just set me up for a productive, purposeful week.
I’d love to know if you are able to take a full day off from work/house work etc. What things are restful for you? I’d love to know in the comments down below!
But now it’s time for the part you’re all here for: Vegan Brownie Batter Baked Oatmeal!
I love chocolate. There’s no denying it. So why wouldn’t I make a recipe that allows me to eat chocolate for breakfast? This Vegan Brownie Batter Baked Oatmeal is so easy to throw together and comes out so warm, hearty and chocolatey. It’s full of healthy fats and is sweetened with ripe, spotty bananas and pure maple syrup. I love eating mine warm with a dollop of peanut butter and a drizzle of Homemade Cashew Milk.
This Vegan Brownie Batter Baked Oatmeal also tastes delicious as leftovers. You can either reheat it in the microwave with some non-dairy milk or enjoy it cold!
I’d love to know if you give this recipe a try and what you thing. Leave your comments down below or even better, take a picture and tag #theconscientiouseater on Instagram so I can see your creation!
Vegan Brownie Batter Baked Oatmeal
Enjoy chocolate for breakfast with this hearty, naturally sweetened Vegan Brownie Batter Baked Oatmeal!
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water)
- 1 cup mashed banana (from 2-3 ripe bananas)
- 1/3 cup cacao powder
- 1/4 cup nut butter*
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups non-dairy milk
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Grease a 9-inch cake pan and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons water. Set aside to thicken. This will be your "egg."
- In a mixing bowl, mash your bananas.
- To the bananas, add in the cocoa powder, nut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk everything together until a uniform batter forms.
- Next whisk in the non-dairy milk until smooth.
- Add in the 3 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats and stir until combined.
- Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.
- Serve warm with more maple syrup, nut butter and non-dairy milk!
Notes
*I like to use black tahini, but any more neutral nut butter like almond or cashew butter would work great!
**Old-fashioned rolled oats give this baked oatmeal the perfect texture. I haven't tried using quick oats. Do not use steel cut oats.
Veganized and adapted from Budget Bytes.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 358Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 42mgSodium 338mgCarbohydrates 54gFiber 7gSugar 17gProtein 12g
Nutrition information is a rough estimate provided by Nutrionix and should be used for informational purposes only.
Anna says
Thanks for sharing this recipe, came across it randomly whilst searching for overnight oats. It turned out great! Especially the next day the flavours sink in much better. Unfortunately I don’t always have ripe bananas on hand, is there any way to make this without bananas, or replace with something else?
Faith VanderMolen says
I often love leftovers more as they are more flavorful. I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! And applesauce should work! I often sub applesauce in baking when I don’t have ripe bananas on hand.
Paula says
I finished the leftovers today, and gotta say, these are amazing to make and freeze, they taste delicious warmed up with milk & toppings!
I want to make them again, but unfortunately have no oven right now, would they be alright in the microwave? (Maybe with the grill function too?)
Thank you!
Faith VanderMolen says
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Paula! And I haven’t tried it in the microwave, but I’m sure it would be delicious. The texture might be different and less dry/cakey, but worth a try! Let us know how it goes and how long it took you to microwave it!
Michelle Duncan says
Yummy! Made it for breakfast. Used full coconut milk and almond butter as that’s all I had and it’s nice and creamy! Not like brownie batter but yummy chocolate banana flavor! Thanks!
Faith VanderMolen says
Those sound like amazing substitutions! Thanks so much for sharing Michelle!
Kay says
Didn’t taste like brownie batter to me, but it’s definitely chocolaty and delicious. I might need to sliiightly bake it a little less, or maybe it was the nut butter that wasn’t as moist, though regardless I love it and was so pleasantly surprised considering I don’t tend to like most vegan desserts/sweet things.
Thank you so much for this recipe and will definitely be making it again as it’s such an easy and tasty breakfast!
Faith VanderMolen says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Kay! I guess something that’s baked can’t really taste like brownie batter, but I though the name sounded catchy:) You could definitely try out different nut butters, but either way I’m glad you’ll be making it again!
Yifeng says
Just made this and it tasted like brownie with a different texture! This us my first time making baked oats and am loving the results. I used whole oats instead of rolled oats (not sure if there’s any difference) and it came out crunchy in top and chewy and creamy inside.
Faith VanderMolen says
So glad you enjoyed this recipe Yifeng! The texture sounds amazing…just like it should be!
Gabs says
Sooo good
Faith VanderMolen says
Yay! Glad you like it!
Michelle D says
I just made this for my very picky husband. It is REALLY good! I love that there is also no sugar. I added some extra ground flax in when I added the oats, and I baked it in a silicon pan so I didn’t need oil. We are slicing it into kind of like cake slices so we can grab and go. It is also a nice dessert food! Thanks so much!
Faith VanderMolen says
So glad to hear that you and your husband both enjoyed this recipe Michelle! Thanks so much for sharing!
Souha says
Hi I’m new to this beautiful community and this baked oats looks absolutely amazing I’m definitely trying it but I would like to know the calories for the serving and thank you so much for all the amazing recipes
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Souha! Thanks so much for introducing yourself! I just updated the post so that the recipe card includes the nutrition facts. They may not be completely accurate, but hopefully that helps. Thanks!
mary says
can i substitute bananas with apple sauce?
Faith says
Hi Mary! That’s a good question. I haven’t tried it so I can’t say what the result would be, but I think it’s a great substitution option and you should try it! If it works out for you, please let me know!
Liv says
First, this looks absolutely amazing! Second, I love your idea of having a restful Sunday to set yourself up for a productive week ahead. I’ve traveled for the past 3 or 4 weekends in a row now and definitely find myself scrambling more, especially in the beginning of the week, since I haven’t had that weekend time to rest or catch up/even get ahead on things!
Faith says
Thanks Liv! And restful Sundays have changed my life. I look forward to them so much and they are so needed for me to realize that me resting won’t make the world fall apart haha. I hope you can get a full day of rest in soon after your back to back busy weekends!
Brittany says
Do you know how to differentiate quick oats from rolled oats in China / Chinese? I live in China and find it hard to know which is which because some of the ones that look like rolled oats say they’re quick oats on packaging. Maybe the oats in the veggie markets are usually old fashioned?
Faith says
Hi Brittany! I usually just have to look and feel them. I have found that oats in the market are more old fashion, aka not processed and super tough/thick. I can also find old fashioned in the bulk bins at our Walmart. Then the oats I buy in the smaller super markets in a bag are often quick oats. I hope that helps!