2-Minute Decadent Dark Chocolate Oatmeal

This is the most amazing oatmeal I think I have ever had … well, okay, I’m a chocolate fiend, so of course I like it, and I’ve had many different kinds of chocolate for breakfast, but have you ever thought to put chocolate in your oatmeal?

I confess, I hadn’t (although I can’t quite figure out why not … I put chocolate in just about everything else!), until I saw The Pastry Affair’s Dark Chocolate Oatmeal … now THAT I had to try!

This oatmeal tastes like a decadent chocolate pudding … but it’s totally good for you. I had really meant to fancy it up with toasted almonds (I had even already toasted the almonds!), some pomegranate seeds, maybe a bit of cinnamon and chocolate chips, but when I pulled it out of the microwave and tasted it … I wanted to absolutely nothing to get in the way of that heavenly chocolate taste.

Yes, you can have it for breakfast, yes, it’s good for you, and yes, you have time for it. It’s SO simple!

2-Minute Decadent Dark Chocolate Oatmeal

Inspired by The Pastry Affair’s Dark Chocolate Oatmeal

• 1/4 cup of quick-cooking oats
• 1/4  cup of 1% milk (or milk of your choice)
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon high quality cocoa powder *
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon good quality pure vanilla extract

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir. Microwave on high for two minutes. Stir again to mix the flavors well. Mine was absolutely perfect after two minutes, but microwaves vary so if it’s not done, put it back in the microwave and microwave for another 30 seconds or a minute until it reaches a pudding-like consistency.

* A note on the cocoa: last time I went to buy cocoa, I was looking at the choices on the shelf. Usually my choices are Hershey’s or Nestle, and they work okay, but this time there was also Ghirardelli cocoa powder. The regular cocoas were in the $2 range, but the Ghirardelli one was almost $6. I decided to take a chance and splurge this time and oh my gosh what a difference! Instead of a light puke brown color that you see when you open a can of Hershey’s or Nestle, this cocoa powder is dark and rich and it smells intoxicating.  Eating this oatmeal was my first experience of the difference in taste. If you have a choice of buying good quality cocoa powder, I totally recommend spending the couple extra dollars. It’s frickin’ amazing.

This recipe was shared at Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Crazy Sweet Tuesday, These Chicks Cooked, Cast Party Wednesday, Tastetastic Thursdays, Full Plate Thursday, Fit & Fabulous Fridays, Weekend Potluck and Tasty Tuesdays.