Bored of regular oatmeal? Why not spruce it up with raw cacao for a rich and satisfying treat? Chocolate oats are delicious any time of day.
Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?
High street or fancy? What’s your preference?
I love me a good dark chocolate. And to be honest, the fancier the better!
When I want chocolate for the pleasure it provides, any chocolate will do – milk or dark. But, when I want it for both pleasure and its possible health benefits, I choose dark. And as close to 100% as possible.
Dark chocolate, depending on how much it is processed, is a rich source of mood and cognition-boosting flavonols, including epicatechin, catechin and procyanidins.
Milk chocolate contains some flavonoids too. But one American study showed that the average total flavonol content of dark chocolate is five times that of milk chocolate – making dark chocolate a better option if you eat it for its potential health benefits.
Besides, dark chocolate is a source of insoluble fibre, and minerals important for heart health including magnesium, copper, potassium and calcium.
I happily eat dark chocolate on its own, but I also love to cook with it. You’d be happy to know that cooking doesn’t destroy the antioxidants in chocolate but, unfortunately, baking (likely due to baking soda) significantly reduces it.
Today I’m sharing my super simple chocolate oats recipe featuring raw Cacoa powder. I love to top my chocolate oats with Greek-style yoghurt, fruit, and nuts or seeds. Use code SOMI15 to get 15% off Aduna’s raw Cacoa powder.
Before I share my recipe, let’s explore the
Nutrition Highlights of Chocolate Oats with Berries and Coconut
With an estimated glycaemic load (GL) of 16.5, this meal is considered medium GL. This means that it won’t spike your insulin or blood sugar levels and instead increases your blood sugar levels slowly and steadily.
The medium GL attribute of this meal makes it a good option if you want to control your blood sugar levels, balance your hormones, and alleviate (or reverse) inflammatory conditions like type 2 diabetes, PCOS, acne, fibroids etc.
This meal is also a rich source of several other beneficial nutrients, including:
- Copper, provides 0.6mg or 60% of the recommended daily intake (RDI)
- Magnesium, provides 119mg or 32% of the RDI
- Biotin, provides 14.7µg or 29% of the RDI
- Iron, provides 3.7mg or 26% of the RDI
- Vitamin D, provides 1.1µg or 22% of the RDI
How to Cook Chocolate Oats with Berries and Coconut
Ingredients
For chocolate oats
- 50g rolled or jumbo oats
- 100ml unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon raw cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
To Top
- 40g raspberries
- 50g Greek-style plain yoghurt (soya)
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 teaspoon desiccated coconut
- Chopped mint (optional)
Directions
- Combine all the ingredients for oats in a medium saucepan. Add around 100ml of water and cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat then top with raspberries, Greek-style yoghurt, pumpkin seeds, and desiccated coconut.
- Sprinkle with chopped mint if using.
- Enjoy!
Raw Cacao Chocolate Oats
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 1
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: N/A
Description
Delicious Raw Cacao Chocolate Oats
Ingredients
For chocolate oats
- 50g rolled or jumbo oats
- 100ml unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon raw cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
To Top
- 40g raspberries
- 50g Greek-style plain yoghurt (soya)
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 teaspoon desiccated coconut
- Chopped mint (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for oats in a medium saucepan. Add around 100ml of water and cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat then top with raspberries, Greek-style yoghurt, pumpkin seeds, and desiccated coconut.
- Sprinkle with chopped mint if using.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Per serving
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 3.9g
- Sodium: 126mg
- Fat: 11.7g
- Saturated Fat: 3.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 37.3g
- Fiber: 11.1g
- Protein: 11.5g
- Cholesterol: 0.15mg
References
- Kataz, D.L., Doughty, K., and Ali, A (2011) Cocoa and chocolate in human health and disease. Antioxidants and Redox Signalling, 15, 10
- Tuenter, E., Foubert, K., Pieters, L (2018) Mood components in Cocoa and chocolate: The mood pyramid. Planta Med, 84, 839-844
- Miller, K.B., Hurst, W.J., Flannigan, N., Ou, B., Lee, C.Y., Smith, N., and Stuart, D.A. (2009) Survey of commercially available chocolate- and cocoa-containing products in the United States. 2. Comparison of flavan-3-ol content with nonfat cocao solids, total polyphenols and percent cacao. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 57, 9169-9180
- Scholey, A and Owen, L. (2013) Effects of chocolate on cognitive function and mood: a systematic review. Nutrition Reviews, 71, 10, 665-6981.
- Montagna, M.T., Diella, G., Triggiano, F., Caponio, G.R., De Giglio, O., Caggiano, G., Di Ciaula, A., and Portincasa, P. (2019) Chocolate, “Food of the Gods”: History, Science, and Human Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(24), 4960.
