Brown-Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Recipe (2024)

There is no need to remove the toasted oats from the pot before adding water and cocoa. Stir in the cocoa first then add the water and bring to a boil. I have been making my steel cut oats by the cold water start method for years now and the texture just a bit creamer than adding the oats to boiling water. And time and effort saved in the already busy morning.

A simpler variant on starting oatmeal the night before. Put the oats (and for this recipe cocoa) into the pot with cold water (2/3 of total quantity), bring to a boil, stir once and immediately turn off, cover and leave overnight. In the morning, add remaining 1/3 of water and cook until done. No need for fancy electric pots.I learned this method from a British lady who lived on this during the hard times of WW II and it works beautifully.

2 Questions:How can you say this is for breakfast when it requires 45 min of cooking? OR. Do you have a kitchen worker who arrives an hour before you rise?

I add one half teaspoon of cocoa, espresso powder, and cinnamon after cooking the steel cut or rolled oats. Two tablespoons walnuts. Dash of milk. No sweetener. Yum

Try Scottish oats (steel cut oats that are cut finer) and you can cut total cook time to about 15 min. Scottish oats are creamier and more porridge-y in texture and taste. Bobs Red Mill sells online as well as a G-Free variety. I have been eating Scottish oats for 15 yrs. I put water with cinnamon stick in fridge overnight then use the cinnamon water for oats the next day. I keep the stick and replenish the water for a couple more uses. The oats cook quick so it helps to pre-flavor the water.

Very adult good—just be conservative on sweetening. I used honey. To shorten time, here’s an Instant Pot way: Use sauté function to brown the butter and sauté the oats; add the water, salt and cocoa and combine well with whisk. Switch to Porridge for 12 minutes at high pressure followed by 10 minutes natural release before venting. Stir and let rest for a minute before sweetening. An additional small pat of butter, toasted chopped walnuts, sliced bananas and milk will quiet the adult skeptics.

I make up a batch of steel cut oats, then freeze individual portions, which can be ready to eat very quickly in the morning by heating in the microwave. I top it with fresh berries, yoghurt, walnuts , etc. Looking forward to trying this recipe.

I make toasted steel cut oats every day—but the night before, in my Zojirushi so it’s ready when I wake up. You don’t need to toast the oats in butter; a dry cast iron skillet works fine.

I cook up a large week's worth of oatmeal and whole grains on the weekend, including dehydrated fruits to reconstitute in the cooking; cool then place in a covered container for the fridge. On hurried weekday mornings, I put about 1/2 cup oatmeal into a bowl with whole milk or juice; stir to combine; microwave for 2 minutes. So in 5 minutes I have a healthy breakfast with endless ways to add variety. Can't wait to try the cocoa addition!

Browned the butter, then oats.Stirred in cocoa and salt.Added boiling water and simmered.

Cook up a big batch on the weekend and keep it in the fridge .....nuke as much as you want Monday thru Friday! Easy-Peasy!

Delicious—and fun! I took Melissa's encouragement to adapt within the wonderfully chocolaty concept she shares. Serving 2:1. Browned 1 T butter, then toasted 3/4 c rolled oats. Set aside.2. Brought to a strong simmer: 3/4 c water + 3/4 c nut milk.3. Whisked in: heaping 1 T cocoa powder, 2 t brown sugar, 1/8 t fine sea salt, 1/4 t cinnamon, 1/4 t garam masala. Added oats, simmered until done.4. Served, topping EACH bowl with flaky sea salt, 1/8 c toasted walnuts, slices of 1/2 banana.

@Mary UI do this all the time. I set everything up in a pot, get it simmering, set a timer, and take my shower. It’s done part way through making coffee (or shaving if I’ve planned poorly).

I use my rice maker on the "porridge" setting for steel cut oats. The main advantage is that no stirring is necessary. I have heard from friends that have them that Instant Pots work well also for the same reason.

This is great - does not need any sugar. A shortcut is to soak the oats overnight in your saucepan with the water, cocoa, dried fruit, and salt. No need to refrigerate. Then just turn on the heat and 10 minutes later - breakfast!

Delicious. Used Ghiradelli Dutch process cocoa. Stirred into toasted oatmeal and brown butter in pot and then poured cold water over. Added some cinnamon. About 20 mins to cook after the water came to a boil. Not bitter and fidn't need any further sweetening but a little drizzle of maple syrup was nice.

This recipe has become my go-to oatmeal: I prefer steel-cut over rolled and substitute half of the water with whole milk--very simple to make.

I really do love steel-cut oatmeal--it has such a chewier, more pleasant texture akin to wheat berries, farro, and spelt, which I also love, than soggy rolled oats--no wonder oatmeal has such a bad reputation. This dish was a delight as always on a cool, overcast November morning off from work. Definitely add half-milk if possible.

This was so good to revisit on a cool autumn weekend morning. I swapped milk for half of the water to make it creamier and topped it with a squash and apple compote. Super-easy to make, and even though I've grown away from a lot of chocolate, this dish was indeed refreshingly bittersweet without being cloyingly sweet, refreshingly grownup.

An unfortunate miss. This was overly time consuming and the end result was bitter to the point that even copious amounts of maple syrup couldn't save.

This was quite delicious. I did not have steel cut oats to hand, so cooked the oats in browned butter, dried cherries and walnuts. Added instant plain oatmeal, then immediately stirred in oat milk and added dark chocolate chips. Topped with flax and sliced bananas.

Bleh. The added cocoa was tasteless even after lots of sugar and coconut. I love strong-tasting dark chocolate, but this was a bummer. Not worth the calories (butter, sugar, etc.) and time. I'll stick to adding fruit to my oatmeal, thank you. Waste of ingredients into the can.

Pretty good, I added cinnamon, vanilla and chia seeds. Cooked very quickly. Then added a touch of honey and a few raisins on top- if you don’t like bitter things, you probably won’t like this unless you add a lot of sugar.

Does anyone have suggestions for using rolled oats in the instant pot?

So warming and consoling as it snowed in April! Even better with bananas! Although I trust avocado would be good as well!

My husband and I love this. It’s such a treat for breakfast. Dutch-process cocoa provides the best depth of flavor and I soak the oats overnight after toasting in the butter and whisking the cocoa into the oats and water as it boils. Remove from heat, put on the lid. In the morning I add just a small handful of bittersweet chocolate chips and it takes 7 - 10 minutes to cook. My favorite toppings are bananas, toasted coconut, chopped hazelnuts, and a few mini chocolate chips.

I make this with vegan butter and almond milk (lactose issues), still delicious!

Make oatmeal as usual and put in a bowl.Make a slight hollow in the center and add bittersweet chocolate chips. Cover with hot oatmeal until it melts. Fast and fabulous. I often add chopped walnuts.

It was good to revisit this recipe now that the cold weather has set in again, on a cold, rainy weekend morning. I found it immensely more satisfying, not to mention healthy and economical, than going out to eat, and the aroma while it simmered was consoling. I found no need to add sweetener even though I used unsweetened cocoa.

Made in the instapot, and doubled: 4 c. oats, 6/5 c water, 6 T cocoa powder. Stirred in cocoa after adding water to oats, cooked on high for 10 minutes and let release for 10. Sweetened with honey. Super yummy!