Cocoa Baked Oatmeal

Featured Ingredient: Steel-Cut Oats

Ever since Tabi and I started enjoying hearty steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast, we can’t seem to go back to the rolled oat variety. I usually cook up a big batch with a mixture of water and milk to produce creamy results and spruce things up with nuts, seeds and spices. Certainly, there are worse ways to start off your day as steel-cut oats are nutritional powerhouse.

Primarily, they are a leading source of beta-glucan. This is a soluble fiber shown to help improve cholesterol numbers which makes oats a champion for heart health. They are also a wonderful source of fiber, magnesium, and folate – a B vitamin that helps cells form properly which slashes cancer risk.

Recently, Bob’s Red Mill kicked off their second annual Spar for the Spurtle 2 Oatmeal Recipe Contest, which invites home cooks and professional chefs alike to submit short videos demonstrating a unique recipe that makes use of BRM steel cut oats. From the entries, three finalists will be flown to Portland, Oregon to compete in a live cook-off. How cool is that? I don’t think you’ll have Gordon Ramsey tossing four letter words your way.

Here’s the best news: The winner of the cook-off will receive an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Scotland, including $2,500 in cash, to help represent team Bob’s Red Mill in the 19^th Annual Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship!

Click here to learn more about the contest.

The kind folks over at Bob’s Red Mill would love to give Muffin Tin Mania readers some of their oat products to try out in the kitchen. All you need to do is enter their Spar for the Spurtle contest and let me know that you did by commenting on this post and they will send you some product. The deadline to submit entries in the Spar for the Spurtle contest is July 20, 2012. Sorry Gretzky fans, this contest is only open to U.S. residents.

If I was to enter, I think this might be the recipe because why should you just eat oatmeal from a bowl?  Bake up a batch of these and you’ll be set for a week’s worth of nutritious breakfast meals. They are also perfect for when you need a healthy on-the-go breakfast option. I like to dress mine up with blueberries and some coconut, but you can choose other berries or toppings as you prefer.

Baked Cocoa Oatmeal

1 cup steel-cut oats

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries

1/3 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup hemp hearts (optional)

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cups low-fat milk or non-dairy alternative of choice

1 large mashed banana

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Blueberries

Flaked coconut

In a bowl, cover oats with water and soak overnight or for several hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Drain oats and add to a large bowl along with almond flour, cherries, almonds, hemp seeds, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In a separate bowl, lightly beat eggs and mix with milk, banana and maple syrup. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir to combine.

Divide oat mixture among 12 medium sized muffin cups. Cook for 22 minutes, or until a tester comes out mostly clean.

Serve baked oatmeal cups warm topped with blueberries, flaked coconut and additional maple syrup if desired.