Chocolate Orange Oatmeal Bake
25 min 
2-3 
This rich and decadent chocolate orange oatmeal bake is a delicious way to celebrate the weekend! A small-batch recipe that is packed with fresh citrus, gooey chocolate, creamy nut butter, and crunchy almonds for added texture. We have used Food Thoughts Pure Cacao Melts (100% cacao), that contain no sugar to add a deep and intense chocolate flavour to kick start your morning. If you want this to be a bit sweeter, either replace the Cacao Melts with Food Thoughts Dark Chocolate Chips or add a bit more honey. What’s more, it is gluten-free and has vegan substitutes suggested.
Recipe created for Food Thoughts by Amanda Saxby from the Naturally Sweet Kitchen.
You will need
- 80g jumbo oats
- 50g chopped almonds
- 2 tbsp Food Thoughts Cacao Powder
- 2 tbsp Food Thoughts Pure Cacao Melts roughly chopped
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- â…› tsp baking soda
- 80ml fresh orange juice
- 80ml plant-based milk
- 3 tbsp runny honey
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tbsp fresh orange zest
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C and lightly grease a 16 x 10 cm baking dish.
Tip the oats, almonds, cacao powder, chopped chocolate, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl and stir well to combine. Set aside.
In a large measuring cup, whisk together the orange juice, milk, honey, almond butter, coconut oil, orange zest, and vanilla until emulsified.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well to coat. Scrape the mixture into the prepared baking dish and gently jiggle the dish to create a level surface. Place the dish on a baking sheet.
Bake the oats on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes or until puffed and dry looking on top. Remove the bake from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving with fresh orange slices, yoghurt, whipped cream, chopped nuts, chocolate nibs, or any other toppings you desire.
NOTES: To make these oats vegan, use maple or agave syrup instead of honey. Food Thoughts Pure Cacao Melts are dairy-free dark chocolate so feel free to use some. Once cooked, these baked oats will keep covered with foil in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, pop into a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until heated through. Double this recipe and bake in a 20 cm square baking tin to serve 4-6 people.
