Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal

Last Updated on December 19, 2023 by Christin Gillespie

This thick and creamy Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal is a decadent breakfast that is delicious and nutritious. A comforting chocolate oatmeal bowl, sweetened with Medjool dates and full of chocolatey Nutella-inspired flavor. Top with banana slices, chopped dark chocolate, and a spoonful of hazelnut butter, for a simple, yet satisfying breakfast treat that is vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar free!

A Healthy Vegan Nutella Oatmeal Bowl

Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal for breakfast anyone? This chocolate oatmeal has a Nutella-inspired twist. By combining chocolate and hazelnuts, we achieve Nutella!

This Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal recipe has major Nutella vibes, thanks to the perfect mixture of cacao powder, Medjool dates, and hazelnut butter. It’s creamy, easy, and tastes like a major treat.

By adding Medjool dates to the recipe, there is no need to add any additional sweeteners, making this oatmeal recipe refined sugar free. Also, Medjool dates are the best way to make oatmeal more decadent, since oats are relatively bland on their own, but I promise this recipe is full of flavor.

Types of Oats to Use

This decadent chocolate oatmeal bowl can be made with rolled oats, steel cut oats, or even quick oats.

• Organic Gluten-Free Rolled Oats: Rolled Oats, also known as old fashioned oats or whole oats, are my favorite type of oats to cook with. Their texture is great and they cook relatively quickly, compared to steel-cut oats.
• Organic Steel-Cut Oats: Steel-cut oats, usually take much longer to make, about 20 minutes. However, they contain more fiber.
• Organic Quick Oats: Quick oats are soft in texture and cook extremely quickly. They’re the best type of oats to use in the microwave versus cooking on the stove.

Whichever type of oats you select, before preparing, be sure to read the package instructions, for the liquid oat ratio, because the amounts may vary.

Now let’s get cooking!

Chocolate Hazelnut OatmealIngredients

• Organic Gluten-Free Rolled Oats: I used old fashioned rolled oats, but steal-cut or quick oats work as well. However, be sure to read the package instructions for the liquid oat ratio and the cook time, because they will vary. This recipe is written for old fashioned rolled oats.
• Organic Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk: In this oatmeal recipe, we only need a little milk, so use your favorite non-dairy milk. I used organic unsweetened almond milk.
• Organic Medjool Dates: Dates provide the perfect sweetener and texture for this oatmeal bowl. Also, don’t forget to remove the pits from the dates, but you can buy them already pitted, to keep it easy.
• Organic Cacao Powder: To make the oats chocolatey! To be clear, cacao powder is different from regular dutch cocoa powder. Cacao powder is pure, raw cacao versus processed. Plus, cacao is rich in magnesium.
• Organic Ground Flax Seeds: Ground flax seeds are loaded with nutrients, high in omega-3 fats, rich in dietary fiber, and you can’t even taste them. They are completely optional, and be substituted with chia seeds, so no problem if you don’t have them…yet!
• Hazelnut butter: This is essential for this oatmeal recipe.’

How to Make Oatmeal

If I had known that you could sweeten oatmeal by using Medjool dates, without adding any additional sweeteners, I would have been doing it so long ago. Medjool dates are so good and can take a boring bowl of oatmeal and make it a million times better.

Making oatmeal is easy on it’s own, but this recipe has an extra step, that probably takes an extra 2 minutes, but it’s totally worth it.

Begin by placing non-dairy milk, Medjool dates, cacao powder, and ground flax seeds, in a high-speed blender. Then, blend on high until smooth, with few to none pieces of dates remaining.

Pour chocolate milk into a medium saucepan and add the rolled oats. 

Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for about 5-7 minutes stirring frequently, until most of the liquid is gone and the texture is very thick.

Transfer to a bowl, top with banana slices, chopped dark chocolate, and a spoonful of hazelnut butter. That’s it, making this thick and creamy bowl of warm chocolate, Nutella-inspired, oatmeal is so simple and doesn’t require any refined sugar.

Tips for Making this Oatmeal Recipe Perfectly

To make the perfect Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal recipe, be sure to follow these tips!

• For the best texture, I suggest using organic gluten-free rolled oats, but you can use quick oats, or if you have more time, you can also use steel cut oats.
• Be sure your dates are pitted, but you can buy them already pitted, to keep it easy.
• Use a high-speed blender to ensure that the you achieve chocolate milk, with few to none pieces of dates remaining.

Oatmeal Toppings

The options are limitless when it comes to topping your Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal. I personally topped mine with fresh banana slices, chopped dark chocolate, and a spoonful of hazelnut butter, to achieve a Nutella tastes, but you can top your chocolate oatmeal bowl with whatever you want!

• Fresh or Frozen Organic Berries: cherries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.
• Organic Banana Slices
• Organic Dark Chocolate or Organic Dark Chocolate Chips
• Organic Nut Butter or Seed Butter: almond butter, creamy peanut butter, pecan butter, cashew butter, hazelnut butter, etc.
• Organic Hemp Seeds or Organic Chia Seeds
• Organic Chopped Nuts or Seeds: almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pecans, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc.
• Organic Coconut Flakes or Organic Shredded Coconut

No matter what you top your Nutella-inspired oatmeal with, it will be a treat!

More Chocolate Oatmeal Recipes to Try:

• Chocolate Banana Berry Oatmeal
• Chocolate Almond Butter Oatmeal
• Chocolate Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal
• Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Blended Baked Oats
• Chocolate Orange Oatmeal
• Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Oatmeal
• Chocolate Oatmeal with Raspberry Chia Jam

Sharing Is Caring!

If you make this recipe, please leave a review & rating below! I love hearing from you and it helps others learn more about the recipe too. Lastly, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, & TikTok for even more deliciousness & wellness tips!

Xoxo.

Christin.

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