Choca Mocha Porridge

So I hear that our winters here in the UK are getting colder. And well, whilst it’s good to know that I’m not just making it up, it does mean that I’m having to seriously improve my cosy food game. Especially where breakfast is concerned. Now I love cold breakfasts like nice cream smoothie bowls and overnight oats, but as it gets increasingly cold outside, it is requiring more and more motivation to get out of my nice warm bed in the morning – and so I definitely need a breakfast that will warm me up from the inside.

So porridge has become my obvious go-to. Healthy, tasty – a good base for lots of toppings…it had been going well…except…I got a bit bored! I tried changing it up with fruits and spices, different kinds of milks but…I still needed something more. Which is when I starting wondering about making porridge with tea and coffee. As well as giving it a tasty new flavour, I’d also be getting a morning caffeine fix! And with that thought, the porridge experiments began!

Now (confession time), I don’t really like ‘proper coffee’. By which I mean, I like the idea of coffee and I love the smell of coffee but when it comes to drinking coffee, I basically want a hot chocolate with coffee (a mocha) or a milkshake with coffee (a frappuccino). Yes, yes I know – I haven’t finished doing my growing up clearly! 😀

So mocha porridge it was. And what an instant hit. For me, the bitterness of the coffee and the cacao was a perfect balance with the chopped dates, milk and chocolate but you could always add a drizzle of maple syrup if you wanted it a little sweeter. I couldn’t resist a little extra chocolate on top (so…choca mocha!) but obviously you could leave that out.

 Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup/110g oats
• 2 cups/500ml brewed coffee (use instant if you like!)
• 2 Tbsp cacao powder
• 4-6 large dates, pitted and chopped
• 1 cup/250ml milk of choice (I highly recommend using Isola Bio’s Rice and Hazelnut Drink)
• 2 squares/20g dark chocolate (plus an optional 2 squares, broken up, for topping)
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• (optional) maple syrup to taste

METHOD

1. Place the oats, cacao powder, cinnamon, dates and coffee in a small saucepan. Leave to soak for 10 minutes.
2. Add the milk and bring to a simmer.
3. Cook, stirring regularly until the porridge is a thick consistency and then take off the heat.
4. Break up the chocolate and stir it through until it has disappeared into the porridge.
5. Add maple syrup to sweeten if necessary and stir through.
6. Divide between two bowls and add toppings (including the extra dark chocolate if you are using it).
7. Enjoy!