Overnight chocolate chia oats

I’ve got to be honest, I’m a bit suspicious of all these ‘superfoods’ like goji berries and the like. I equate them with things like ‘clean eating’ (ugh) and all that making brownies out of butternut squash and dates stuff that’s been popular recently (seriously, brownies made out of butter, sugar, flour and chocolate are just fine - why mess with a classic?). But then the health food experts, BonPom came along and offered to send me some of their products and I thought yeah, why not - I’ll give them a go, and it turns out, actually, that I quite like chia. Who knew? Here’s my attempt at healthy overnight chocolate chia oats.

There’s no denying that chia seeds are pretty impressive health-wise: they’re protein-packed, rich in fibre, which keeps you feeling full, and they also contain Omega-3 fatty acids and all sorts of other vitamins and minerals. The unfortunate side is that they suck up something like 10 times their weight in water and become slightly, well, ‘frog spawny’ in texture, which is fine if you were a fan of tapioca as a kid, but if not, then watch out (this pudding actually made Mr E gag).

I don’t mind it at all, and this pudding actually made me feel like I was eating deliciously decadent chocolate dessert for breakfast, which is a winner.

They also sent me some raw organic cacao powder - another cult health food product - it smells AMAZING and really, a little goes a long way. I started trying this recipe with 15g of cacao but honestly, it was so rich and chocolatey I felt like you didn’t even need that much - 10g is fine. Again, it’s stuffed full of antioxidants and lots of those feel-good chemicals we love in all things chocolatey, which all means it’s a pretty good addition to a healthy breakfast (in moderation).

Overnight chocolate chia oats

Serves two (or one greedy person)

175 ml semi skimmed milk (feel free to use almond milk or whatever)
15g oats
15g chia seeds
10g cacao
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
Pinch salt

So basically just bung everything in a bowl and mix it really, really well. Leave overnight (it really does need a good few hours to suck up all the liquid) and give it another good mix again as soon as you get up. If you’re not a fan of the texture, give it a whizz with a stick blender for a lovely, creamy consistency, otherwise just add fruit/bananas/a few nuts and seeds/whatever you like.

The verdict:

Did I love it? Well I didn’t MIND it - I found my first try a bit sweet and cut down my initial 2 tbsp honey to just 1 tbsp (feel free to double up if you have a very sweet tooth). I also started off using 15g cacao but it’s VERY rich and chocolatey and you can definitely get away with 10g. This is my own concoction, and probably needs a bit of work, but if you’ve got a sweet tooth and fancy eating something chocolatey, filling AND healthy (the whole thing comes in at a nudge over 150 kcal a portion, with over 6g protein) for breakfast, this could be the one for you.

BonPom also sent me this thing called banana powder and despite my initial suspicion, I tried the recipe again with the banana powder instead of the cacao and OH MY GOD BANANA HEAVEN.

Get me! Next I’ll be on the bee pollen.