Recipe: Sugar-Free Chocolate Oatmeal

Chocolate oatmeal is my desert island dessert, and I’ve made a sugar-free version to keep my inflammation down.

If you grew up in the South, you might remember No Bake Cookies. It was one of those recipes we all thought was a family tradition, passed down for generations. Like queso made with Rotel and Velveeta.

It was not a family recipe. Or, maybe it started that way, with someone’s family, but it spread.

In my family, it was a staple at gatherings. My Grandma made them, and we all devoured them. Especially me. Anytime anyone posts a childhood photo of me on social media, I generally have something I’ve just eaten all over my face. In the pic below, the stuff all over my face is Grandma’s Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies (what we called the No Bake cookies in our family.)

When I was a teenager, I realized I could make them myself. But no one else in my immediate family wanted them as often as I did. So I bore the recipe down to a single serving, made in the microwave. At this point, I realized I preferred to eat it out of the bowl, like oatmeal. If you wanted the batter to form cookies, you had to cook it longer to harden the batter. But I discovered if I didn’t cook it as long, I could eat it sooner, and it would be ooey and gooey and warm, like oatmeal.

Then I had kids, and I started making the full batch of Chocolate Oatmeal on the stove once again. I realized that it tasted better when it was made on the stove. And also, my kids could continue my tradition of leaning over the pot, smelling the chocolate as it simmered. Best smell ever.

Then, we cut sugar out of our diets in February 2021 in an attempt to lower my blood pressure. And I had to find a way to have my chocolate oatmeal without sugar. I did not have faith that it would work out. Because the original recipe called for SO MUCH SUGAR.

I started experimenting based on a few different recipes I saw online. And I am happy to say I have perfected Chocolate Oatmeal without the sugar. Trust me when I say I wouldn’t eat it if it didn’t evoke the same smell, the same feel, and the memories of olde.

I decided to post today because it’s my cousin’s birthday. He once called me to ask for my pared-down microwave recipe. And when I started by telling him he needed 1 tsp of cacao, he said, “What, am I making this for a mouse?” Because in this family, WE EAT.

Back when we could travel and SEE PEOPLE, we would spend a night or two at my cousin’s house in Dallas and I would make chocolate oatmeal for everyone after dinner. Or sometimes, for dinner. So here is a birthday favor for my cousin, COVID-19 style, over the interwebs.

Recipe Notes

In my family, we never put peanut butter in the original recipe. We were purists like that. But in the recipe below, the peanut butter adds to the sweetness – which you need a lot of when you’re not adding 2 CUPS of white refined sugar. So, trust me. Use the peanut butter.

The quick oats seem to work better for this recipe. You can use old fashioned oats as well, but make sure you start with 1 cup and then add as you like from there. You don’t want it to be too dry.

Be sure you are using pure maple syrup. Not pancake syrup, which is generally made with sugar.

A note for just my family members – this serving size is going to feel small for you. But the addition of the peanut butter in the recipe makes the dish more filling. So don’t worry. You have enough. However, if you are rolling your eyes at me in disagreement, that’s cool too. Eat until you’re full. Grandma would approve.