Breakfast Recipe: Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal

This spin-off on the classic oatmeal breakfast is rich and decadent. Combined with our Coconut Chia version, we’ve taken oatmeal up a notch or two.

Meal Stats:

• Recipe Weight: 4.5 ounces
• Calories per Ounce: 136
• Total Calories: 612

Ingredients

The chief benefit of this recipe is that the ingredients are widely available and easy to assemble. You can find everything in a standard supermarket, and probably even small-town grocery stores.

The recipe assumes that your banana chips are sweetened. If they’re not, it’s recommended that you add a sweetener like sugar or honey.

The meal is very fat- and calorie-heavy, due to the combination of whole milk powder, butter, chocolate, and walnuts. These will help balance the sugar content to give you a “slow burn” effect.

If you’re vegan, have a small appetite, or want a healthier version, consider these substitutions:

• Use cacao nibs instead of chocolate chips;
• Subsitute coconut milk powder for the whole milk powder;
• Use dried blueberries or no-sugar-added dried cranberries; or,
• Omit the butter and use coconut oil if you want to make it fully vegan.

While you can cold-soak this recipe, its full glory comes only when it’s cooked, because the chocolate chips melt into the oats.

At Home Preparation

For solo trips, combine all the ingredients in a sandwich bag, except for the chocolate chips and maybe the butter. To prevent the butter from leaking in hot conditions, double-bag it, or keep it in a secure food storage container (e.g. Tupperware). The chocolate chips are best added at the end.

For groups, combine the oats, banana chips, Craisins, and maybe the milk powder (depending on group allergies). This mix can be individually portioned, or divided in the field.

Keep the nuts separate, so you can accommodate allergies. Store the butter in a secure food storage container. Keep the chocolate chips separate, so they can be added at the end after the meal has cooked.

Field Preparation

1. Bring 10 ounces of water to a boil.
2. Add all the contents into the water.
3. Cover, and wait 5-10 minutes. Add cinnamon to taste.
4. A few minutes before eating, add the chocolate chips so that they melt into the oats some.

Using up to 12 ounces of water will help with cleanup, but the melted chocolate in the pot will inevitably need a little extra attention.

Have questions or an experience with this meal? Leave a comment.