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SCENE 1: Your alarm clock buzzes so you lazily disengage it, stretching luxuriously. “What decadent treat should I make myself for breakfast to celebrate the beginning of a new work week?” you ask yourself.
SCENE 2: Your alarm clock has been buzzing for 8 minutes straight before the first layer of fog grudgingly uncurls from your brain. You frown in incoherency as you disengage the alarm. “Ugh…Monday again! It’s cold! I’m late! What should I have for breakfast??”
This Chocolate Cranberry Almond Porridge can answer to both. Whether you enjoy cooking up a leisurely breakfast or need something on-the-go, this big bowl of warming chia porridge is a nice change from the ordinary. The key is to grind up the chia seeds for a smooth result, and a coffee grinder takes care of that in no time. If you want to be able to cook a gourmet breakfast in minutes, make baggies with the dry ingredients for the porridge, then just whisk them up with the wet ingredients in the morning, cook, and eat. Honestly, deciding which toppings to use is the most complicated part of the process. As you can see in the pictures, I solved the dilemma by going with “all of the above.”
Look for a plain vanilla version of this in my next cookbook!
So…fess up: to which camp do you belong, Scene 1 or Scene 2? Comment below and tell me!
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STARTING THM
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my recipe index
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recipe index by fuel type/allergy/theme
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Butter Pecan Breakfast Porridge
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Creamy Maple & “Brown Sugar” Oatmeal
As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission to help defray the costs of running this blog (at no extra charge to you). Thanks for your help!
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- 3 T. chia seeds
- 1 T. beef gelatin
- 1 T. cocoa powder
- ½ tsp. glucomannan
- ⅛ tsp. THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- -
- 1 c. unsweetened almond milk
- ¾ c. water
- ½ c. cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tsp. coconut oil
- ½ tsp. almond extract
- Half and half or cream, sugar-free chocolate syrup, additional cranberries, almonds, THM Super Sweet Blend for extra sweetness
- Grind the chia seeds to powder in a coffee grinder.
- Whisk the dry ingredients (including the chia powder) in a small saucepan. Add the wet ingredients and whisk again until smooth. Bring to a boil to thicken, then simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the cranberries are softened to your liking. (Whisk occasionally.)
- Serve with your choice of toppings!
Could the dry ingredients be prepped for the week?
Prepping keeps me from buying breakfast every day, but I don’t want to wreck the chia seeds by grinding them too far in advance.
I’ve never tried that but I bet it would work! I think a few other people have told me that they prep the dry ingredients for this recipe in advance.
I love, love this recipe! But, today I really wanted an E with these flavors, so what I did was use Ezekiel almond cereal (1/2 c), omitted the gelatin, water, and coconut oil (I had already made my trimmy light). Then I zapped it all in the microwave for 3 minutes, stirring halfway through. Delish!! Thank you, Brianna for delicious & healthy recipes!
That’s a neat idea! Perhaps you omitted these as well, but keep in mind that chia seeds, cream, and almonds are S fuels. 🙂
I’ve never had chia seeds…what is the overall flavor of this recipe?
Chocolate, almond, and cranberry. 🙂 They cover up any chia flavor (slightly nutty). The chia is there to thicken the porridge.
Super delicious breakfast – made this AM! Going to make the stuffed pumpkin french toast tomorrow! XO Thanks, Briana, for fabulous recipes like these!
Raspberries *are* good. Tried them already. You’d have to be a little more careful not to overdo the carbs with strawberries, I think.
If you follow the Trim Healthy Mama healthy eating plan as I (and many of my readers) do, you can have up to 1 cup raspberries, strawberries, or cranberries in a THM:S setting. 🙂 Blueberries are the only berry that is “restricted” to 1/2 c. in a THM:S setting.
What do you think about strawberries instead of cranberries? I’m not a big cranberry fan but everything else sounds yummy.
It’s your choice! Strawberries wouldn’t have as much flavor and would probably be mushier so they wouldn’t be my first pick, but raspberries may work better.
This looks so yummy! Quick question – I thought that the Knox gelatin was supposed to have the least flavor. Am I missing something? Looking forward to trying it!
Knox gelatin doesn’t have as much protein. 🙂 I didn’t notice any flavor from the beef gelatin in this porridge.
Lol I am not exactly in either scene, I have no alarm clock- just an internal one. My 1st thought around 6 is’ gotta turn on the chicken’s light and feed the kittens( orphaned ,hand raising) and read my Bible before the baby wakes up! ‘ But I do jump out of bed at a run and am very hungry when I stop. Gonna try this! Thanks
Whipped this right up! I’m allergic to following a recipe as written and lazy, so I threw all but the cranberries in the blender instead of grinding the chia dry. I roughly chopped the cranberries separately in the blender. Next time I may put it all in and blend less because I like some texture. Lastly, I added another 1/2 T. cocoa powder and stirred in some baobab powder at the end a la the Yuck Yum Bitty instead of the almond extract. Thanks so much!
I need to get some baobab powder!! Been wanting to try it. Love the idea of adding it to this porridge.
Brianna…do you think the recipe will work in a “hot logic” overnight? It is like a crockpot and doesn’t get to boiling. It would cook for at least six hours…
I really have no idea without trying it myself, but there’s a good chance it would work! I would try it if I were you!
Briana thanks for this recipe! It looks like the perfect warm, cozy breakfast for the cold winter mornings ahead of us! 😉 And my Mom JUST bought a bag of cranberries that we weren’t sure what we would do with. 😀
Awesome! We buy lots of cranberries during the fall and freeze them to use throughout the year, so you can always do that with any extras!
Heh. Scene 2, always. At some point, all of the kids might cooperate at the same time ling enough for me to catch up on sleep, but until that day, I do not see Scene 1 happening. :-p
Love your recipes usually this one, I won’t be repeating. Back to the yummy oatmeal. Thanks for trying and giving us lots of new variations to try.
Lol scene 2
This looks amazing! I cannot wait to try it. Thank you, Briana, for your recipes and for sharing “whose” you are (along with pics of your horses, etc.).