The other week, I invented a new way to eat porridge*, one so good I had to share it.  Problem is, I only remember after I’ve inhaled the stuff.  Even here, I took the picture after I’d eaten a good two-thirds.

I eat porridge every morning, usually with a banana cut into it after cooking for sweetness, but sometimes the bananas aren’t ripe or I want a different flavour, especially if I’m eating it as a comforting bedtime snack or as lunch on days when I have not got the energy for something more elaborate.  I’ve already shared my Perfect Purple Porridge recipe, and if I were going on a colour/alliteration theme, I’d be calling this Brilliant Brown in a Bowl.  But I’m not. It smells luscious, but looks a bit…um…swamp-inspired shall we say.

cocoa-peanut porridge

This is the recipe as it works for one person, just increase the amounts if, as happens  around here, your family decides that this makes a wonderful dessert.  Weight Watchers people, this is 3 Points if you use artificial sweetener. (Another reason it’s brilliant.)

Cocoa-Peanut Porridge

Combine in a pot and bring to a boil:

  • 1c -1 1/2c water (depending on how thick you like it)
  • a generous pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder

Add and return to a boil, then simmer til the mixture is smooth and glossy (5 minutes or so) :

  • 1/2 c oats (I use quick oats, not instant)

Pour into a bowl and add:

  • 1/2 TB smooth all-natural peanut butter

Sometimes you need to let it sit for a moment or two, the heat helps the peanut butter melt in.

Add:

  • a splash of vanilla
  • sweetener, honey, or sugar to taste

Call me crazy, but I think this is a simple, cheap, comforting piece of heaven. And I think it would work beautifully as something to pack as a lunch, either in a Thermos or in a microwave safe dish.

The chocolate-orange lover in me wonders what would happen if you substituted a bit of orange zest for the peanut butter. Or what if I  used coconut extract instead of vanilla? Hmmm…further porridge experimentation may be in store for me.

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* Some of you may know porridge as oatmeal.  That people in some areas of the English-speaking world don’t know the word porridge startles me.  We were listening to a Jim Weiss retelling of Goldilocks and were baffled when he said, “…she tasted the porridge, which is sort of like oatmeal…” because in our experience it’s not sort of like it, it is it. Fascinating.

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