Crunchy oats with almonds and honey, topped with fresh banana and chocolate cream cheese frosting with a hint of vanilla.
I should probably start with an apology to die hard cheesecake fans as I’ve been a bit generous with my “cheesecake” description. However, it’s got a crunchy base (made from oats, nuts and honey rather than biscuits) and it’s topped with cream cheese so I thought the cheesecake name was fitting.
If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know that I’ve been trying to increase the range of healthy breakfasts we eat in my house with delicious breakfast smoothies, muffins and overnight oats. This breakfast is a little bit naughtier (although only a little bit) so perhaps it’s one to save for the weekends.
There was a bit of discussion in my family about whether this was really suitable for breakfast. Some were a little unconvinced that breakfast should come with a chocolate, cream cheese topping. However I think it’s perfect and here’s why…
- Oats
- Almond Butter
- Honey
- Banana
- Dark Chocolate
- Cream Cheese
- Vanilla
The first four (which make up large part of this breakfast) are without doubt healthy breakfast items. Chocolate features in many popular breakfast items, although perhaps a little less healthy (I’m thinking pain au chocolat and of course coco pops!). Which only leaves the cream cheese as something that’s a little less breakfasty (I’m not counting the vanilla as it’s only a couple of drops). I think if 5 out of 6 ingredients are typical breakfast ingredients then it’s definitely suitable.
That said, it’s slightly indulgent nature means it also make a nice dessert too.
If you’re unconvinced that cream cheese should feature in breakfast then Greek yogurt works brilliantly as a replacement.
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Chocolate, Banana & Almond Breakfast Cheesecake
INGREDIENTS
- 2 heaped tbsp oats
- 1 tsp almond butter - or peanut butter if you don't have any
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 banana
- 1 heaped tbsp cream cheese - I use the reduced fat cream cheese
- 2 tsp dark chocolate chips
- a couple of drops of vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the almond butter (1 tsp) and honey (1 tsp) and oats (2 heaped tbsp) into your serving dish and mix to combine.
- Slice the banana and layer it on top of the oats.
- Place the dark chocolate chips into a microwave proof dish and heat on full power for approximately 30 seconds until melted (I usually check them after 20 seconds and then give them another 10 seconds if necessary). Don't worry if there's a couple of small unmelted bits, these add a nice texture.
- Add the cream cheese (1 heaped tbsp) and vanilla extract (a couple of drops) to the melted chocolate and stir to combine.
- Top the banana with the chocolate/cream cheese mix and serve.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Gluten-Free – ensure your oats are gluten-free
- Egg-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Fish-Free
- Crustacean-Free
- Mollusc-Free
- Celery-Free
- Mustard-Free
- Lupin-Free
Martin @ The Why Chef says
I eat salmon and cream cheese bagels for breakfast so I see no trouble with this! Although my wife constantly calls me weird, like when I have cold curry or cold roast dinner for breakfast…
I’ve totally missed the boat with ‘overnight oats’ – what’s the news on them?
Charlotte Oates says
Ooh I love salmon and cream cheese bagels, although I think them as more of a summer thing. I agree with your wife, cold curry for breakfast is a bit weird 🙂 cold pizza on the other hand… absolutely fine.
Where have you been for the past two years? Overnight oats seem to be everywhere I look in pretty much every flavour you can think of. If you like porridge then you should give them a try.
Martin @ The Why Chef says
Cold pizza is standard! But there’s something quite pleasing about a cold creamy curry when you’re nursing a sore head the next morning…
I only found out I liked porridge about 6 months ago so it’s all quite new to me! I’m still stuck on new whacky things like porridge and honey, or porridge and fruit. Ambitious, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, very daring!
Angela says
Yes I thought the Dairy Milk Philadelphia was odd, until I realised how good it tasted spread over a hobnob… now we don’t have it in the house!
Charlotte Oates says
Looking forward to seeing chocolate cream cheese smothered hob nobs on your blog. I bet you’d make them look beautiful! 🙂
Angela says
oh I think even I would struggle with that!
Charlotte Oates says
Ha ha. I’ve got a funny feeling that one day I’ll be in the supermarket and impulse buy hobnobs and chocolate philadelphia so I can see how pretty I can make it!
Alison says
These look fab. My son would be really happy if he got these for breakfast
Charlotte Oates says
They’re really yummy and feel like a treat. I hope he enjoys them! How old is he?
Angela says
I love chocolate and oats, it’s one of my favourite things. I think you can get Philadelphia with Dairy Milk in it now, which would make this breakfast even quicker. It also sounds like it would be great with a splash of almond milk and turned into a delicious smoothie.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Charlotte Oates says
I’d completely forgotten about the Philadelphia with dairy milk. That’s a great idea to save a bit of time and washing up. I’m pretty sure when I first saw it advertised I thought it was a bizarre idea – chocolate and cream cheese spread in a sandwich. Funny how when you start of thinking of things differently (I had cheesecake in mind all the way through) you can see things differently!
Your smoothie idea sound delicious, I’ll have to give it a try.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I love the idea of these “cheesecakes” for breakfast – and definitely wouldn’t mind devouring one tomorrow morning!
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Thalia. I love the idea of starting the day with a bit of a treat and even though this is mostly made from breakfasty foods it really feels like one.
Mel says
This looks yummy, sweetie. I was not into oats at all until very recently, and I’ve just started eating porridge: it fills you up so much: brilliant! Love bananas, love chocolate… I have never tried almond butter but I love almonds so that would be a winner in my books!
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Mel. I’ve been looking back through my breakfast recipes and noticed that oats crop up pretty often (along with bananas) I keep thinking I should branch out, but they’re so versatile and filling I keep going back to them.
Almond butter is delicious. I really like cashew nut butter too, it’s a bit smoother than the almond butter and has a more subtle nutty flavour. I tried it in this but it got a bit lost with the chocolate and banana, but if you’re having something a little plainer then it’s really good.