Mint Slice Gooey Oats

Baked oats that eat like a mint slice biscuit, with a piece of dark chocolate hidden in the middle that melts as it cooks.

Fifteen minutes in the oven, one ramekin, single serve. Created by @tam_fitness_.

Ingredients

• 45 g quick oats
• 30 g mint chocolate chip whey protein
• 3 g baking powder
• 15 g sugar-free hot chocolate powder
• 80 ml unsweetened almond milk
• 35 g high-protein plain yoghurt
• 15 ml sugar-free maple syrup
• 15 g dark chocolate (about 2 squares)
• 2 g icing sugar

Method

1. Place the oats, protein powder, hot chocolate powder and baking powder in a blender and blend until well mixed and the oats are fine.
2. Transfer to a bowl and add the yoghurt, almond milk and maple syrup. Mix thoroughly.
3. Pour three quarters of the oat mix into a ramekin, add the two pieces of dark chocolate to the centre, and cover with the remaining mixture.
4. Bake for 15 minutes at 180C.
5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Why blend the oats?

Because it turns a bowl of baked oats into something with a cake-like crumb, and it is the step that makes this recipe worth the effort.

Whole quick oats stay recognisably oaty when baked. Blended to a coarse flour, they behave much more like a batter, and the result is smooth rather than porridgey. It also lets the protein powder and hot chocolate distribute evenly instead of clumping.

You do not need a high-powered blender. A few pulses in anything will do it, and slightly uneven is fine.

How do I get the molten centre right?

Three quarters of the mix underneath, chocolate in the middle, remaining quarter over the top. The ratio matters: too little on top and the chocolate breaks the surface and burns.

Two squares is the right amount. More and it pools at the bottom rather than staying suspended.

Eat it within a few minutes of it leaving the oven. The molten centre is the entire point, and it sets within about ten minutes.

Why is mine dry or rubbery?

Overbaked. Whey protein sets fast and keeps tightening with heat, so 15 minutes is a ceiling rather than a target.

Check at 12 minutes. The top should be set but the centre should still have a slight wobble. It continues cooking in the hot ramekin after it comes out, which is where it finishes.

If it consistently overshoots, drop the oven to 170C and check at 14 minutes.

Do I need that exact protein flavour?

The original recipe insists on it, and there is something to that: mint chocolate is doing most of the flavour work here, alongside the hot chocolate powder.

That said, it is a flavour preference rather than a technical requirement. If you have chocolate protein rather than mint chocolate, add a quarter teaspoon of peppermint essence and you are most of the way there. Go carefully, peppermint essence is strong and easy to overdo.

Rule 1 Protein is what the recipe uses, and the full whey protein range has the alternatives.

Is whey protein bad for you?

For healthy adults, no. This question comes up constantly and the honest answer is more boring than the headlines.

Whey is a dairy protein, one of the two proteins in milk. It has been studied extensively and, at normal intakes in people with healthy kidneys, has a good safety record. The concerns worth knowing are narrower than the general alarm suggests:

• Existing kidney disease. High protein intake needs medical supervision. This is the one genuinely important caveat, and it applies to protein generally, not whey specifically.
• Lactose intolerance. Concentrates contain more lactose than isolates. An isolate is usually tolerated by people who react to a concentrate.
• Dairy allergy. Different from intolerance, and whey is not suitable at all.
• Digestive upset. Common, usually dose related, and often solved by halving the serve.

The claim that whey damages healthy kidneys is not supported by the evidence.

What are the signs of too much protein?

Genuinely high intakes are hard to reach accidentally, and most reported symptoms are digestive rather than serious.

• Bloating, gas or loose stools. The most common, and usually about the powder rather than the protein.
• Constipation, if protein has crowded out fibre.
• Thirst. Protein metabolism increases water requirements.
• Feeling stuffed. Protein is very satiating, which is usually the point.

The more common problem in practice is the opposite: people eating too little protein while worrying about eating too much.

If you have kidney disease, are pregnant, or have any condition affecting protein metabolism, that is a conversation with your GP rather than an article.

Can I make it dairy free?

Yes, with a plant protein instead of whey and a coconut or soy yoghurt in place of the dairy one. Check your hot chocolate powder, which often contains milk solids.

Plant protein absorbs more liquid, so add a splash more almond milk. The texture will be slightly denser.

Storage

There is none worth having. Eat it warm, straight from the ramekin.

Baked oats go dense and dry once cold, and reheating brings back neither the texture nor the molten centre. That is the trade-off for a fifteen-minute single-serve dessert.

For more like this, browse the full recipe collection.