Looking for something to brighten a cold, dark morning but tired of your standard granola or instant porridge? Why not consider a nourishing breakfast bowl packed full of superfoods, ensuring your brain and body will function at their best all day long. 

Smoothies and acai bowls may have fed you in the summer months, but in winter you need something warming, as well as a first meal of the day packed with nutrients. A great base for any winter breakfast bowl is oatmeal, which is the perfect warm, nourishing and healthy start that’s so cosy for this time of year. And, oatmeal bowls loaded with healthy toppings turn this slightly dull breakfast staple into something quick and easy and totally worth getting out of bed for!

First, select your oats. All oats come from groats – the whole oat without the hull that’s been toasted and cleaned before it gets cut or rolled. Then, you can choose from the following:

Steel-cut oats are the whole oat cut with a steel blade into two or four pieces. Not great for baking, these are best reserved if you’re cooking overnight oats in a slow cooker or crockpot.

Scottish oats are groats that are not cut, but ground into a meal like texture for quick cooking. They’re creamy with a nutty flavour.

Old fashioned rolled oats and made by steaming and rolling the whole groat and have a very creamy texture when cooked. They are the top pick for cookies, muffins and granola, while also being so thick and creamy for oatmeal bowls on a wintery morning.

Quick oats are similar to old fashioned, but steamed longer and rolled thinner. They tend to lose their texture when cooked and can become pasty.

Instant oats are steamed even longer and rolled even thinner than quick oats, and then dehydrated. They also often have added sugars, salts and other additives in them, which is why they are worth avoiding in our humble opinion!

Oatmeal really is the perfect blank canvas for all of winter’s most delicious flavours, but we’ve created a recipe using some of ours. Feel free to swap out anything you’re not keen on and replace it with a favourite – when it comes to breakfast bowls, creativity is king!

Warm Winter Breakfast Bowl

Oatmeal ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 2 tbsp chia seeds 
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (or preferred sweetener)
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 1 fresh vanilla bean (halved and scraped)
• 1 scoop/2 t IMBIBE Beauty Miracle Collagen Powder

Toppings:

• Fresh berries
• Kiwifruit
• Mandarin segments
• Seeds and nuts
• Coconut flakes 
• Bee pollen

Method:

• Add oats, chia seeds, maple syrup, coconut milk and vanilla bean to a medium-sized saucepan. 
• Bring to the boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 mins, stirring occasionally. 
• Once oatmeal has thickened and liquid has been absorbed, transfer to a bowl.
• Top with your chosen toppings, and then add more milk if desired. 

Serve warm, and enjoy!