Better Than Overnight Oats
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup unsweetened plant milk I use oat; sub with coconut milk for a creamier option [note#1]`
- 1-3 tsp brown sugar sub agave, maple syrup, or other sweetener of choice, or omit if using fresh fruit as natural sweetener
Optional Toppings
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen fruit strawberries, banana, peaches, mango, pineapple, blueberries/blackberries/raspberries, etc.
- berry or fruit compote [note#1]
- 2-4 tbsp Healthy Oil-Free Granola [note#2]
- 1 tbsp chopped nuts, coconut flakes or nut/seed butter i.e. walnuts, pecans, etc. [note#3]
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of cinnamon
- pinch of salt
My Favorite Simple Mix
- 1/2+ cup fresh sliced strawberries
- 3 tbsp Healthy Oil-Free Granola
- pinch of salt
Other Suggested Variations
- Apple Cinnamon chopped or sliced apple, granola, vanilla, cinnamon, salt add peanut butter for Apple Peanut Butter
- Strawberries or Peaches & Cream sliced strawberries or diced peaches, coconut milk, granola, vanilla, salt add almond butter and sub crushed vegan graham cracker for granola for Strawberry Cheesecake
- Tropical (or Banana Cream Pie) tropical fruit i.e. kiwi, mango, pineapple, banana, granola, vanilla & coconut milk
- Peanut Butter Chocolate 1-2 tsp cocoa powder + 1 tbsp peanut butter sub other nut or seed butter & 1-2 tsp chocolate chips or cocoa nibs
- Pumpkin Spice or Pumpkin Pie 3 tbsp pumpkin puree. pinch each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, optionally sub pepitas for nuts
- Carrot 'Cake' 1/4-1/2 cup shredded carrots, 2 tbsp raisins (or just the granola if it has raisins in it already); can cook down the carrots with a bit of sugar to make them sweeter (i.e. carrot compote)
- Mint Chip 1-2 tsp cocoa powder sub chocolate chips or cocoa nibs, splash of peppermint extract, 1 tsp spirulina optional for green color if not adding cocoa powder
- Gingerbread/Holiday Spice Mix 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp each nutmeg and ginger, pinch of ground cloves
- Almond Joy 1-2 tsp chocolate chips, almonds, coconut flakes
- Coffee 2 tbsp decaf espresso or instant coffee sub some or all milk with brewed coffee or steeped high concentrate chaga chicory tea [note#4], 1/4 tsp cinnamon optional
- Chai Tea 1/4 tsp each ground cardamom, cinnamon & ginger, 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- Green Tea 1-2 tsp matcha powder, vanilla
- Golden Milk 1/4 tsp turmeric, cinnamon, vanilla, pinch ground cloves
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together as desired and serve right away [note#4].
- Enjoy!
Notes
- To make a berry compote, add your fruit to a pan with a splash of water and a teaspoon or so of cornstarch and cook until the fruit as softened and smells sweet. Optionally add a dash of sugar to sweeten it even more.
- I recommend adding the smallest amount of coconut milk to give your oats a slight coconut flavor or add more creaminess (~2-3 tbsp), perhaps mixed with water or another plant milk to keep the overall caloric density low (since coconut milk is high in fat), again, if you are looking to lose or maintain your goal weight. In general, I do not use coconut milk at all and still enjoy my oats without it.
- Depending on the type of granola you use, or if you've made your own and included nuts, I would not recommend adding more nuts to your morning oatmeal. A small amount is fine (perhaps 1-2 tbsp) but if you are looking to lose weight or maintain your goal weight, higher density foods like nuts should be limited. Also pay attention to conflicting flavors - i.e. if you have a granola with raisins in it, that probably won't go great with the Mint Chip variation.
- If you are dead-set on doing overnight oats, optionally add 1-2 tsp of whole chia or ground flax seeds and refrigerate your oatmeal for at least 3 hours. Also keep in mind that overnight oats have a completely different texture than these 'cereal-like' oats and will be more like cooked, mushy oatmeal rather than more texture, chewy, crunchy raw oats.