It’s that time of the year again, when the leaves start to change colour and there is a noticeable chill in the air when you wake up. I for one am not in favour of getting out of bed only to put on yet another layer of pyjamas and socks, on top of the ones I’m wearing. So naturally, I resort to another option which fights off the cold; warm food, more specifically overnight oats!
This week my roommates and I put our taste buds to the test trying, developing and tasting seven different kinds of overnight oats of all flavours, from chocolate to pumpkin spice, and everything in between. Here are the recipes we tested from Cassie Johnson’s blog, Wholefully, as well Angela Lidden's Blog, Oh She Glows, ranked!
1. Apple Pie Overnight Oats
This recipe does not lie, you may as well be eating apple pie for breakfast, but in an even healthier way. This was the first, and best recipe I tried, a hit amongst my entire house! Kid you not, the smell of these oats warming up in the morning got my roommates out of bed and downstairs within a matter of minutes, early on a Monday.
In her recipe, Lidden calls for adding apple sauce as well ground ginger, I excluded these two things as I did not have them, but the recipe still turned out incredible. It was my favourite flavour and made my Monday morning feel more like Thanksgiving!
2. Banana Chocolate Chip Overnight Oats
Because who doesn’t like chocolate for breakfast? My roommates and I tried this recipe from Wholefully and not only was it a delicious reason to get out of bed, but also a great boost of energy thanks to the chocolate, as well as filling and satisfactory thanks to the nutrients of the banana.
When making these over night oats, I excluded the chocolate chips from soaking overnight. Instead, after I warmed up my oatmeal the next morning, I added the chocolate on top and enjoyed as they melted into the warm bowl of oats.
3. Tropical Fruit Overnight Oats
Because winter is coming, and the cold is already here, we had to come up with a tropical escape somehow. For this recipe my roommates and I used Wholefully’s recipe, adapting it to use fruits which we had available.
I excluded pineapple from the recipe as I did not have any, but I can say it would have paired perfectly with Wholefully's recipe. As well, instead of soaking the coconut flakes overnight, I added them on top of my bowl the next day to avoid them getting soggy. This way the coconut maintained a nice crunch as well added a fresh tropical taste!
4. Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
Cake for breakfast? What a crazy, wonderful, and beautiful concept! This overnight oat bowl was delicious, but also incredibly rich, because of this I suggest only using half the amount of cream cheese which Wholefully calls for.
5. Raspberry Cheesecake Overnight Oats
Yes, I am asking you to try more cake flavours for breakfast. This original recipe from Wholefully calls to make Strawberry Cheesecake Overnight Oats, however because I'm on that 'student budget', I only had frozen raspberries. But surprise, they turned out great!
6. Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oats
This was an interesting flavour, but definitely one well suited to the season! The recipe on Wholefully calls for a 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, but I would cut that in half because the flavour is very strong. One perk to the recipe however was that I had so much pumpkin left over to make more yummy treats like pancakes, muffins, and cookies! Although this wasn't my favourite recipe, it was one which suited the weather and made me feel all the more cozy as I ate it warm in bed.
7. Chocolate Coconut Overnight Oats
Another delicious reason to wake up, more chocolate! I enjoyed making these overnight oats as they were different from all the other flavours because it called for coconut milk. That being said however, it was an incredibly rich and thick bowl, almost too decadent for breakfast. Because of this, instead of using a 2/3 cup of coconut milk which the recipe calls for, I would only do a 1/3 cup of coconut milk and 1/3 cup of any other milk in order to thin the recipe out.
All the recipes my roommates and I tried were easy, delicious, and totally different from one another! Having oatmeal for breakfast every day for a whole week is not something I would usually get on board with. However, these recipes brought new flavours and smells into my kitchen every night when I made them, making me eager to wake up and try them the next morning! From the feeling of eating thanksgiving desert, to exotic tropical flavours, Wholefully and Oh She Glows have lots of overnight oats recipes that are out of this world.