How to make Healthy Overnight Chocolate Oats

This Healthy Overnight Chocolate Oats recipe is a quick and easy breakfast, completely guilt free and totally delicious! Make the day before, for a fuss free start to your day. Total prep time, less than 5 minutes!

What are Overnight Oats

Only the most genius idea ever! I think so anyway ;o) In a nut shell, Overnight Oats are Oats that have been Soaked overnight in a liquid. Popular choices of liquid are Almond Milk, Coconut Milk, Oat Milk or Cows Milk., even Yoghurt can be used. Overnight, the Oats absorb the liquid, softening them in the same way cooking would normally soften them.

Preparing Oats this way, allows them to take their time in the fridge, while you sleep, freeing up those precious minutes in the morning. I don’t know about you, but my mornings are pretty hectic with 4 kids, I steal minutes where I Can!

Why You’ll love this recipe

• Perfect for busy mornings– Why not prep for the whole week? Make 5 portions on a Sunday to see you through Monday-Friday. These Oats will happily keep in the fridge for 5 days.
• They will keep you full until lunch– Yep, no mid morning snacking
• The most important meal of the day– A healthy and easy way to ensure you don’t skip out on Breakfast
• Adaptable – Add any topping you like

• Affordable– A budget friendly breakfast, a large bag of Rolled Oats can be bought for as little as 60 pence!
• Time saver– The whole prep time is less than 5 minutes
• It feels naughty! Of course it isn’t, its actually good for you! But it still somehow feels like your having pudding for breakfast, a deliciously wicked trick of the mind!

The Health Benefits of Oats

Oats are absolutely loaded with beneficial nutrients, one of the healthiest grains on the planet! Containing Protein, Magnesium, Fibre, Potassium, Omega 3 fatty acids, to name a few, is what makes this simple food source so valuable to a healthy rounded diet. You can also count on Zero added Sugar (as long as you don’t use the instant varieties, they do sneak some sugar in there)

Oats Best Qualities

• Nutritious – A well balanced nutrient rich food with high levels of Fibre, helping with that feel-fuller-for-longer feeling.
• Improved Digestion
• Lowers Blood sugar Levels
• Promotes Healthy Bacteria in your Gut
• Helps to manage your Weight

Types of Oats

• Instant Oats- Oats that have been steamed and flaked
• Rolled Oats or Traditional Oats-(This is the type I’m using in this recipe) Rolled Oats are Oat Groats that have been de-husked, steamed, rolled and finally toasted to create a thick flat flake.
• Steel Cut Oats or Irish Oats (sometimes known as Coarse Oats)- Involves chopping whole Groats into smaller pieces using steel blades. This results in a longer cooking period (about 20 minutes) and a chewier consistency.
• Scottish Oats- Similar to steel cut Oats but instead of being cut, they are ground into pin sized pieces.
• Oat Groats- These are the whole Oat Kernel, no toasting, rolling, grinding or cutting. In their unprocessed state they take around 50 minutes to cook.

How To Make Healthy Chocolate Overnight Oats

Ingredients

• Oats- Use rolled Oats, here’s why- They offer the perfect texture and liquid absorption. Irish Oats and Scottish Oats would become tough and chewy. Instant Oats-too mushy! Oat Groats- would not absorb the liquid in time.
• Milk- I used almond Milk, other healthy alternatives are Oat Milk, Soy Milk, Coconut Milk, Skimmed Milk.
• Honey- You could switch for Maple Syrup
• Cinnamon- I used Ground Cinnamon
• Cocoa Powder- I used 100% Cocoa powder

Toppings

• Fruit- Any kind will do, I had a mixture of Blackcurrants, Red Currants, Blackberries, Bananas and Raspberries
• Yoghurt- I went with fat free Greek Yoghurt, but any kind you fancy will work fine.

Basic Step by Step

• Mix together the Oats, Milk, Honey, Cinnamon and Cocoa
• Pop it in the fridge Overnight
• The next day top with yoghurt and warmed fruits
• Enjoy!

Get Creative!

Once you have the basic know how of how to prep Overnight Oats, you can begin to have some real fun with them. And by the way, it doesn’t always have to be healthy! There are hundreds of Naughty and Nice Combinations -Christmas pun there! This recipe is now officially in the Christmas Category ;o)!

Combinations you could experiment with:

Naughty

Top with Caramel sauce, Chocolate chips, Melted chocolate, Chocolate mouse! Go festive with a crushed Gingerbread sprinkled on top.

Nice

You could add more texture with mashed Banana, Low calorie Jam, Stewed fruit, Chia seeds-see my Chia Seed Breakfast Pudding, Nuts, Granola, desiccated coconut.

The possibilities are endless, which is why Overnight Oats will always be one of my favourite breakfasts!

If you make this recipe or any other recipe on my Blog, please leave a rating and comment below. If you took a picture, tag me on Instagram, I love to share your creations on my stories.