Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats
Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats are a delicious breakfast, dessert, or snack that are super easy to meal prep and super satisfying. Made with goodies like flax, wheat germ, and more, these healthy vegan overnight oats will fill you up and are great for on-the-go.
Equipment
- 2 Breakfast Jars, or any container with a lid will work—mason jars work well for this too.
- 1 Fork
- 1 Spice Grinder, optional, to grind flaxseed
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats, I used sprouted glycophosate-free rolled oats
- 4 tablespoons ground flaxseed, see notes for substitutions
- 2 tablespoons wheat germ, optional
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, cacao is also fine but may require more sweetener
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk, or any unsweetened, unflavored non-dairy milk
- 2-4 tablespoons sweetener of choice, to taste, see notes for possibilities, we used date paste
- 1 cup frozen cherries, fresh are fine but you will need to pit them and they won't leak juices into the oats (something I prefer with frozen cherries)
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients: Add half of each dry ingredient (oats, ground flaxseed, wheat germ, and cocoa powder) to each jar and mix each jar thoroughly with a fork.
- Mix wet ingredients: Add half of the soy milk to each jar, then add your sweetener of choice to each jar. Mix well and taste. If it is not sweet enough, go ahead and add more sweetener to both jars and mix again. Inspect the bottom of each jar all the way around and make sure that everything is mixed. If you see some dry powder, get your fork in there and mix a bit more.
- Add the cherries: I like to wait 1-2 hours to add my cherries. If I add them right away, the cherries tend to sink to the bottom and I prefer them to stay closer to the top. So if you prefer that, wait a few hours and then add a half cup of frozen cherries to each jar. If you don't care (or if you want them to sink to the bottom), then you can go ahead and add your cherries now.
- Refrigerate: Place lids on the jars and refrigerate your chocolate cherry overnight oats for at least 3-4 hours, or overnight. I find that about 4 hours is enough for the oats to soften to a nice texture, but that's my preference.
- Serve: Once ready to serve, you can add a sprinkle of cacao nibs if you like. Enjoy!
- Store: You can store the overnight oats for up to 5 days, though after 2 or 3 days they do get significantly more soft, so keep that in mind if you prefer a slightly chewy texture to your overnight oats.
Video
Notes
- Ground Flaxseed: You can also use chia seeds (you don't have to grind these since the liquid will make the chia seeds gel which makes them softer to chew and easier to digest), hemp seeds, or any other seeds you like. I do recommend using some kind of seeds or nuts, as it helps give our overnight oats their staying power.
- Wheat Germ: You can leave this out if you don't have it or if you are gluten-free. Oat bran is another good option, and as long as you buy a brand that's certified gluten-free, it will work for people who can't have gluten.
- Sweetener of Choice: I personally used date paste in this recipe which is just made by blending 1 cup of pitted medjool dates and 1 cup hot water, but you can use any sweetener you like. Other WFPB-friendly choices include date syrup, pure maple syrup, or date powder.
- Adding other ingredients: I've given lots of ingredient substitution ideas in the "Substitutions" section of this article, but remember to try to keep the ratios the same. If you add a lot more thick or dry stuff, you may need more liquid. And if you don't use the flax or wheat germ (and you don't replace it with anything else), you might need less liquid.
- Try another fruit: I know this is called cherry chocolate overnight oats, but there are so many fruits that go with chocolate! While you can use fresh or frozen fruit, I especially love using frozen fruit because, as it defrosts, it can leak its sweet juices into the oats. Try other fruit such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, pomegranate, mango, and more.
Nutrition
Serving: 1jarCalories: 485kcalCarbohydrates: 78gProtein: 20gFat: 13.5gSodium: 47mgFiber: 17g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!