Mocha Overnight Oats

Mocha overnight oats are the perfect way to start the day! Combine your favorite breakfast with coffee for the best on the go healthy breakfast idea!

These are gluten free, vegan, packed with protein and packed with caffeine!

Why this recipe works

• Everyone loves overnight oats! Use coffee to soak the oats in overnight and look forward to a healthy filling breakfast that is also packed with caffeine!
• This recipe is packed with protein and fiber and is naturally gluten free and dairy free!
• Overnight oats require no cooking and can easily be made up to 5 days ahead of time making them perfect for busy mornings!
• Eat these oats on the go! No heating up required! Top with chocolate peanut butter for a real treat!

Ingredients

• Gluten free rolled oats
• Chia seeds
• Coffee
• Dairy free milk
• Cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
• Protein powder
• Toppings of choice

Step by step instructions

Step 1: Add gluten free rolled oats and chia seeds to the bottom of the jar you plan to use. Add coffee (can be fresh, from the morning of or cold brew coffee), dairy free milk and cacao powder to the oats and chia seeds and stir well. Let the sit overnight.

Step 2: In the morning, add protein powder and whatever mix-ins you love. Stir well.

Step 3: Check the consistency of the oats. Depending on the protein powder and what you might have added, you may need more dairy free milk. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time (up to ¼ cup)

Step 4: If you want to add any toppings, add them after the protein powder is stirred in well and you have the consistency you desire. Serve cold or at room temperature.

What are the best toppings

• Toasted coconut flakes
• Cacao nibs
• Mini chocolate chips
• Sliced strawberries or bananas
• Homemade jam (strawberry balsamic chia jam or raspberry chia jam would be amazing)
• Chopped nuts
• Nut butter

FAQs

What are overnight oats

Instead of cooking oatmeal on the stove or in the microwave, you allow the oats to soak overnight in liquid. This process results in thick and creamy oatmeal without any cooking required!

Usually the oats are soaked in milk to create that creamy consistency, but this recipe switches it up! These mocha overnight oats are made by soaking the oats in a combination of coffee and dairy free milk!

What jar is best

The idea of overnight oats is that you make the oatmeal in the same jar you plan on eating the oats out of. I like to use a large mouth mason jar or a weck jar.

Be sure that you use a large mouth jar so you can easily mix the oats and get the spoon all the way in the jar in the morning!

Does it matter what kind of oats you use

Yes! Be sure to get rolled oats (sometimes called traditional oats). Using quick oats will result in a very gummy oatmeal that doesn’t have the right texture. Using steel cut oats will result in oats that are not quite soft and are still very chewy and hard.

Serve these hot

If you want to heat up the oats after soaking overnight, heat them in a microwave safe container for 2 minutes. Be sure to heat the oats up before adding protein powder.

How to make even creamier

This recipe is already very creamy from the addition of vegan protein powder, but if you want an even richer consistency, replace ½ cup of dairy free milk with a dairy free yogurt (greek if possible).

How to add protein

I find that without added protein, oatmeal does not keep me full for long. This recipe uses a vegan protein powder to add protein. If you have never worked with vegan protein powder, it tends to absorb a lot of liquid.

If you are using a whey protein, egg white protein or collagen, you will want to reduce the amount of liquid in this recipe by ¼ cup. You can either decrease the coffee or the dairy free milk by this amount.

If you are looking for a quality protein powder, I highly recommend Nuzest. It’s a pea protein that doesn’t have any artificial flavors or added sugars.

Storage

Overnight oats can be made up to 5 days ahead of time. However, protein powder tends to break down after 2 days and fruit can go bad if added early.

TIP: If you are looking to save time in the morning:

• Make the base ahead of time.
• Pre-package individual servings of protein powder and store them on top of the oats in the fridge in a sealed bag.
• In the morning grab whatever fruit you want along with the overnight oats and protein powder. Stir in everything and serve cold.

If you love oats, try these other recipes

• Peach
• High Protein Oatmeal 4 Ways
• Single Serve Oatmeal 4 Ways
• Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal