4.26 108 Published May 16, 2016, Updated Aug 22, 2023 If you’ve been reading EBF for awhile you’ll know that throughout the summer months I’m all about overnight oats. They’re cool, creamy and so easy. I love that I can whip up a batch before bed and wake up to a healthy and delicious breakfast without having to cook anything. I’ve shared a bunch of dessert inspired overnight oat combos (like peanut butter cup overnight oats and chocolate banana overnight oats), but I think this brownie batter version is the most decadent. Seriously, if you’re a brownie lover get excited because this combo is delicious and it was made for you!
Ingredients Needed for Brownie Overnight Oats
old fashioned rolled oats – rolled oats are the best for overnight oats. Instant/quick oats and steel cut oats don’t work the same because they don’t absorb liquid like rolled oats do. almond milk – I like using unsweetened vanilla almond milk, but any type of milk will work protein powder – I use a plant-based chocolate protein powder that is sweetened with stevia, but you can use your favorite protein powder cocoa powder – this gives the oats their rich chocolate flavor and dark color maple syrup – pure maple syrup is the perfect natural sweetener to use because it’s liquid so it blends in nicely with the oat mixture and I personally love the flavor. Honey or another natural liquid sweetener will work here. If you want to reduce the sugar in this recipe, feel free to use a sugar alternative like stevia or monk fruit vanilla sea salt – a pinch of sea salt is the perfect flavor enhancer and brings out the nutty flavor of the oats chocolate chips – I like using Lily’s dark chocolate chips because they’re sugar-free and low in carbs chopped walnuts – brownies are so good topped with walnuts and I love the crunch they add to these overnight oats peanut butter – I love peanut butter on these oats, but any nut butter that you enjoy would work for this recipe
How Long Do Overnight Oats Need to Soak?
Given the name, you’d assume overnight oats need to soak overnight, but you can actually make them in 2-4 hours if you’re in a rush. While it does take some time for the oats to absorb the liquid, they don’t necessarily have to be soaked overnight. I recommend at least 8 hours for true overnight oats, but there have been mornings where I decide I want overnight oats for breakfast even though I didn’t prep them the night before. When this happens I’ll make them the morning of and let the oats soak for just 2-4 hours. With this quick soak, they’re not as soft as overnight oats that have soaked longer and they’re a bit more liquidy, but they’re still delicious. Short answer, yes! You can definitely warm up overnight oats, but the whole point of overnight oats is to eat them cold like muesli. Even if you think cold oats sound strange, I recommend giving it shot before you write them off. Of course, if you simply can’t do the cold oats you can always heat them up. Just pop the overnights oats in your microwave, cooking in 30 second increments until the oats are warm throughout and enjoy. After letting your overnight oats soak overnight (or at least a few hours), take the oats out of the fridge and top with banana slices and cacao nibs. While enjoying these you’ll feel like you’re being naughty by eating chocolate for breakfast (and you kind of are because there are chocolate chips involved) BUT the healthy stuff totally outweighs the chocolate. Plus chocolate does have some health benefits of its own. <– I’m all about the antioxidants… especially those from chocolate and wine. 🙂
More Oatmeal Recipes to Try:
Baked Oatmeal Cups Berry Baked Oatmeal Bars Easy Protein Balls Baked Oatmeal Recipes Protein Oatmeal 3 Minute Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal
If you make these brownie batter overnight oats please be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other readers who are thinking about making the recipe.
More Overnight Oats Recipes:
