Dear Banana Bread,
I want you to meet Overnight Oats. Also, you’re my new favorite breakfast!
Picture this: mashed banana, walnuts, and old-fashioned rolled oats covered in the best vanilla almond milk, thick coconut yogurt and left to soften and expand overnight. Right before serving- top with more walnuts, fresh banana slices, a dollop of coconut yogurt, a dash of pure maple or coconut nectar AND dark chocolate chips. Can you handle it?
I am not sure I can effectively convey to you guys how GOOD this is…. It’s like dessert for breakfast, best enjoyed with a cup of dark coffee or earl grey tea. Quite possibly, my two favorite things.
And then trying it with coconut nectar and then with pure maple syrup; etc. The best news- it doesn’t even really need unrefined sugar! I mean, you can add pure maple if you’d like, but it’s already sweet enough without it. It gets a hint of vanilla from the pure extract & the ripe, mashed banana sweetens this bowl amazingly well. Cinnamon also packs a nice little something-something. Natural sugars from the mashed banana concentrate overnight and will make this bowl even sweeter the following day- sans any of the nasty additives oatmeal has been riddled with in recent years.
This thing is so filling and so satisfying that many an afternoon I’ve eaten the little cups I have in the fridge as dessert. My youngest, Grace- can’t even look at oatmeal… Not sure why or when this started. BUT- she eats this. It has a different texture from your warm & grainy traditional bowl of oats. Once the oats soften and moisten overnight they kind of taste like bread pudding. It’s the best way I can describe it.
My favorite thing about this: I can walk or of the house bright and early with a portable, nourishing breakfast in hand! And not just any breakfast. THE banana bread breakfast.
Banana Bread Overnight Oats
- 1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/2 cup of your favorite nut milk. (I used vanilla, unsweetened almond milk)
- 2-3 tbsp of coconut yogurt or greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ceylon cinnamon
- 1 ripe banana mashed
- 1/2 banana sliced
- a handful of raw walnuts
- a handful of chocolate chips ( I use dark, dairy-free ones)
Instructions
- In a little mason jar or tup, add the dry oats & top with the mashed banana, the almond milk, the coconut yogurt, the vanilla & the cinnamon. Mix it all up & cover.
- Leave the jar or tup in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.
- Right before serving, top with fresh banana slices, walnuts & dark chocolate chips. Enjoy every spoonful!
Optional Superfoods to add on:
- 1 tbsp or scoop of collagen powder
- 1 tbsp of lucuma powder (it will give it a nice, caramel-like taste, trust me!)
- 1 tbsp of chia seeds
- 1 tbsp of hemp hearts
Notes: for the optional add-ons, add them when prepping and let them soak overnight along with everything else- especially chia seeds.
By: Aleyda | The Dish On Healthy
