spiced apple overnight oats

There are numerous overnight oats recipes out there. The first time I tried them, I was surprised by how much I loved them. Oatmeal? Cold? Really? But now, I am a BELIEVER. These are yummy. What follows originated with my culinary-genius daughter. I usually make six servings at a time and try to refrain from eating them all in one day.

Here’s what you do:

Take one 32-ounce tub of your favorite Greek yogurt and empty it into a large bowl. I use Too Good vanilla–only two grams of sugar per serving. (And no added sugar!) Plain yogurt would also work, but then you’ll probably need to add a little sweetener. You may want to add sweetener anyway, because these won’t be super sweet. I find that I prefer these to be flavorful but not necessarily sweet.

You want roughly the same amounts of yogurt, old-fashioned oats, and milk, so I take the empty yogurt container, fill it with oats, dump them into the bowl, and then repeat with milk. Use whatever milk you prefer: skim, 2%, almond, etc.

Wash and roughly chop three large apples. No need to peel. Use your favorite apples here; I tend to use Honeycrisp or Cosmic Crisp. Dump these into the bowl. Add six tablespoons chia seeds, three teaspoons pure vanilla extract, three tablespoons Ceylon* cinnamon powder, one tablespoon ground ginger, and one tablespoon pumpkin pie spice. Adjust the spices according to your preferences; I am a FAN.

Use an immersion blender until the mixture is fairly smooth. There will still be a few chunks of apple. I like to transfer the mixture to six pint jars. Refrigerate overnight and enjoy them throughout the week. Delish!

*Why Ceylon cinnamon? This kind of cinnamon has lower coumarin levels, necessary when consumed in these quantities. It’s available through Amazon (isn’t everything?). If you want to use a cassia cinnamon, then reduce the quantity by half.

The basic idea is to use roughly equal portions of yogurt, oats, fruit, and milk. Spiced apple overnight oats are my current obsession, and I hope you like them too. Enjoy!

Fondly,

Crysti