Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
Breakfast is served—and it tastes like dessert. These overnight oats are thick, creamy, and loaded with chocolate-PB goodness. Prep them before bed, and you’ll wake up to the sweetest start to your day!
Ingredients
For the oats
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅔ cup milk of choice
- ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ⅔ cup vanilla Greek yogurt, nonfat or low-fat, (one 5.3-ounce container)
- 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of kosher salt
For topping (add before serving)
- 2 teaspoons creamy peanut butter, for drizzling (one teaspoon per serving)
- 2 teaspoons mini dark chocolate chips, one teaspoon per serving
- 2 teaspoons chopped roasted salted peanuts, one teaspoon per serving
- Flaky sea salt, optional
Instructions
- Add the cocoa powder to a bowl along with the milk. Whisk until the cocoa is mostly dissolved before you add anything else — this is the step that keeps you from finding dry cocoa pockets in the morning. A few small specks here and there are fine.
- Warm the 1 tablespoon of peanut butter for 10 to 20 seconds in the microwave so it’s loose and pourable, then add it to the cocoa milk along with everything else —the oats, yogurt, chia seeds, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Stir until completely combined, scraping down the sides so there are no clumps of peanut butter or yogurt hiding anywhere.
- Divide between two large ramekins, jars, or containers that hold at least 1 cup each. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- In the morning, give each one a good stir and add a splash of milk if you’d like it looser. Warm the reserved peanut butter for 20 to 30 seconds so it’s liquidy enough to drizzle, then finish each serving with a teaspoon of the drizzle, a teaspoon of the mini chocolate chips, a sprinkling of chopped peanuts for crunch, and a light sprinkle of optional sea salt.
Notes
• Use rolled oats. Skip the quick oats and the steel-cut. Quick oats turn to mush and steel-cut never soften enough. Old-fashioned rolled is the one that gives you that creamy-with-a-little-chew texture.
• About the yogurt. Vanilla Greek yogurt does double duty here; it adds creaminess and sweetens the base evenly, which lets me keep the added sweetener low. Look for a vanilla Greek yogurt with no added sugar, sweetened instead with stevia or monk fruit. You get the vanilla flavor and the protein without the sugar load. A single-serve container is exactly the right amount, so there’s nothing to measure.
• Using plain yogurt instead? Nonfat or low-fat/2% plain unflavored Greek yogurt works beautifully — just add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup or honey (instead of 2 teaspoons) to make up for the sweetness you’re losing from the vanilla yogurt.
• Want to lighten it up? In place of the 1 tablespoon of creamy peanut butter in the base, use 2 tablespoons of peanut butter powder plus 1 to 2 extra tablespoons of milk. Whisk it right into the cocoa milk until smooth. You keep the peanut flavor with less fat, but I’d stick with real peanut butter for the drizzle, since the powdered version doesn’t have that glossy ribbon on top.
• Make-ahead: Assemble up to 3 days ahead. Double or triple the batch if you’re serving more than yourself — portion it into individual containers and breakfast is handled for a crowd. The oats keep thickening as they sit, so stir in a tablespoon or two of milk before eating if you’d like it thinner.
• Storage: Keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Add the peanut butter drizzle and the toppings the morning you eat it (that’s what keeps the drizzle creamy and the chips and peanuts crisp).
• Want it warm for a cozy morning meal or snack? After the base has chilled and thickened, microwave it 60 to 90 seconds, stirring halfway, then add your toppings. Stir in an extra splash of milk before heating, since it thickens further as it warms.
• Gluten-free: Use certified gluten-free oats.
• Dairy-free and vegan: Swap in your favorite plant milk and a vanilla dairy-free yogurt, and use maple syrup instead of honey. Plant yogurts vary a lot in sweetness, so taste before adding the maple. Many brands of dark chocolate chips are already dairy-free, just check the label.
• Nut-free: Sunflower seed butter or soy nut butter both work beautifully here, the chocolate carries them. Skip the chopped peanuts, or swap in toasted pumpkin seeds or granola for the crunch.
• Scaling: Multiply everything straight across. Mix one big batch in a bowl and portion into individual containers.
Nutrition Information per serving
Serving Size: 1 servingCalories: 310Carbohydrates: 29gProtein: 16gTotal Fat: 13g— Unsaturated Fat: 10.5g— Saturated Fat: 2.5gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 280mgPotassium: 346mgFiber: 9gTotal Sugar: 11g— Natural Sugar: 5g— Added Sugar: 6g
Nutrition information is calculated using a leading industry software. That being said, brands can vary, and there may be slight fluctuations in the numbers.