Easy cheesecake flavored overnight oats with a festive swirl of pumpkin butter, topped with walnuts.
Truth be told, sometimes I feel so scared and despondent about the world that all I want to do is hide under a table with a blanket over my head. Or build a massive pillow fort. Okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration (but then again…).
Anyway, whenever that sense of doom and gloom takes over, I like to make myself a list of things that are completely fabulous about the world. For me, that (rather long) list includes:
- My five-month-old nephew’s adorable, chubby face
- Being able to pause live TV (yes, that technology has been around for ages, but it still amazes me)
- Christmas
- Pumpkin
Yes, pumpkin is on my list, and I don’t care if that makes me ‘basic’. Pumpkin can be savory or sweet, spiced or plain, included in baked goods, added to pasta, whirled into soup, turned into a thick ‘butter’, cooked into pancakes, mixed into mashed potatoes, roasted and stirred into a salad, and – of course – added to lattes.
Any ingredient with that versatility is darn fabulous to me.
Today’s recipe is my (ridiculously easy) overnight oats version of cheesecake, topped with a generous swirl of pumpkin butter. So, if, like me, you’ve impulsively bought a jar (or several) of pumpkin butter, then this breakfast one way to use it.
For anyone out there who doesn’t know, pumpkin butter is basically a thick paste made from pumpkin puree, sugar and spices. Despite the name, there’s no actual butter in it.
I used Williams Sonoma’s Pumpkin Pecan Butter for this recipe, which is extremely addictive. As you can see from the photos, I also used an almost-empty jar of the stuff as one of my ‘bowls’.
Just so you know, I’m not affiliated with Williams Sonoma in any way (so no, they are not sponsoring this post). I just really like their Pumpkin Pecan Butter!
If you’re not into pumpkin (heresy!), or don’t have any pumpkin butter, then you could easily use another ingredient instead of pumpkin butter. Like peanut butter! Or jelly, jam, apple butter, maple butter, chocolate hazelnut spread, chocolate chips, fresh fruit… really anything that pairs nicely with cheesecake-inspired overnight oats.
The ‘cheesecake’ flavor of these overnight oats comes from a mixture of spreadable cream cheese and Greek-style vanilla yogurt. If you don’t have any flavored yogurt, you could use plain Greek yogurt and add some sweetener (such as maple syrup) and additional vanilla extract.
That being said, for some reason, I found that using store-bought vanilla yogurt gives the oats more of a ‘cheesecake’ taste.
Last, but not least, these overnight oats are topped with some chopped walnuts for a little crunchiness, and to (sort of) replicate the cheesecake ‘base’. Pecans would also be an ideal topping – or try some roasted pumpkin seeds.
Fun Fact: Eighty-five percent of the world’s canned pumpkins are produced in Morton, Illinois.
- Overnight oats
- ⅔ cup rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons spreadable cream cheese
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup Greek-style vanilla yogurt
Toppings- Pumpkin butter
- Chopped walnuts
- In a bowl or container, combine the rolled oats, cream cheese, vanilla extract and milk. Add the yogurt, and mix until completely combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or put the lid on the container) and leave in the fridge overnight.
- In the morning, stir in a little extra milk if the overnight oats are too thick.
- Divide the oats between two bowls. Swirl in a few spoonfuls of pumpkin butter, and top with chopped walnuts.
If using plain Greek-style yogurt, increase the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon and add 1 – 2 tablespoons maple syrup.
The post Pumpkin Butter Swirled Cheesecake Overnight Oats appeared first on The Breakfast Drama Queen.