Two bowls of creamy overnight oats made with healthy summer fruit, chia seeds, Greek-style yogurt and nuts.
It’s the beginning of August! And that means:
- It’s my birthday month
- The Olympics are about to begin
- It’s ‘National Peach Month’ in the USA
There’s no chance that I’ll be watching the Olympics, given that I have absolutely no interest in sports. Admittedly, that’s probably because I’ve always been terrible at every sport on the planet. In fact, back in high school, my grade went to a bowling alley ‘as a treat’. At the end of the day, my teacher announced to everyone that I was clearly the ‘worst bowler’. True story.
While the Olympics don’t thrill me, I am excited to celebrate Peach Month the blog – as you may have noticed, I love celebrating anything through food.
(And my birthday’s obviously exciting too! Sure, I’d prefer not to turn another year older… but then, you know, there’s cake).
To celebrate Peach Month, I’ll be sharing a number of peachy recipes during the next few weeks. So apologies to those of you who have little-to-no access to peaches at the moment.
Notwithstanding, today’s recipe could be made using frozen or canned peaches and cherries if you’re almost half a year away from stone fruit season. And don’t worry if you’re peach-less (or a peach hater), because the blog won’t be back-to-back peaches throughout August – there’s always room for chocolate here.
Moving on, today’s breakfast is inspired by one of my favorite recipes by The Oatmeal Artist. I adore Lauren’s recipe for Peach Cherry Almond Oatmeal, and have made it many times (although I usually decrease the almond extract because that’s potent stuff!).
Since I’m borderline-obsessed with overnight oats, I simply had to turn Lauren’s stovetop oatmeal into two bowls of chilled, creamy oats.
As usual, these overnight oats are packed with Greek-style yogurt. Plain, vanilla, cherry or peach Greek-style (i.e. thick and creamy) yogurts would be ideal for this breakfast. Or use a combination – I often use a mixture of plain and vanilla yogurts.
Depending on your tastes and the tartness of your yogurt, you may wish to add a touch of maple syrup or honey to these oats. Either drizzle some sweetener over the top, or stir it it.
By the way, if you’re plum out of cherries, then try using raspberries instead (fresh or frozen). While it’s not quite the same, those delicious raspberries are a pretty good substitute.
And if you don’t have any almonds, try chopped walnuts or pecans. Or even a handful of shredded coconut.
Last of all, there’s that little umbrella. Of course it’s optional, but there’s something about a little umbrella that makes everything taste better.
Fun Fact: Peaches, cherries and almonds all belong to the same botanical family.
- Overnight oats
- ⅔ cup rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup Greek-style yogurt
- ⅔ cup milk
- 1 peach, chopped
- ⅔ - 1 cup pitted cherries, halved
Mix-ins and toppings- 2 - 4 tablespoons slivered almonds
- Sliced peaches
- Pitted cherries, halved
- In a bowl or container, combine the rolled oats, chia seeds, vanilla extract, almond extract, yogurt and milk. Add the chopped peach and cherries. 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 approximately half of the slivered almonds into the overnight oats. If the oats are too thick, also add a little milk.
- Divide the oats between two bowls. Top with the remaining slivered almonds, as well as some sliced peaches and cherries.
Plain, vanilla, peach or cherry flavored yogurt will work. If your yogurt is quite sour, you may wish to add some maple syrup or honey to the overnight oats mixture.
The yogurt doesn't need to be authentic Greek yogurt - just make sure it's thick and creamy.
Recipe inspired by, and loosely adapted from, The Oatmeal Artist