Peppermint and chocolate overnight oats with chia seeds, Greek-style yogurt and some fun M&M’s candies.
It’s that time of year again! Time to eat lots of potatoes and soda bread, drink Guinness and Baileys, and embrace all things green. It’s St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow!
Due to a recent discovery, in particularly excited to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day this year. Until early this year, I didn’t think I had any Irish ancestry. As far as I knew I was 50% English and 50% Italian. But in November last year I impulsively decided to order an AncestryDNA ethnicity test during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.
According to the test, I’m only 41% Italian* and 28% British. And apparently I’m 14% Irish! Plus a few other things, including 1% Finnish or Northwest Russian, 2% Western European and 2% European Jewish.
*AncestryDNA lump Italian and Greek into the one category, so I’m just assuming I’m Italian given half my family is from Italy (but who knows?).
So, given I’m Catholic and apparently have some Irish ancestors, this year I’m definitely going to make an effort to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day one way or another.
To kick off my St. Paddy’s celebrations, I’ve made these green and chocolate overnight oats twice in the past week alone. (You’d think I’d get bored of them, but no). Originally, I was just going to make Shamrock Shake oats, but then I couldn’t resist adding chocolate. Breakfast, like life, is better with chocolate.
So clearly this breakfast isn’t a ‘traditional’ Irish dish. Since St. Patrick’s Day falls on a weekday (and there just aren’t enough hours in the week), I thought I’d make something easy, loaded with chocolate, and – most importantly – green!
To keep these oats interesting – and to prevent the mint flavor from becoming too overpowering – peppermint extract is only used in the green overnight oats. The chocolate oats are just that: chocolate. But, of course, if you’re after a serious minty hit, then feel free to add peppermint extract to the chocolate oats as well.
Instead of food coloring, the green color in comes from spinach, which is blended with yogurt and milk. Fortunately, the peppermint extract completely covers the spinach flavor, so you don’t have to worry about your oats tasting like salad leaves.
Then we come to one of my favorite things about breakfast: the toppings! Now is the time to raid your candy jar (assuming you have one) and grab everything green. I used a mixture of green M&M’s and mint M&M’s (which are also green).
For even more chocolate, pour over some chocolate sauce (either store-bought or homemade)!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
- Mint overnight oats
- ½ cup spinach leaves, packed
- ½ cup Greek-style yogurt
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ⅓ cup rolled oats
- 1 ½ teaspoons chia seeds
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ - ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
Chocolate overnight oats- ⅓ cup rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ cup Greek-style yogurt
Toppings- Chocolate sauce (optional)
- Assorted green or peppermint candies
- Mint overnight oats: In a blender, combine the spinach leaves, yogurt and milk. Blend until smooth, and then transfer the mixture to a bowl or container. Add the rolled oats, chia seeds, maple syrup, vanilla extract and peppermint extract. Mix until completely combined.
- Chocolate overnight oats: In a bowl or container, combine the rolled oats, chia seeds, cocoa powder, maple syrup vanilla extract and milk. Add the yogurt and mix until completely combined.
- Cover both bowls with plastic wrap (or put the lids on the containers) and leave in the fridge overnight.
- In the morning, stir in a little extra milk if the overnight oats are too thick. (The mint overnight oats will likely need additional milk). If the oats are not sweet enough, stir in additional maple syrup.
- Divide the mint and chocolate overnight oats between two bowls. Top with chocolate sauce (if using) and assorted green or peppermint candies.
I usually place the mint and chocolate oats (roughly) side-by-side in a bowl, but layered in a glass is pretty too.
Peppermint extract
1/8 teaspoon of peppermint extract gives the oats a subtle mint flavor, while ¼ teaspoon makes the flavor quite strong. If you're uncertain about how much to use, it's safer to stick with ⅛ teaspoon and add a drop more in the morning if necessary.
For a stronger mint flavor, add peppermint extract to the chocolate layer too.
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