Easy Cherry Vanilla Overnight Oats Recipe

Cherry overnight oats are the perfect meal prep breakfast for busy mornings. The combination of cherries with the creamy texture of overnight oats is a delicious breakfast everyone will love. This is the best way to have breakfast for busy mornings!

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Why This Cherry Overnight Oats Recipe Is The Best!

We eat a lot of oats in my house. Whether I make a baked oatmeal or overnight oats, we typically eat a healthy breakfast. Eating breakfast has been a morning routine of mine for years and I can not imagine skipping this important meal. It fuels me for the day!

Lately, I've been slightly obsessed with different flavors of overnight oats. I can take my basic overnight oats recipe and change it to make so many fun combinations like peach overnight oats or strawberry overnight oats. I think cold oats are perfect in the summer months when the thought of a warm bowl of oatmeal isn't too appealing.

These overnight cherry oats are almost like eating cherry pie. They are perfectly sweet with a great flavor from the dark sweet cherries.

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Equipment Needed

mason jar- or other individual containers are a great way to portion the overnight oats for an easy breakfast.

Key Ingredients

cherries- Cherry season in the US is mostly from June-July. That is the best time of year to get fresh cherries. Use a cherry pitter, knife or chopsticks to remove the pits from the cherries.

Since cherries have a short season you can always use frozen cherries.

oats- the best oats that soften well and have the best texture over several days is the old-fashioned oat also called rolled oats. This variety of oats is less processed than quick oats which get mushier after more than a couple days of soaking.

Steel-cut oats on the other hand are less processed than old-fashioned oats which means they need to be cooked in order to soften. Soaking in liquid alone will not make them soft enough which is why they are not recommended for this overnight oats recipe.

If you want to try using steel-cut oats for overnight oats check out how you can cook them to make overnight oats with this easy recipe.

Step-By-Step Instructions

In a large bowl add the almond milk, vanilla protein powder, honey and 1 tablespoon of cherry preserves. Stir well to break up any clumps of protein powder. This may take a minute of stirring to get the powder to dissolve in the milk.

Add the old-fashioned oats, chia seeds and oats to the bowl and stir to combine. It may seem like there is too much liquid, however the oats will slowly soak up the milk over the next several hours.

Portion the oat mixture into glass jars. Fill each jar half way with oats and then add 2 teaspoons of cherry preserves over top of the oats. Next fill the jars the rest of the way with the remaining oat mixture.

Cover the oats and place in the refrigerator to soak for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. The next morning, the oats will have soaked up all of the milk and become soft with just a slight chewy texture.

Serving Suggestions

When ready to serve, garnish with more pitted cherries, mini dark chocolate chips and walnuts.

Overnight oats are meant to be eaten cold but can be warmed up in the microwave if you prefer your morning bowl of oats hot. Give them a stir and an extra splash of almond milk and warm up in 30 second intervals until they reach the desired temperature.

Substitutions And Additions

almond milk- any plant-based milk or regular milk will work for overnight oats. Oat milk, soy milk, or coconut milk are also great options. I used an unsweetened almond milk for this recipe. Remember if you use a sweetened milk you may want to omit the honey from the recipe.

protein powder- Protein powder is completely optional. There are many types of protein available, even plant-based protein powder. Find one that you like the flavor of.

I like adding a little extra protein to my breakfast to keep me fueled for my workouts until lunch but you can omit this and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to give a vanilla flavor.

honey- to make this a vegan recipe use pure maple syrup in place of honey.

walnuts- you can add any type of chopped nuts to the overnight oats or omit if you have nut allergies. I like the little crunch that the walnuts add to the top of the overnight oats.

Greek yogurt- I do add Greek yogurt to a lot of my overnight oats recipe. It gives the oatmeal an extra creamy texture and added protein. If you want to add yogurt add a ¼ cup of Greek yogurt and reduce the milk by a ¼ cup.

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