This low on sugar and high on taste chocolate overnight oats recipe is a keeper. This naturally sweetened breakfast dish is not only healthy but soul-satisfyingly good.
Mix all the dry ingredients (oats, cocoa powder, chia seeds and salt) in a bowl or a mason jar till they are well combined.
Add the wet ingredients - milk, yogurt, vanilla essence, and hazelnut butter. Mix well.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or overnight.
Serve cold topped with a drizzle of maple syrup or honey and fruits of your choice.
Notes
Cocoa powder doesn't mix easily with cold milk. That is why mix the dry ingredients first till the oats are completely coated with cocoa. When you add milk to the mixed dry ingredients, the cocoa tends to blend in easily.
Unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder is bitter. To cut down the bitterness and add a dose of protein, I have included homemade hazelnut butter (not Nutella) in this recipe. This helps to cut down on the sweetener such as honey, maple syrup, etc.
Healthy tip: Instead of mixing in the sweetener when you are prepping it, drizzle it on top before serving. This allows you to cut down from 2 tablespoons of sweetener to 2 teaspoons.
This recipe can be easily scaled - you can make a week's worth of servings at a time. My advice - add fruits just before serving because if you refrigerate oats with the fruits added in for more than 2 days, the taste will suffer. This is because fruits start to lose water and/or darken.
The shelf-life of your overnight oats depends on your milk. So make sure to use fresh milk when possible.
Other topping ideas would include - shredded coconut, chocolate chip morsels.
Black forest cake overnight oats - top with a dollop of whipped cream and cherries. Sprinkle it with chocolate shavings before serving.
Tiramisu flavored overnight oats - add 1/2 a teaspoon of coffee along with cocoa or cacao powder while making the oats. Top it with some chocolate shavings and a dollop of mascarpone cheese. Enjoy!