June 19, 2019 53 Comments

Simple Peanut Butter Overnight Oats

These peanut butter overnight oats are made with old-fashioned oats, peanut butter, chia seeds, and milk. Prep time is just 60 seconds the night before, so you can save time during your busy morning and even enjoy your oatmeal on-the-go!

I started adding oats and almond milk to an almost-empty peanut butter jars for years to scoop out the last bites of peanut butter and eventually learned that “overnight oats” is a similar concept that other people make.

Overnight oats recipes typically involve oats, nut butter, milk and/or yogurt, chia seeds, and sometimes fruit mixed in a jar and left overnight to enjoy in the morning.

You don’t need a microwave or stovetop, so overnight oats are a great travel or dorm breakfast. They’re also a nice break from hot oatmeal in the warm weather.

I’m looking forward to enjoying overnight oats this summer as an easy make-ahead breakfast that I can eat on my way to work or once I arrive at work!

I’m doing a legal fellowship this summer, so I’m currently in Washington, D.C. for two weeks (and sharing some of my D.C. adventures on my Instagram stories!) and then I’ll be working in Raleigh for the rest of the summer.

I’ve experimented with different overnight oats recipes, so I’ll share how I make my favorite version now!

Overnight Oats Ingredients

-Old-fashioned oats: this type of oats gets soft enough without turning into mush overnight. Quick-cooking oats get a bit too soft overnight for my taste, and steel-cut oats don’t get nearly soft enough.

-Chia seeds: they thicken the oat/milk mixture and add some healthy fat. If you omit the chia seeds, the oats won’t thicken as much and you’ll want to decrease the amount of liquid you use.

-Any kind of milk: I usually use either almond or cashew milk from a carton.

-No bananas: some recipes call for mashed bananas to sweeten overnight oats but i’m personally not a fan of the texture or appearance of bananas after being refrigerated overnight. But I’ll sometimes add a few slices of banana on top in the morning.

-Optional honey for sweetener. For me, overnight oats are sweet enough without honey, but if you usually add sugar or honey to your regular oatmeal, you may want to use up to a teaspoon of honey.

-Any kind of nut butter, although peanut butter is my favorite

-Other additions or toppings like mini chocolate chips, a sprinkle of chopped nuts, or other fresh fruit.

How to Make Overnight Oats

First, add chia seeds and oats to a container with a lid. You can make overnight oats in an almost-empty nut butter jar, a small mason jar, or just a regular glass container with a lid.

Then, just add the peanut butter, honey if using, and milk.

It’ll seem like too much milk at first, but the oats absorb the milk and the chia seeds act as a thickener, too.

Place in the refrigerator overnight or for at least four hours.Not ready to eat yet…

And when the oats are ready, they’ll look like this. You may want to add an extra splash of milk if the overnight oats are too thick for your taste. Hope you enjoy!

If you try this peanut butter overnight oats recipe, feel free to let me know in a comment (and leave a star rating!) or take a photo and tag me @livbane on Instagram! I’d love to see!

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5 from 17 votes