Cherry Cocoa Overnight Oats

This healthy Cherry Cocoa Overnight Oats recipe is a delicious way to start your day.  The cherries are briefly cooked to release more flavour and sweetness –  combine with the oats just before serving.

OVERNIGHT OATS

Overnight oats are such an easy and delicious way to enjoy a wholesome breakfast no matter how busy you are.  And they are really quite different from cooked oats, i.e. porridge.  I do love a bowl of hot, comforting porridge when it’s cold and gloomy outside.  But in the summer my preferred oaty breakfast are definitely overnight oats.

Not only do overnight oats suit the summer weather (so are perfect to make now!), they are also infused with flavour.  See, for example, this Peanut Butter Strawberry Overnight Oats recipe I made a while ago.  Check out also these Maple Pecan Overnight Oats with Sweet Potato.  Every little oat flake in these recipes has had plenty of time to absorb all the other delicious ingredients added into the mixture.  As a result, every spoonful of your overnight oats will be bursting with flavour!

There is, however, another easy way to add lots of flavour to your overnight oats.

I have used this method in this Cherry Cocoa Overnight Oats recipe.

How to make cherry overnight oats with cacao

In this recipe I first prepared the oats mixture by combining the oats with the milk, ricotta and cacao.  Then I cooked the cherries (for only about 4 minutes) with the maple syrup and vanilla bean paste. Once cooled, I refrigerated this mixture to add to my oats in the morning.  The cherries released a good amount of juice in the cooking which, with a drizzle of maple syrup, added lots of delicious syrupy sweetness to my oats.  I recommend adding it in the morning so the flavour stays intensely sweet.

(I’ve used a similar method of preparing the fruit in my raspberry flavoured yogurt recipe).

The cherry mixture goes so well with the cocoa in these overnight oats!  I used cacao in this recipe but it’s perfectly fine to use cocoa instead.

These overnight oats also contain a bit of ricotta cheese for extra creaminess and almond flakes for a bit of crunch.

RELATED POST: Poppy Seed Overnight Oats

If you are love cherries for breakfast check out this Cherry Crumble with Quinoa & Almonds recipe I made not long ago.

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Cherry Cocoa Overnight Oats

Prep Time

2 mins

Cook Time

4 mins

Total Time

6 mins

 

This healthy Cherry Cocoa Overnight Oats recipe is a delicious way to start your day. The cherries are briefly cooked to release more flavour and sweetness - combine with the oats just before serving.

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: International

Keyword: cherry, cherry overnight oats

Servings: 2 people

Author: Everyday Healthy Recipes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats, not instant
• 1/2 cup semi-skimmed milk
• 1.5 tbsp ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp cacao/cocoa powder
• 20 cherries, pitted, fresh or frozen
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions

1. In a bowl/jar combine the oats with the ricotta, milk, almond flakes and cacao/cocoa. Stir thoroughly, cover and refrigerate. 
2. In a saucepan heat up the cherries with the maple syrup and vanilla bean paste, bring to boil and cook for 2-3 minutes squashing the fruit with the back of the spoon. If you are using frozen cherries add another minute. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. In the morning combine the 2 mixtures by creating layers of oats and cherry mixtures, so that some of the cherries are inside the oats mixture, not just on top. Enjoy!

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RECIPE LINK PARTIES

I am bringing this easy Cherry Cocoa Overnight Oats recipe to #CookBlogShare, which I have the pleasure of hosting this week.

I am also sharing with Recipe ReDux.  This month’s challenge is to come up with a healthy seasonal recipe using stone fruit.  Hop over and check out all the other healthy, delicious fruit recipes linked up by other bloggers.  I am sure you’ll find something you like.