Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy

‍

Watch the recipe

YouTube ↗

Cooking With Anadi

12K subscribers · chocolate and peanut butter swirled into creamy oats

Subscribe

Watch the full method on YouTube →

Overnight Oats - Easy and Tasty Every Time!

Here is another overnight oats recipe! I made this after not having overnight oats for quite some time, and I was actually really missing them. It’s crazy I went quite some time without overnight oats because now I have so many different recipes like Blueberry Cheesecake Overnight Oats, Chocolate Banana Strawberry Overnight Oats, and Chocolate Chip Overnight Oats with Mango Puree.

Overnight oats sure are an ultimate choice for a healthy breakfast with minimal effort! Overnight oats have helped me on many busy mornings when I’ve had to get out the door but don’t want to sacrifice not having a good breakfast! When I first came to Canada to start university, I honestly almost never ate breakfast before morning classes, and when I did, I’d stand in the fast food line or pick up something processed at a convenience store. Why do that when you can make these healthy treats that are waiting for you in the fridge in the morning? I wish I had discovered overnight oats much sooner! I would have certainly felt more energized in the morning and would have concentrated in class better! We all know that feeling of grogginess in early-morning classes and low attention span… If you can give yourself a morning boost, you’ll be happy you did, trust me!

Tools Needed

• Large bowl
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Plastic wrap

Peanut Butter Chocolate Overnight Oats Ingredients

For these oats we’re keeping it quite simple so that the cocoa and the peanut butter can shine. It’s hard to think of a better combination than peanut butter and chocolate! For this recipe, we’re using:

• Quick oats: Quick oats are the small oats. You can use large flake oats if you’d like, also known as rolled oats or old fashioned oats, but that will have a nuttier taste.
• Peanut butter: Use whichever peanut butter you like such as crunchy or smooth. You could even substitute peanut butter with any kind of nut butter of choice. But for a classic chocolate peanut butter combination, a smooth, creamy peanut butter will work.
• Cocoa powder: Cocoa powder is what makes these overnight oats chocolatey! We’re going to use quite a bit so that taste is prominent!
• Vanilla extract: Everyone loves the aroma of vanilla! I use vanilla extract all the time!
• Milk: I usually use dairy milk in my oatmeal recipe. I’ve used non-dairy alternatives and to be honest I do find overnight oats are creamier with dairy milk. If you must use non-dairy, then go ahead, but start with less and gradually add more to your liking.
• Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt is almost essential for my overnight oats recipe. It really helps thicken the oats up even more. You can use vanilla Greek yogurt if you like, but then be sure to reduce or omit the vanilla extract altogether.
• Chia seeds: Discovering chia seeds in overnight oats has changed my life! They really help to thicken the oats up to the max! Use this in combination with Greek yogurt and milk and those oats will be almost like ice cream!
• Maple syrup: The maple syrup will be used in the base for some extra sweetness to offset the rich cocoa powder.
• Cinnamon: Just a touch will really enhance these oats!
• Blueberries: Some extra natural sweetness, and we’ll add these on top. If you’re using frozen berries, be sure to thaw them first.

How to Prepare Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats

Set aside 5 minutes before bed to prepare these peanut butter chocolate overnight oats before your busy morning! Just add the oats, milk, yogurt, cinnamon, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and chia seeds in a large mixing bowl.

Use a whisk to mix everything together. You want the mixture to resemble a brownie batter. That’s it! Now transfer your mixture to a mason jar or a serving bowl.

Seal your mason jar with a lid or cover the serving bowl with plastic wrap. Chill overnight, or for at least 4-6 hours.

Top the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Overnight Oats Off!

Let’s not neglect toppings! As excited as you may be to start digging into the oats after a night without food, hold your horses! We can kick these peanut butter and chocolate overnight oats up a notch even more by topping with some blueberries. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries, just be sure to defrost your frozen blueberries if you’re using. Then, add a nice dollop of peanut butter, and finish with a drizzle of maple syrup.

There you have it! I hope you give these chocolate chip peanut butter overnight oats a try! The chocolate and peanut butter will truly shine, and these chocolate blueberry overnight oats will give you the morning boost you need for an excellent day!

Frequently Asked Questions

The Oats You Use Change Everything

This recipe calls for 2/3 cup of rolled oats, and rolled oats are the same thing as old-fashioned oats, just two names for the same flat, steamed flake. That flake is what makes any overnight oatmeal recipe work: it has been softened by steam already, so cold liquid can finish the job while you sleep.

Steel-cut oats cannot do this. They are chopped rather than rolled, and no amount of time in the fridge will soften them properly, so you end up chewing gritty little pellets. Quick-cooking oats fail in the opposite direction, because they are cut thinner still and collapse into a paste overnight. If you need this to be gluten-free, buy certified gluten-free oats specifically. Oats are naturally gluten-free but are almost always processed alongside wheat, so the certification is the only thing that actually tells you.

What Makes It Set: Chia, Yogurt and the Liquid Ratio

The 1 tbsp of chia seeds is doing the thickening. Chia absorbs several times its weight in liquid and turns gelatinous, which is what takes this from soggy cereal to something spoonable. Ground flaxseed and hemp seeds are the listed swaps, and flax seeds behave almost identically as long as they are ground rather than whole. The 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt is the other structural piece, adding body and a gentle tang against the cocoa.

The liquid ratio is the number to memorize if you ever scale this: 2/3 cup of milk to 2/3 cup of oats, so one to one by volume, with the yogurt and chia thickening on top of that. Whisk it rather than stir it. Cocoa powder clumps stubbornly if you only push it around with a spoon, and the target described in the recipe is a brownie batter consistency, which you will not reach by stirring gently. Then it needs 4 to 6 hours in the fridge, or simply overnight.

Dairy-Free, Vegan and Sweetener Swaps

Nothing here is difficult to make dairy-free. Oat milk, soy milk or coconut milk all stand in for the milk, and coconut milk gives you the richest result of the three since the fat content is closest to dairy. Swap the Greek yogurt for a thick plant-based yogurt and the whole thing is vegan, because the only other animal ingredient is the maple syrup topping and that was never an issue. Honey would be, which is worth knowing if you use it as your sweetener.

The sweetening is smarter than it looks. The 1 tbsp of pure maple syrup goes on top at serving rather than into the base, so each jar gets sweetened to whoever is eating it. Honey works the same way. If you want it sugar-free, stevia is the exception to that rule: it will not drizzle, so it needs to go into the base with the cocoa and be whisked through.

On that cocoa, the recipe uses 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder, which brings all of the chocolate flavor and none of the sugar. Dutch-process cocoa is the listed alternative and is darker and smoother, less sharp. There is no salt in the base either, though a small pinch whisked in genuinely lifts the chocolate if you want to try it.

Toppings, Add-Ins and Turning It into a Dessert

As written, the toppings are 1/4 cup of blueberries, a dollop of peanut butter and that drizzle of maple syrup. Almond butter is the direct swap for the peanut butter, and sunflower seed butter is the one to reach for if you need it nut-free, since a seed butter behaves the same on top without the allergen. A scoop of protein powder can go into the base, but add a splash more milk with it or the mixture tightens up too far overnight.

Scatter chocolate chips over the top and it stops being breakfast and becomes a dessert, which is a fair thing to do with it occasionally. Just be clear about what this is not: despite the family resemblance to other flavors of the same idea, there is no banana in here, so it is not banana bread overnight oats.