(soft music)
- Hey guys.
Welcome back to my channel.
With Easter coming up I thought it was time
I shared a healthy twist on one of my favorite
Easter desserts, carrot cake.
Say hello to carrot cake overnight oats.
That's right, I'm taking a delicious cake
and turning it into a delicious breakfast.
Carrot cake is one of those recipes
that really reminds me of spring.
And I love making all different kinds of twists on it.
Typically I'll make mini carrot cake cheesecake squares
with my mom, or a bunt cake version of it.
And needless to say, I just can't get enough.
Obviously there's only so much dessert you can enjoy.
And I really wanted to try to figure out a way
to cut back on my cravings
by coming up with this healthy breakfast idea.
And let me tell you, it doesn't disappoint.
It's got all your classic carrot cake fillings,
but also contains fiber-heavy oats,
and protein packed Greek yogurt,
to make it a solid breakfast choice.
You're gonna be making these overnight oats all year long.
Trust me.
Okay, so let's dive in.
This recipe is one of the easiest recipes ever
because you'll basically be adding all of your ingredients
to a large bowl and then dividing among Mason jars.
I mean, you barely even need this video.
Just kidding, please keep watching.
Okay, so first up, grab your oats.
I recommend rolled oats or large flake oats here
because quick oats will make
your overnight oats pretty mushy.
You can still use them in a pinch,
if that's all you have on hand,
but if you have the choice, go with rolled oats.
Measure out two cups into a very large bowl.
This recipe makes four servings.
So you'll also go ahead and grab four 16 ounce Mason jars,
and make sure that you have them handy
for when you go to divide the mixture up.
If you're looking to make more servings
I actually have a little slider
on my recipe card handy for you to bump up the servings
and see the ingredient amounts change.
So that's just something to keep in mind if you need it.
You can find that on my website.
I've linked to this recipe below this video
so you can get all the details.
Once you've got your oats
it's time to add in your coconut milk.
You'll need three cups of coconut milk
or any other type of non-dairy milk,
such as almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk, or oat milk.
You could use 2% milk as well,
but just be aware that it'll change the calorie count.
I prefer coconut milk for these oats
since you want that coconut flavor anyway
for the carrot cake.
But we'll also be adding in sweetened shredded coconut,
so you have the flexibility on your milk choice.
Measure out three cups of whatever milk you choose.
Then add it to the bowl along with the oats.
Next step is the Greek yogurt.
You'll want to choose 0% plain Greek yogurt.
No flavored stuff, as that will add unnecessary sugars.
If you want to make these oats dairy free
you can totally just leave the yogurt out.
You don't need it.
I like to include it to up the protein count,
which will make these oats even more satisfying.
But you can use other protein sources such as
hemp hearts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds,
or plant-based protein powder
if you're trying to make these jars vegan and dairy free.
So, if you're using Greek yogurt, go ahead
and add one cup of it to your big bowl.
From there, add two teaspoons of vanilla extract
to get a sweeter flavor without having to add any sugar.
You can also go ahead and add some maple syrup
or honey to make these overnight oats sweeter.
But I prefer to keep them sugar-free,
even if the sweetener is from a natural source.
If you are going to add maple syrup or honey
I recommend adding only two tablespoons of each,
and then you can increase the amount from there.
Once you've added your Greek yogurt
and vanilla give it all a stir.
This is your overnight oats base.
And you can actually use this base
for so many other flavor combinations.
When it's not Easter,
or I've gotten sick of the carrot cake flavor,
I'll add in ingredients such as strawberries,
peanut butter, blueberries, blackberries,
diced up green apple and cinnamon.
Really, the options for customizing
overnight oats are endless.
Today, we're just going to focus on making
the carrot cake overnight oats, but I have linked
to some other delicious overnight oats recipes
I have on the blog.
So I highly recommend that you check out that resource
in case I've got you hooked on this yummy breakfast,
after this video.
So, picking up where I left off,
you're going to add your fillings.
You'll need one carrot, peel it, and then grate it.
Add it to your oat mixture.
Then you'll take a quarter cup
of pineapple and add it in there.
You can use fresh, frozen, or canned pineapple.
It doesn't matter too much.
If you are using canned,
definitely go ahead and rinse it off
to get rid of any extra sugars.
From there you'll add in a quarter cup
of sweetened shredded coconut.
I recommend sweetened to actually get a final bit
of sweetness in this recipe.
But if you decide to add maple syrup or honey,
then you should use unsweetened shredded coconut
to avoid the oats becoming too sweet.
Last but not least, the nuts.
You'll add a quarter cup walnuts or pecans to the oats.
And that's it for the fillings.
I do want to note that the nuts are totally optional,
especially if you can't have them
or need to be wary of allergies.
I do prefer them for the texture,
but it's worth noting that not all carrot cakes have nuts,
so leave them out if you'd like.
It would be one less ingredient you need to buy
at the end of the day, but they do add some more protein
and healthy fats to this breakfast.
So you make the call.
Stir in your fillings and then it's time to add your spices.
Measure out one teaspoon of cinnamon
and a half a teaspoon of nutmeg.
If you're in a pinch, you can leave out the nutmeg,
as the cinnamon alone will work to get you that flavor.
I don't know if you've seen the price of nutmeg lately,
but it's actually pretty outrageous.
Like seven bucks for a bag of it at the grocery store.
No thanks.
I'm a food blogger so I pretty much have to have
every spice on hand, but if I wasn't,
I'm not sure that I would have it on hand
for the few times I do use it.
So take this as me giving you my blessing
to leave it out if you need to.
Stir in those spices
and give the entire bowl one last really good stir
before you start to portion it out into your Mason jars.
Again, just a reminder that you need
four 16 ounce Mason jars for this recipe.
You'll basically be dividing the entire bowl
among the Mason jars.
Then you'll place in the fridge and let time do the rest.
I know this recipe is called overnight oats,
but if you really only need to let them sit for
a couple hours before you start to eat them, that's okay.
Lots of other recipes call for a minimum of six hours,
but good old impatient me has tested overnight oats
multiple times that the two hour mark,
and this does seem to be the magic number.
Ideally, you would want to make these on a Sunday anyway,
since you're meal prepping them.
And then you'll let them sit overnight
before you enjoy during the week.
But I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life.
When you're ready to enjoy, you can take these
carrot cake overnight oats right out of the jar
and get all the flavors
of your favorite dessert with breakfast.
That's what I call a win-win.
Now, like I said before,
I have linked to eight other overnight oats recipes
all in one blog post that I have on the site.
It's one of the best resources out there
for making this easy breakfast.
So I highly encourage you to head on over and check it out.
You can also find this recipe link too
below this video with more tips and tricks.
So be sure to check out the caption for more details.
Thanks so much for hanging with me today.
I feel like I'm really in the Easter spirit now
and I'm so excited to kick off spring.
It's a new season and I'll be hitting you
with some new fresh recipes in the upcoming weeks.
So be sure to subscribe to my channel
for more healthy inspiration.
I'll see you in the next video.
(soft music)