Every year towards the end of August, our California weather turns bipolar for a couple of days. Although the exact dates vary, this year the drastic change happened to fall last week. The sun blazed down on Thursday and Friday, heating up our town to nearly 100°F and making it almost unbearable to walk outside, let alone drive anywhere… Steering wheel burns on your hands hurt!
But when I opened my eyes on Saturday morning, light gray clouds covered the entire sky, and the stone patio in the backyard looked a few shades darker than normal because of a very faint drizzle lightly falling from above. Even without a breeze, it barely felt 60°F outside, and as much as I adore summer, I still nearly twirled around in a happy dance.
It felt like fall — and fall means pumpkin season!
As I laced up my shoes for a run, my mind whirled around, brainstorming all of the possibilities of pumpkin baking. Muffins… Scones… Quick breads… Cupcakes… Cookies… Cinnamon rolls… Granola… Anything and everything full of warm, cozy spices that make my house smell like Thanksgiving Day!
I returned home full of ideas, but I decided to hop in the shower first before tackling my quickly growing pumpkin baking list. As I scrubbed, I sorted through the recipes in my head, prioritizing which treats I was dying to make first. When I threw on clothes and walked into the kitchen to start…
The clouds had parted, the sun was shining, and the temperature quickly rose to over 80°F. Back to summer again… So much for fall baking!
But because I just couldn’t give up my pumpkin ideas, I compromised with an easy no-bake recipe that tasted like a combination of summer and fall: Pumpkin Pie Protein Overnight Oats! A thick, creamy bowl of pure comfort food flavors that’s still perfectly acceptable for warmer summer mornings… And basically tastes like dessert for breakfast!
That’s practically a dream come true. 😉
WHAT ARE OVERNIGHT OATS?
For those of you unfamiliar with overnight oats, they’re incredibly easy to make. Simply mix together the ingredients in a mason jar or plastic container with a tight-fitting lid, place that in the fridge, and wait until morning. That’s literally all there is to it!
While you sleep, the oats soak up the moisture in the wet ingredients, and this softens the oats as much as if you had cooked them in a pot on the stove or in the microwave. Because overnight oats oats are meant to be served cold straight from the fridge, that gives you a few extra minutes to sleep in instead of cooking breakfast!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY PUMPKIN OVERNIGHT OATS
There are two key ingredients in this recipe: Greek yogurt and pumpkin purée. Greek yogurt is my favorite ingredient in healthier baking because it adds a lot of protein! It packs in around 21g per cup, compared to regular yogurt with only 7 to 10g. Greek yogurt is one of the easiest ways to get a big boost of protein in the mornings without a lot of effort!
Make sure to use pumpkin purée, not canned pumpkin filling. The latter contains added sugar and flavorings, which we’re trying to avoid to keep this recipe clean-eating friendly! Instead, we’ll sweeten these oats with Truvia, a no-calorie plant-based sweetener. It’s one of the cheapest stevia-based sweeteners and the easiest to find in grocery stores, but feel free to substitute your preferred sweetener instead.
Now all that’s left to do is stir, sleep, and eat! 😉 And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy pumpkin pie protein overnight oats!
Healthy Pumpkin Pie Protein Overnight Oats
Ingredients
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (122g) pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie mix!)
- ¼ cup (25g) old-fashioned oats (gluten-free if necessary)
- 1 tbsp (12g) Truvia (see Notes!)
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon (see Notes!)
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a mason jar or plastic container with a tight-fitting lid, and stir until thoroughly combined. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Serve cold.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
Looks yummy! I’ve never tried overnight oats- but this might be my gateway into this method. In your layered pictures, it looks like a lot more yogurt than pumpkin puree- but the measurements are the same. 1/2 C. Is the picture misleading, or the measurements wrong? I love pumpkin- so I’m sure I wouldn’t mind extra in it, but I want to be sure to make it right! Thanks!
The measurements are correct Emily! But you caught me — the photo is wrong. I’ve made these countless times, and it just happened that the one time I made the jar look the prettiest, I didn’t add in quite enough pumpkin. 😉 I hope you enjoy the oats!
Thank you for your response! I’m definitely going to give it a try soon. 🙂
My pleasure Emily! I can’t wait to hear what you think!
This looks great! Would it still work if I used regular yogurt?
Thanks Emily! Yes, regular yogurt will work, but the Nutrition Information will be fairly different because regular yogurt contains very little protein compared to Greek. I hope you enjoy the oats!
You can also add peanut butter powder, which has barely any fat, but lots of protein. Plus it’s yummy. Throw in a little cocoa and voila!
Thanks for sharing Karen!
I would love to do overnight oats but all the recipes I’ve found call for Greek yogurt. I’ve developed lactose issues and can do small amounts of dairy like butter in baking but not big portions of Greek yogurt. Is there a “clean” substitute? Thanks.
I’m sorry to hear that Danyel! All of the non-dairy yogurt substitutes that I’ve seen do contain a small amount of sugar, so I don’t know that there is an entirely “clean” substitute. However, if you’ve developed lactose intolerance, I highly recommend the lactase pills! My brother has a very bad case of lactose intolerance, and he’s able to eat just about any dairy-containing product (ice cream, yogurt, cheese, etc.) when he takes these pills right before eating. Maybe that would help you out too!
Have you tried the steel cut oats? More of the recipes using oats are calling for steel cut oats. I haven’t tried them but am curious. Can’t wait to try this one ?
Steel cut oats should work. I really hope you enjoy the overnight oats Darlene!
Steel cut oats do not work! I had this in the refrigerator for about 36 hours and the oats never softened…:(
I’m sorry to hear that Deb, but I appreciate you sharing your experience. I hope you’re able to try it with old-fashioned or instant oats instead!
Can you use maple syrup instead of Truvia? Or just plain old sugar? How much would this change the calorie count?
Thanks
Stacey
Yes, either will work just fine Stacey! This is the Nutrition Calculator I use, so I recommend using that to recalculate the calorie count when you tweak the recipe. I hope you enjoy the overnight oats!
Awesome..thanks soo much. I plan on making this this weekend now that it feels fall as officially arrived.
My pleasure Stacey! I hope you enjoy them!
I just found this on pinterest and plan on trying it tomorrow morning! Quick question- I like my oats to be thick and not runny. Do yours turn out runny and if it does what ingredient would you cut back on to make it thicker?
These overnight oats are thick, not runny. I hope you enjoy them Taylor! 🙂
Cam you pop these in the microwave after they have sat in the fridge overnight so you can eat them warm?
Thanks 🙂
You can try, but be careful while heating because of the yogurt. I hope you enjoy the oats Stacey!
Tried these yesterday cold and they were delicious. I’m trying your apple pie overnight oats today. Thanks soo much..right forgot about that, yogurt probably doesn’t heat well. Thanks again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Stacey, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of the apple pie version! 🙂
love the thought of overnight oats, my mornings are crazy and I don’t get time to eat until I get to work. LOVE real oatmeal, but the thought of cold oatmeal is not anything I want to try. Do they heat ok in the microwave?
I’m not sure that I would recommend heating these in the microwave because of the yogurt. I hope you enjoy the overnight oats if you try them Suzi!
Is this recipe super yogurt tasting? I am really trying with greek yogurt but I just am not thrilled about the taste but I love that it can be substituted for SO many things!!!
That’s wonderful that you’re trying Greek yogurt Ashley! My mom is trying really hard to like it as well, but she’s still not a huge fan of the taste either. 🙂 You can slightly taste the Greek yogurt in these oats, so if you’re really sensitive, you can always add a little more sweetener to help minimize its tangy taste. I hope you enjoy them!
Hi, Truvia isn’t a cleaning eating product. It’s processed with other artificial ingredients. My choice for a sweetener would be either raw honey or raw coconut sugar, both delicious and clean. I also dislike the after taste stevia and Truvia has as well as the chemicals used in processing.
You’re welcome to substitute any ingredients you feel most comfortable eating Rebekah. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the oats!