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° 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° 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°. 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 basically a dream come true.
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 the 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!
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!
| Pumpkin Pie Protein Overnight Oats | | Print |
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (122g) pumpkin purée
- ¼ cup (25g) old-fashioned oats (gluten-free if necessary)
- 1 tbsp (12g) Truvia
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 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.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, high protein, sugar-free}
This looks delicious! If I used vanilla greek yogurt, do you think it would be sweet enough to forgo the sweetener?
Thanks Heather! Yes, I think that vanilla Greek yogurt would be sweet enough to omit the sweetener, and you can always add a little sweetener in the morning if you feel the oats aren’t quite sweet enough for your tastes. I hope you enjoy the oats!
As I write this I am enjoying my pumpkin pie overnight oats. They are delicious. I made with steel cut oats. After mixing everything together, I microwaved for about a minute. This gave the oats a little help in softening overnight. Pure Perfection!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the oats Cathy! Thanks for sharing your tip about microwaving the steel-cut oats; I love hearing tips like that about what works. 🙂
I am very nervous to use plain greek yogurt. Everytime I try it ruins the recipe with thag awful sour taste. Does it have a sour taste with this recipe?
No, the Greek yogurt doesn’t have a sour taste in this recipe. If you’re sensitive to it, you’re welcome to increase the amount of sweetener, but the cinnamon and pumpkin really help mask any sourness. (I answered your same question on Facebook as well — no need to post it both places! 🙂 ) I hope you enjoy the oats Jamie!
Hello Amy,
Just wanted to know if you eat the overnight protein oats warm or can you eat them cold? I never was a fan of cooked oatmeal. Thank you.
Overnight oats are meant to be eaten cold! 🙂 I hope you enjoy them Leah!
2 questions. Can I make these on Sunday for breakfast for the next 5 breakfasts during the week? Can I mix it the next morning or do I need to mix it before I put it in the frig?
Thanks!
Kathryn
Yes to your first question! The oats need to be fully mixed with the other ingredients before you put them in the fridge. If they’re just resting on top (like in my first photo), they won’t soften while they’re in the fridge, and we really want the oats to soften so they’re enjoyable to eat for breakfast. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these Kathryn!
I love your PSL overnight oats, Amy, they turned out just delicious and my friends love them, too! I am on a healthy diet and this makes just a perfect dessert like many of your creative recipes. Thank you very much for creating them, i love them even more then the original PSL at starbucks! 🙂 Greetings from Vienna!
I’m so glad you and your friends are enjoying the overnight oats Tina! That means so much to me that you like them even more than Starbucks PSLs — that’s quite a compliment! 🙂
Bummed! I made these yesterday and layered it as shown and the oats were still raw this morning. Does it need to be layered different than what is shown?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Brittany! The entire mixture is supposed to be thoroughly mixed together, as the instructions state, before refrigerating overnight. The oats need to be fully incorporated in order to soak up the moisture from the other ingredients and soften. 🙂
I am excited to try this recipe, but we have a ton of food allergies in this house and the only milk substitute we can use is Oat milk. They don’t make oat milk yogurt, any suggestions for a liquid swap out in terms of measurements? I want to try using oat milk instead of yogurt…
Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
It’s my pleasure Jenny! If you can’t have any kind of non-dairy yogurt (soy, almond, coconut, etc), then substitute ¼ cup of oat milk in place of the yogurt to get the same consistency! Just remember that the nutrition information will change (if that’s important to you). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these overnight oats!