Strawberry Banana Bread Protein Overnight Oats

 
During my freshman year of college, I lived in a three-bedroom suite in one of the university’s dorms with four other girls, located a short bike ride away from the main campus. We moved in about a week before the fall quarter began, and every day for the next twelve weeks, one of my roommates set her alarm to ring three hours before her first class started to get ready.  

After climbing out of her lofted bed and spending half an hour in the shower, she sat down at her desk in front of her large mirror with lights on each side to apply layers of concealer, foundation, blush, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss. Once she put away her make-up, she unwound her hair from her towel turban on top of her head to blow dry and style it. Following a cursory glance of approval in the bigger bathroom mirror and a quick spritz of perfume, she dashed out the door to rush to campus.

Even with a full three hours, she barely slid into a seat in the lecture hall before the professor began scribbling notes with chalk on the blackboard. That was especially true on the day where she curled her hair—it seemed to take almost twice as long as her showers! And as a result, she skipped breakfast nearly every day and waited until lunchtime to eat her first meal.
 

 
Because of that, I started to believe that applying lots of make-up and styling my hair wouldn’t fit into my super short morning routine. I’d much rather wake up early for a workout and just stick with combing my hair and a little mascara!

But when I recently stopped by the store for a new set of hair ties, I overheard two girls talking. “I absolutely love this curling wand—it’s amazing!” one exclaimed. “It heats up super fast, it’s so easy to use, and everyone always compliments me on my hair at work now!”

They walked away a few moments later, so I turned around to look at the curling wand the girl had recommended. Although I’m not normally one to care about styling, I’ve secretly wanted to transform my straight hair into gorgeous beachy waves ever since middle school…

A few days later, I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, holding my NuMe curling wand in one hand and carefully wrapping individual strands of my hair around the barrel with the other. Barely ten minutes later, I stared at my reflection, absolutely amazed by the perfect loose spirals cascading down the sides of my face.
 

 
I finally had those curls I’ve always dreamed of… And I didn’t have to spend nearly as much time as my college roommate to get them! My curling wand barely took a minute to heat up (I even timed it!), and just like the girl I overheard at the store had promised, it was so easy to use. I’m already obsessed!
 

 
But that first day when I planned to curl my hair, I remembered my college roommate and threw together my breakfast the night before, just to be safe… And although I ended up with an extra half hour to prepare a regular meal because my curling wand worked so quickly, I still loved eating these Strawberry Banana Bread Protein Overnight Oats that were ready as soon as I woke up! Even better, they have just 6 healthy ingredients, and they’re packed with nearly 15g of protein to keep you full all morning long!

For those of you unfamiliar with overnight oats, they are so simple to make! If you have 5 minutes and can stir with a spoon, you can make these oats. Yes, really! When I introduced my dad to overnight oats, he immediately became obsessed and starting mixing up a jar every night—and he basically works 24/7!
 

 
So all you have to do is add the ingredients to a mason jar or another container with a tight-fitting lid, stir them together, and pop that in the fridge overnight. While you sleep, the oats soak up the moisture from the liquid ingredients in the recipe, and they soften as much as if you had cooked them the traditional way on the stove.

For that reason, overnight oats are meant to be eaten cold, straight from the fridge. Basically… Breakfast is ready as soon as you wake up, with absolutely no prep required in the morning, which gives you extra time to spend applying mascara, curling your hair, and getting ready for the day!
 

 
Because the recipe is really straightforward, let’s talk briefly about the ingredients you’ll need. First up—oats! Both old-fashioned oats and instant oats will work. Instant oats are also called “quick cooking” or “one-minute” oats, and they’re sold in canisters right next to the old-fashioned rolled oats at the grocery store. Do not use steel-cut oats because they’re too thick to soften, and they stay hard and almost crunchy, even after soaking them for more than 8 hours.

For the protein source, you’ll mix in Greek yogurt. If you’ve been around my blog for a while, you know it’s one of my favorite ingredients! Greek yogurt is really thick and creamy, and it’s packed with about 21g of protein per cup. (Regular yogurt only contains around 10g!) I love starting my days with that big protein boost because it keeps my tummy happy and full until lunchtime.

While the mashed banana and fresh strawberries provide lots of natural sweetness, I often find I want a tiny bit more to compensate for the tangy yogurt, so I add in a few drops of vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s very concentrated. A little goes a long way! You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, but I almost always buy mine online here. (You’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
 

 
Hello, healthy breakfast! 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 that I’ll see the notification from you! ?) I’d love to see your oats and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!

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*This post was sponsored by NuMe. As always, all text, photos, recipe, and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the wonderful brands that keep Amy’s Healthy Baking running!
 
 
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥   Peach Pie Protein Overnight Oats
♥   Mixed Berry Protein Overnight Oats
♥   Pumpkin Pie Protein Overnight Oats
♥   Blueberry Pie Protein Overnight Oats
♥   Peanut Butter Cup Protein Overnight Oats
♥   and the rest of Amy’s overnight oats recipes!