Each week, I will contribute an article to my food column: College Cooking, where I will share recipes and opinions on food trends and culture. To see more of what I like to cook and bake, check out my personal food Instagram at @healthy_eclair.
Welcome back camels!! I don’t know about you, but each time I return to school my mind goes into overdrive and suddenly I become overwhelmed with balancing homework assignments and the tedious “adult” tasks like changing your sheets and eating breakfast. We have all heard how important it is to have a balanced breakfast but it can be hard to scarf down something you actually want to eat before logging onto Zoom for your morning class. That is why overnight oats are the perfect way to meal prep the night before to guarantee you start your day off right.
Here are three simple overnight oat recipes you can whip with ingredients from the dining hall. For each recipe, you can eat the oats cold or warm them up in the microwave if you have one in your room. You can also add other ingredients you may not find in the dining hall, such as chia seeds, dried fruit, and collagen peptides, but these additions are not necessary to make delicious overnight oats.
- Peanut Butter to the rescue
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Ironically, when I was younger I loathed peanut butter. But my perspective shifted in middle school when I grew tired of turkey sandwiches. PB, especially Teddie’s Peanut Butter, is my all-time favorite ingredient to add to overnight oats. The dining halls have small containers of PB, but it can also be handy to have a jar of PB in your room. You can also recycle the PB jar to use as a container for your oats!
This recipe is adapted from Minimalist Baker’s Peanut Butter overnight oats. For one serving, combine ½ cup of oats, ½ cup milk of choice (can make dairy-free/vegan with almond milk), 1 tbsp of peanut butter, and 1 tbsp of honey into a container with a lid. Stir ingredients together and store overnight in your mini-fridge (if you don’t have a mini-fridge, ask a floormate if you can store your overnight oats in theirs after onboarding!). If you don’t have a measuring cup, no worries; you can use an entire packet/container of oats/milk from the dining hall. One tip is that if you prefer thicker oats, use less milk and the opposite for a more liquid consistency. Top with more PB and banana slices!
- Add yogurt for extra thickness
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I used to just add almond or oat milk to my overnight oats, but over break, I have discovered the beauty of incorporating yogurt. This recipe is adapted from Megan Rivernburg’s recipe @megeatsworld. She has a story highlight with her overnight oats recipes which is a great resource to check out if you are as much of a fan of overnight oats as me.
Combine 1 container of yogurt of choice, ½ cup oats (or 1 package/container), milk of choice to your desired consistency, and stir. Store overnight in the fridge and top with peanut butter and fruit of choice. You can also add a tbsp of chia seeds into the overnight mixture.
- This is one is for my chocolate lovers
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Are you a sweet or savory breakfast person? Personally, I am the former which is why incorporating chocolate into my oat concoctions is ideal. This particular chocolate overnight oat recipe is adapted from Rachel Mansfield @rachlmansfield.
Combine ½ cup chocolate milk or milk of choice with 1 tbsp cocoa powder (you can use hot chocolate powder too), ½ (or 1 package/container) of rolled oats, 1 tbsp of peanut butter, and stir. Store in the fridge overnight and top with more peanut butter in the morning for a true Reece’s experience. I like to add chia seeds, collagen peptides, and blueberries to this recipe but these additions are not necessary!
If you have a favorite overnight oat recipe, send a photo of your creation to our Instagram @hercampusconn and we will feature you on our feed!