Carrot Cake Overnight Oats

Apr 27, 2021

A dessert-like overnight oat recipe inspired by classic carrot cake. You feel like you're eating dessert for breakfast - but this "dessert" will keep you satisfied for hours thanks to the combination of protein, fibre, and healthy-fats from this all-star ingredient list!

We've feature overnight oats on the blog in the past and find ourselves recommending the recipe to clients who need a healthy on-the-go breakfast that they can prep the night before!

Instead of cooking your oats on the stove or in the microwave, overnight oats are made by mixing rolled oats with liquid and other mix-ins, and then letting it rest in the fridge overnight (hence the name!). In the morning, you have a cup of ready-to-go oatmeal that—since you can eat it cold straight out of the fridge—makes for a super speedy healthy breakfast.

You can find the classic "base" recipe for overnight oats here. Many overnight oat recipes are high in carbohydrates and low in protein if they are sweetened with maple syrup or low in protein-rich mix-ins like protein powder or yogurt. A meal that is high in carbohydrates but low in fibre, fats, and protein can send blood sugars on a roller coaster. This can lead to mid-morning hunger, energy dips, or even symptoms like nausea, shakiness, or light-headedness. For this reason, I prefer using 1/2 scoop of protein powder to boost the sweetness of the recipe while creating a blood sugar supporting balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

Since overnight oats are super customizable, you can always adjust this recipe to fit your dietary needs and preferences! Swap out the milk for water, replace the chia seeds with ground flax seeds, choose different yogurts, or replace the protein powder with honey or maple syrup. For example:

Make it vegan by using plant based yogurt (eg. plain oat yogurt or coconut yogurt) and plant-based protein powder (eg. Vega Sport). The downside to plant based yogurts is that they are low protein.
Make it gluten-free by choosing a certified gluten-free oat (eg. Only Oats)
Sweeten naturally with honey or maple syrup instead of the flavouring from protein powders.

The options and flavour combinations are endless! I am excited to try more dessert-inspired variations like black forest cake, strawberry cheesecake, and cake-batter.

CARROT CAKE OVERNIGHT OATS

You can find the Nutrition Facts here to add them to your MyFitnessPal diary.

INGREDIENTS

½ cup (125g) plain Greek or Skyr yogurt
⅓ cup (30g) rolled oats
½ cup (125 ml) unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp (12g) chia seeds
1/2 scoop (15g) vanilla protein powder
1 teaspoon (5g) raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ (50g) small carrot, grated
1 tablespoon light cream cheese*
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon (10g) walnuts, crushed

*I used one wedge of Laughing Cow cream cheese

DIRECTIONS

Combine all the ingredients except for the walnuts in a jar or storage container.
Let sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
When ready to enjoy, top with the crushed walnuts.

You can watch a video on how to make this recipe here.

F4 FORMULA

Exciting news! Our signature F4 Formula is now offered as a self-study course. If you are interested in learning about the four-step formula we use to design our meals at Vitality Nutrition then click here to learn more. These wraps contain:

PROTEIN: yogurt and protein powder
FAT: chia seeds, cream cheese, and walnuts
VOLUME: grated carrot
CARB: oats
FREEBIES: almond milk, cinnamon, raisins, salt

WE WANNA KNOW!

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