Make your mornings seemingly more indulgent with a mug of hot cocoa overnight oats!

So, let’s address the elephant in the room: hot chocolate is usually hot, whereas overnight oats are usually cold. While it may seem wrong to call these oats “hot cocoa” oats, that’s really what they taste like – plus plain old “chocolate overnight oats” sounds way less cozy. And let’s be real, being able to eat breakfast out of a mug while snuggled up in blankets is the only good way to do breakfast in the winter (well, besides a stack of gooey chocolate chip pancakes).

Plus, these oats don’t have to be eaten cold. While I usually prefer my overnight oats cold as they retain more of a dough or cake batter-like consistency, warming these oats up a tad really brings out the hot chocolate flavor that you’re expecting. So, could you just make these as hot oats the morning of? You could, but the texture wouldn’t be quite the same. By allowing the oats to soak overnight and then heating them up, the oats end up a bit thicker than if you had just poured water over them and heated them up. Another note about nuking these: leave out the Greek yogurt the night before and then top the oats with it after microwaving it. But, if you want simple straight-from-the-fridge oats go ahead and mix in the Greek yogurt the night before per usual.

P.S. If you’re looking for a more slow, Sunday-morning kind of recipe, check out my Stove-top Hot Cocoa Oats post from last year.

Can we also talk about how I got to enjoy a mug of these oats this morning before heading up to Evergreen for a spa day with my mom?! Working for a university has serious perks, one of which is getting a two-week winter break. I’m so excited to have a bunch of days to fully devote to the blog and hopefully come up with some delicious, healthy recipes for 2018!

So here’s a toast to getting in some relaxation time before the new year!

Print Recipe

Hot Cocoa Overnight Oats

Make your mornings seemingly more indulgent with a mug of hot cocoa overnight oats!

Prep Time10 mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chocolate, Overnight oats

Servings: 2 jars of oats

Calories: 307kcal

Author: Kelli

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt trust me on this one
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1-2 tbsp maple syrup depending on how sweet you like your oats
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
• For a Mexican hot chocolate twist add ½ tsp of cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne pepper to each mug
• Optional toppings: almond butter additional milk, marshmallows (it is hot cocoa oats after all), chocolate shavings

Instructions

• In each mug, bowl or mason jar, place ½ cup oats, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 ½ tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, and pinch of salt. If wanting a spicy kick, add ½ tsp of cinnamon and pinch of cayenne pepper to each as well. If eating these cold, next stir in ½ cup almond milk, ¼ cup Greek yogurt, 1/2-1 tbsp maple syrup, and ¼ tsp of vanilla extract to each mug. Place in fridge overnight then just grab and go in the morning.
• If planning on heating these up the next day: add just ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, ½ – 1 tbsp maple syrup, and ¼ tsp vanilla extract to each mug. In the morning, microwave on high for about 1 ½ minutes or until warmed through. Top each with up to ¼ cup Greek yogurt and any additional toppings of choice.
• However you decide to eat these, I hope you enjoy!

Notes

Nutrition for 1 serving (based on 1/2 tbsp. maple syrup per mug and no toppings): 307 calories, 2 g saturated fat, 46 g carbohydrate, 12 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 15 g protein

[sp_recipe]