Banana Honey Pecan Overnight Oats

I am an avowed breakfast person. It’s the best part of most days as far as I’m concerned. Even when I’m in a super hurry and all I can have for breakfast is a cup of coffee, it is still almost always my favorite part of the day. They say the secret to happiness is lowering your expectations. I think it’s fair to say I’m happy most of the time because all I expect in a day is a cup of coffee and a small morning repast. Everything above and beyond that is gravy. Metaphorical gravy. Additional goodness on an already good day.

As a breakfast discovery overnight oats rocked my world. I’ve never been a huge fan of hot oatmeal. Probably because I’ve only ever had the instant oatmeal from the packet. Who has time to stand at the stove first thing in the morning? This isn’t Frontier House. Learning that I could have better than instant oatmeal and sleep in was a banner day for this lady. A banner day, indeed.

They take three minutes in the evening, then you stash them in the fridge and get some beauty sleep. Three more minutes in the morning and you can have the best day ever within minutes of getting out of bed. If you keep a fridge in your bedroom or live in a particularly small studio apartment you might not even have to get out of bed. Not many things have that kind of happiness payoff.

This recipe is specifically for my go to overnight oats but they are infinitely flexible based on what you have available. In general you want something a little sweet, something a little creamy and something a little crunchy. That is the perfect combination for me. During lockdown I got sick of making banana bread and started putting the bananas into my overnight oats. Life affirming decision that was. Come to think of it, why didn’t we all just stop buying so many bananas?

Making

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1 jar for one person but I suppose you could share

6 minutes and one sleep

Ingredients

The Night Before

1/3 cup jumbo rolled oats

1/3 cup water (or milk)

Good shake of ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

The Next Morning

2 Tbsp plain greek yogurt

1 banana, sliced

Squeeze of runny honey

Pecans

Instructions

I’ve found that the key to consistently having this lovely thing to wake up to is connecting it to my dinner clean up the night before. So now when I want this in the morning I load the dishwasher, put these together and pop them in the fridge. If I wait until I’m on my way to bed I always forget.

Take your trusty jam jar and put the JUMBO ROLLED OATS in the bottom. Use the same measuring cup and add the same amount of WATER. Give it a stir.

Throw in a pinch of SALT and a good shake of GROUND CINNAMON. Give it another good stir. Screw the top on and put it in the fridge.

Get a good night’s sleep. It is so important.

The next morning, get your jar out of the fridge and give it a stir. The ratio I use keeps it pretty loose but if it has gotten too firm you can add some more water.

Add your toppings! Doesn’t matter in which order or how much. Make it look like something you want to eat and dig in.

Tags:Breakfast