Because dessert for breakfast is my fave.
Cherry Overnight Oats with Chocolate (Black Forest Oats) are rich, chocolatey oats layered with juicy, sweet, almond scented cherries, dark chocolate and coconut cream. It’s everything we love about Black Forest Cake, but healthier. And for breakfast!!
I can’t even tell you how much I love these oats and the best thing about this recipe is that you can make it the night before. Even two or three nights ahead of time works. Fill up your jars, stash them in the fridge and tuck into one for breakfast any day. Or snack, or lunch… and who else likes breakfast for dinner??
Overnight oats are also our go-to road trip food. My girls and I always take jars of oats in the car for our first meal of the day and then I feel like we’re off to a healthy start because the rest of the day will be filled with gas station coffee, beef jerky and Cheetos… it is a road trip after all.
Cherry Overnight Oats with Chocolate, the details.
To make these creamy, chocolatey cherry overnight oats, all you have to do is mix up the oats with cocoa powder, maple syrup, milk, chia seeds and a little salt & vanilla. Then you’ll refrigerate it until it’s thickened and set. Once it’s ready you’ll stir the cherries together with a little maple syrup and almond extract (this is key – almond extract is life and is what really gives these that Black Forest cake vibe) and open up your coconut cream. Both of these super yummy ingredients, along with some dark chocolate chips, are then layered into jars with the chocolate oats. That’s it. Easy peasy. A couple notes to keep in mind though…
In order to make this recipe as pictured, with the cherries, chocolate and cream layered into the middle of the jars, you will have to chill the oat mixture for a couple of hours, or longer, in order for it to firm up before you can layer it. If you don’t have time to do that, just fill your jars with the oats, leaving some space at the top and add the toppings before you eat.
I also say that this recipe makes 2-3 servings because it depends on the size of jar you use. I use 250 ml (8oz) jars (like these) and it makes 3 jars full. Alternatively you can make two larger servings in slightly larger jars.
Tips, tricks, substitutions
- Oats – I always use old fashioned rolled oats for overnight oats. They produce the best texture, in my opinion.
- Milk – you can use your milk of choice for this recipe. I usually use organic, whole milk in mine and we also use oat or almond with equal success. Pretty much any milk works.
- Cocoa Powder – cacao powder also works.
- Cherries – both fresh and frozen cherries are just fine for this recipe. In other overnight oat recipes I add the frozen fruit straight into the mixture without thawing it, but because the cherries are layered in the oats and added to the top, I thaw them first because I don’t want those layers to be watery.
- Coconut Cream– this is, hands-down, my current favourite ingredient. I’ve made whipped coconut cream zillions of times by just pouring off the liquid in a can of coconut milk and whipping up what remains, and it’s delicious. But this, this is amazing. When you open up a can of coconut cream it’s like a can of perfectly whipped, smooth and soft whipped cream. It is, amazing.
FAQs?
The answer is yes. I make overnight oats with frozen berries all the time and it works out beautifully. For this particular recipe though, I do thaw the cherries first because they are more of a topping, layering ingredient instead of being mixed directly into the oats.
Recipe-ish…
Let me know what you think!
Cherry Overnight Oats with Chocolate (Black Forest Oats)
Ingredients
For the oats:
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tsp maple syrup divided
- 1 tsp vanilla
For the topping:
- 1 cup cherries (fresh or thawed and drained if frozen), halved or quartered
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 2 Tbsp dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
Instructions
- Combine the oats, cocoa, chia seeds, salt, milk, 1/4 cup maple syrup and vanilla in a bowl and mix well.
- Cover, refrigerate and let thicken 2 hours to overnight (alternatively, if you don’t want to wait, refrigerate overnight and instead of layering with the toppings, just top the oats with the cherries and cream before eating).
- Combine the cherries, almond extract and 2 tsp Maple syrup in a bowl and mix well.
- Fill 2-3 jars halfway full with oats, then add a layer of cherries, coconut cream and chocolate chips in each. Top with more oats and more cherries, chocolate and cream.
If you like this warm Cherry Overnight Oats with Chocolate (Black Forest Oats) Recipe please go try my Recipe for Chocolate Chip Blended Baked Oats (with No Banana). Another fun way to get more dessert for breakfast into your life.
