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Carrot cake overnight oats are like indulging in carrot cake for breakfast, a concept I wholeheartedly embrace! These overnight oats are packed with wholesome ingredients like rolled oats, grated carrots, spices, and a touch of maple syrup. They offer a satisfying and nutritious start to your day. For an added protein boost, try mixing these overnight oats with Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. I always enjoy adding a few chopped walnuts to the mix for that traditional carrot cake flavor!
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love These Overnight Oats
- You taste the amazing flavors of carrot cake.
- There is no baking required, and you can assemble the overnight oats in about 5 minutes.
- Meal prep these overnight oats to enjoy them throughout the week.
- They are made with simple ingredients.
- It tastes like you are having dessert for breakfast.
- You can customize them to your liking by adding additional toppings.
- These carrot cake overnight oats are vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
What Are Carrot Cake Overnight Oats?
Carrot cake overnight oats are a fun twist on classic overnight oats with the incredible flavors of carrot cake. We added cinnamon, nutmeg, grated carrots, and walnuts to these overnight oats for the ultimate carrot cake flavor. Also, they are lightly sweetened with maple syrup to bring out all the flavors. If you are a fan of carrot cake, you will love this delicious and easy breakfast.
Ingredients Needed
- Rolled Oats: Use old-fashioned rolled oats to make overnight oats.
- Almond Milk: You can use your milk of choice or non-dairy milk to make this recipe vegan. We like unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
- Vanilla: Add vanilla extract for flavor.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon adds to the carrot cake flavor.
- Nutmeg: A pinch of ground nutmeg for another layer of flavor.
- Salt: Add a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor.
- Grated Carrots: Use two tablespoons of freshly grated carrots, from about one carrot.
- Maple Syrup: Sweeten these overnight oats with maple syrup, sugar-free maple syrup, or your sweetener of choice. I love the flavor maple syrup adds to the recipe.
- Chia Seeds: As an option, add chia seeds to these overnight oats. I love including them since they are a good source of omega-3s and fiber.
- Walnuts: These carrot cake overnight oats would not be complete without chopped walnuts. I highly recommend adding them because they make these overnight oats taste even more like carrot cake and add delicious flavor and crunch.
How To Grate Carrots
Grate the carrots for this recipe using the large side of a box grater or a food processor. First, wash, dry, and peel the carrots. Then, grate them. For one serving of these overnight oats, you only need to grate about one carrot. If you make more servings, grate more carrots.
How To Make Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
Step 1: Grate the carrots for the best flavor and texture. Don’t use pre-shredded carrots.
Step 2: Add the rolled oats, unsweetened almond milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, grated carrots, maple syrup, and chia seeds to an airtight jar or container.
Step 3: Thoroughly mix the ingredients. Then, secure the lid on the jar and store it in the refrigerator overnight.
Step 4: The following morning or when ready to enjoy, serve as is or add optional toppings.
Serving Suggestions
When ready to serve these carrot cake overnight oats, mix in your favorite optional toppings and enjoy them cold. We love adding chopped walnuts. Some other topping ideas are cottage cheese, whipped cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, whipped cream, unsweetened coconut flakes, unsweetened shredded coconut, chopped pecans, almonds, nuts, raisins, finely chopped pitted Medjool dates, roughly chopped dried cranberries, granola, or chocolate chips.
Expert Tips
- Grate The Carrots: It is best to grate the carrots yourself rather than using pre-shredded carrots. Freshly grated carrots tend to be softer, while pre-shredded tend to be too crunchy for this recipe.
- Mix Well: Thoroughly mix the overnight oats before refrigerating. It helps evenly distribute the ingredients. Also, you can stir your overnight oats before serving.
- Use Rolled Oats: Ensure that you make overnight oats with old-fashioned oats, not instant oats or steel-cut oats.
- Meal Prep Them: These carrot cake overnight oats are an excellent breakfast to meal prep! Double, triple, or quadruple this recipe to make individual servings of overnight oats. Assemble them in individual jars and store them in the refrigerator.
How To Store
Store assembled overnight oats in the refrigerator. Let them refrigerate overnight before enjoying them. They need time for the oats to absorb the milk. These overnight oats will last 3-4 days when stored in an airtight jar or container in the fridge.
Variations
- Milk To Use: Use any milk of your choice in this recipe. Some options are low-fat, non-fat, almond milk, oat milk, cashew milk, soy milk, or your favorite plant milk.
- Make Gluten-Free: To make these carrot cake overnight oats gluten-free, make sure to use certified gluten-free oats.
- Adjust The Sweetness: We found that two teaspoons of maple syrup added the right amount of sweetness to these overnight oats, without being overpowering or overly sweet. However, if you prefer these overnight oats to be sweeter, you can adjust the sweetness to taste.
- Sweetener To Use: We sweetened these overnight oats with maple syrup. Some other options are sugar or your favorite 1:1 sugar-free sweetener such as monk fruit or sugar-free maple syrup.
- Add Protein: To add a boost of protein to these overnight oats, consider mixing in cottage cheese, 0-fat Greek yogurt, or vanilla protein powder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Carrot Cake Overnight Oats Vegan?
Yes! This carrot cake overnight oats recipe is naturally vegan. Just ensure you use vegan milk.
What Size Jar To Use For Overnight Oats?
Use an airtight jar, container, or mason jar that holds at least six ounces. We like to use these Le Parfait jars.
How Long Do Carrot Cake Overnight Oats Last?
These carrot cake overnight oats will last up to four days when stored in a sealed airtight jar in the refrigerator.
Can You Eat Overnight Oats Warmed Up?
Yes. If you don’t want to enjoy these overnight oats cold, you can warm them up in a saucepan with a splash of your milk of choice. Or, heat them in the microwave for one minute.
More Recipes To Try Next!
- Healthy Carrot Cake
- Carrot Raisin Salad
- Carrot Cake Baked Oats
- PB2 Overnight Oats
- Carrot Cake Bliss Balls
- Cottage Cheese Overnight Oats
If you try this recipe please be sure to leave us a comment and star rating ★★★★★ letting us know how it turns out for you.
CARROT CAKE OVERNIGHT OATS
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk or milk of choice
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons grated carrots
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup, sugar-free maple syrup, or sweetener of choice
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds, optional
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, optional
Instructions
- Use the large side of a box grater to grate the carrots for this recipe. Don’t use pre-shredded carrots.
- Add the rolled oats, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, grated carrots, maple syrup, and chia seeds to an airtight jar or container.
- Thoroughly mix the ingredients, secure the lid on the jar, and store it in the refrigerator overnight.
- The following morning or when ready to enjoy, serve as is or mix in optional toppings such as chopped walnuts, Greek yogurt, or cottage cheese.
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Notes
- Grate The Carrots: It is best to grate the carrots yourself rather than using pre-shredded carrots. Freshly grated carrots tend to be softer, while pre-shredded tend to be too crunchy for this recipe.
- Storage: These overnight oats will last 3-4 days when stored in an airtight jar or container in the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
