Overnight Kefir Oats

Here's a nice use of my kefir for a healthy and tasty breakfast. I got this recipe from  fermented foods at every meal

The author's recipe is for four half-pint servings. It starts with 2-1/4 cups of kefir. Since, I have been making my kefir in 1 cup batches, I cut the ingredients in half. I started with kefir fermented with the Charlsie method. (See my previous post). 

They key ingredient in overnight oats is old-fashioned, slow-cooking oats. Do not use instant or quick oatmeal. I used Nature's Promise Irish Style Steel Cut Oats.

There is plenty of room to adapt this recipe for the ingredients that I had on hand. In this batch I used:

• 1 Cup of kefir
• 1/4 Cup oats
• 1 Tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 banana, sliced (I've also used a few strawberries, cleaned and quartered)

Now, put everything in a mason jar and shake it vigorously. Put it in the refrigerator and enjoy it the next morning.

This is very easy to make, requires no cooking, and it is ready to eat in the morning.

I found this quantity to be a little too much for one serving, but not quite enough for two. Perhaps I'll use a bit more than a cup of milk in my kefir batch when I am planning this dish, use a little more oats, and keep everything else the same. That should make two satisfying breakfasts.

Overnight oats is not specific to kefir. Wholefully has a web page with lots of ads and distractions plus 8 variations on this recipe using yogurt and milk. I'll try some of those and report back.

So far, this is my favorite use for kefir.

Update:

I tried this recipe with 1/2 cup of oats to make a more satisfying double serving. That modification was based on the Wholefully.com recipes. I didn't add any fruit, but added peanut butter and cocoa. That tasted like a family recipe for bakeless cookies that I've been making since I was a kid. As a bonus, it is much healthier than the cookies. I'll be making this, again.

• 1 Cup of kefir
• 1/2 Cup oats
• 1 Tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 Tablespoon honey (Note to self: add the cocoa before you get the tablespoon gooey)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder