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Cocoa Banana Overnight Oats

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We're Hungry Cookbook by Ciara Attwell

The easiest and tastiest Overnight Oats recipe in the world with cocoa, banana, yogurt and milk!

cocoa banana overnight oats in a glass jar topped with flaked almonds

So I’m still on my mission to try to find some new, quick and easy breakfasts for us now that our lazy summer mornings have come to an end. I got a bit over excited about smoothies last week. The Coconut Berry Smoothie is my absolute favourite, but this Choco Banana Smoothie got me all inspired to jazz up an old recipe for overnight oats.

Overnight Oats

I’ve been a big fan of overnight oats for a long time. However I knew that if I was to entice my fussy eater into trying them then I’d have to go above and beyond my standard recipe of just some chopped fruit and a drop of vanilla essence. That just wouldn’t cut it with my little girl!

chocolate overnight oats in a glass jar

And so this mammoth Cocoa Banana Overnight Oats recipe was born! I knew it would have to include chocolate of some sort to capture the attention of a fussy eating 3 year old and cocoa is the perfect ingredient. It’s full of natural antioxidants and nutrients. You can also use raw cacao powder, although you may want to alter the amount you include, depending on your taste.

Overall I think this is an excellent well balanced breakfast for children (and adults too!), containing a good amount of fat and protein to fill them up and enough slow-releasing carbs to keep them full until lunchtime.

Storing & Serving Overnight Oats

So no more excuses for bland and boring breakfasts for me. It’s just so easy to throw together a jar of these oats at night time.

They will keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days (although you may have to add a small amount of liquid before you eat).

In the morning you can eat them cold straight from the fridge, warm them in the microwave, or pop the jar into your bag and bring them to school or work.

Things To Note!

My measurements are in cups simply because there’s no need for exact precision with overnight oats. The basic recipe is 1 part oats to 1 part liquid. You can alter the milk/yogurt ratio to your liking. Use any cup or mug you wish, as long as you measure both the oats and liquid with the same mug.

The recipe calls for rolled oats which is your basic packet of oats or porridge that you’ll find in a supermaket or shop. I haven’t tried this recipe with steel cut oats or those packet of instant oats so I cannot tell you if those would work just as well.

You don’t have to finish your oats off with toppings but I find something slightly crunchy like nuts or maybe some chopped fruit really complements the soft oats.

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The Fuss Free Family Cookbook By Ciara Attwell
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cocoa banana overnight oats

Cocoa Banana Overnight Oats

★★★★★ 4.8 from 15 reviews
  • Author: Ciara @ My Fussy Eater
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 3 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: European
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Description

The easiest and tastiest Overnight Oats recipe in the world with cocoa, banana, yogurt and milk!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1.5 cups milk (cows, almond, hazelnut)
  • ½ cup yogurt
  • 1 banana (mashed, chopped or sliced, whichever you prefer)
  • 1–2 tablespoon cocoa
  • 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
  • toppings of your choice

Instructions

  1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl or jar and place in the fridge, preferably overnight or for at least 1 hour.
  2. When you are ready to tuck in, remove from the fridge and top with toppings of your choice. The oats can be eaten cold or heated in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. They will also keep in the fridge covered for 2-3 days.

If you like this recipe you may also like:

Orange, Coconut & Vanilla Overnight Oats

orange coconut vanilla overnight oats

and Strawberry Shortcake Overnight Oats

Strawberry Shortcake Overnight Oats

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Comments

  5. Becky says

    I recently joined the Overnight Oats Club and last night I actually attempted some Banana-Chocolate Oats. They didn’t taste chocolatey enough, which was disappointing. 3 hours later I stumbled across your recipe and see that I used WAY less cocoa than I should have. Thanks for clarifying that for me!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

      • Mary says

        I have another to add to your list.
        1/3 c Oats
        2/3 c whatever milk you like
        1 smashed banana
        1 heaping tbsp peanut butter
        1 level tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
        Mix real good, then I mix in about 7 diced strawberries.
        No sugar added of any kind, only natural sugar. I love this concoction!

        Reply

  6. Abnehemn says

    Wonderful website you have here but I was wanting to know
    if you knew of any user discussion forums that cover
    the same topics discussed here? I’d really love to be a
    part of community where I can get suggestions from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest.
    If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Cheers!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  7. Iris says

    I loved your Choco Banana Breakfast Smoothie recipe so knew I’d like this. I love that I can get up and know that breakfast is already waiting for me in the fridge as I seem to always be in a rush in the morning!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  9. Desiree says

    I did not use maple syrup but I am curious when you do use the maple surup can you taste it? I have seen it as an ingredient in a ton of overnight oat recipes but Im not a fan of maple.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  10. Adeline C says

    I’ve been making this recipe for a year now. I particularly enjoy it during the summer, having something fresh in the morning is quite nice. I’ve tried many variant of the recipe (using two bananas, soy yogurt, almond milk). I think one banana is enough and one spoon of cocoa too. Regular milk (I use skimmed milk) is the best as it gives it a creamier texture. High protein soy yogurt also work very well to give it a creamy taste. What I love the most about this recipe is the fact that I can make a bowl of it in less than two minutes and tadaaa I have now breakfast for the next 4 days.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  11. Beth says

    This was a winner in our house! Thank you so much for a recipe that BOTH my picky eaters loved–and a breakfast that I feel really good about giving them. No more sugary, store-bought concoctions around here! The only thing it needed was a little extra drizzle of honey on top…but my kids want honey on everything. 😉

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  13. Lola says

    This is an awesome idea.
    I am trying this very soon, but will use almond milk instead of the milk and yogurt (due to dairy allergies).

    ★★★

    Reply

  16. Misshell says

    I love overnight oats & your recipes all look & sound delicious! I was just wondering if you or anyone else has had this issue before- for some reason my oats taste rotten! I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong?? I don’t leave them out too long, I eat them the next day, I use fresh ingredients…??? The first batches I’ve made, I strictly followed your recipes & they came out perfectly. So then I decided to switch up a couple of ingredients like using coconut milk, almond butter, sliced apples & pollen, & suddenly- ROTTEN!! Please, someone, anyone- help! My husband is becoming less apt to trust the lunches I’m making him & I don’t want that! So I appreciate your input. Thanks!

    ★★★★

    Reply

    • Ciara Attwell says

      Hiya! Ingredients like coconut milk and almond butter are very strong tasting, so maybe that’s why they didn’t come out so well? that said, I have just recently posted another oats recipe – Apple & Almond Butter Overnight Oats and that’s delicious so I’m not sure why yours isn’t tasting so good. Did you grate the apple or put it in in chunks? I grate mine in.

      Sorry I’m not much help but I really have no idea what could be making your oats taste bad 🙁

      Reply

      • Misshell says

        Ok, so last night, right after I posted my comment, I decided to make your Cocoa/banana recipe, but instead of using my regular coconut milk method, I used reg.milk & then I tried it this morning & YUM! Because my husband sugg. it could have been the oats? Which I didn’t think so, but you never know… Anyway, I’m thinking it’s the coconut milk or the pollen, or a combo of the 2; is causing some chemical reaction, giving off a “fermented/rotting” taste. When I made the one with apples, I dieced them very small, added cinnamon, with the aforementioned coconut milk & pollen. So I’m gonna keep trying, (cause I do love overnight oats & find it fun; creating new mixtures & flavors!) but sticking with either cow/soy milk for now & no pollen & hopefully that’ll solve my problem! Thanks for replying back & wish me luck! ?

        Reply

  17. Katie says

    I’m not a big yogurt fan. Doesn’t matter brand or flavor, I cannot get use to the taste. Once everything is mixed, does this have a yogurt taste? Just wondering if I could substitute something for the yogurt or just leave it out.

    Reply

    • Ciara Attwell says

      Hi Kate, I can’t taste the yogurt but then I love yogurt so I probably wouldn’t notice it as much as you. You can leave it out and just use milk instead. The yogurt thickens it all up a bit. I bet coconut milk would work really well too if you like that?

      Reply

  18. Stacy says

    Could you substitute equal amounts of a chocolate protein powder in place of the cocoa powder for a protein boost?

    Reply

  19. Claire says

    Really enjoyed this! It’s one of my favorite overnight oats recipes! Thanks so much for the idea!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  21. Kristina Barreiro says

    This looks great! 🙂 Around how many calories would this recipe be? 🙂 And how long before can I store it in the fridge before it turns bad?

    Reply

    • Ciara Attwell says

      Hi Kristina, I have no ideas of the calories but if you enter the ingredients into My Fitness Pal or a website like that then you should be able to find out easily enough. I keep my oats for up to 3 days in the fridge.

      Reply

  24. Joce says

    Hi Ciara! I’m trying this for tomorrow’s breakfast. Just mixed and put it in the fridge and I couldn’t help but took a tiny slurp of it already. Taste great. Thank you for this recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  26. Rosemary says

    Hi there, thanks for this recipe, it looks very good! One question though, you just say “cocoa”, did you use unsweetened or do you use the cocoa with sugar already in it? I put mine together tonight using unsweetened cocoa powder and it was bitter so i added about 1/2 tsp of Truvia and it tasted more how I was expecting…

    Reply

    • Ciara Attwell says

      Hi, I use unsweetened but different brands of cocoa can taste different, depending on the % of cocoa in it. If you find you need a little sweetener with yours then thats fine! Honey would work well too.

      Reply

  29. Ashley says

    Thanks for putting the general rule of thumb for the oats – I’ve been trying recipes and getting such different results. I love this one! Now I have some ratios to play with!

    Reply

  31. Wendy says

    Hi, this sounds delicious. Do you cover the jar or bowl? Or does it need to be left open over night? Thanks for sharing !

    Best, Wendy

    Reply

  32. CakePants says

    This looks mighty tasty! I’ve never made overnight oats before (I tend to get into breakfast ruts, where I sleepily reach for the cereal box and barely even have the energy for that!), but I think the lure of chocolate and bananas in the morning might be enough to perk me up 🙂

    Reply

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