Gingerbread Overnight Oats

Name: Gingerbread Overnight Oats
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: ½ cup rolled oats; 1 tbsp chia seeds (optional); 2 tsp cacao powder; ½ tsp Christmas spice (or gingerbread spice); 2 tsp ground flax seed (optional); A small pinch of fine sea salt; ¾ cup almond milk or other milk (add more if you like your oats thinner); 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey; 1 tsp molasses (optional); ¼ tsp vanilla extract

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These Gingerbread Overnight Oats are creamy, easy to make, and homemade Christmas spice makes them extra delicious! They're great for meal prep, and the recipe comes together in just a few minutes!

Overnight oats in a short glass topped with a small gingerbread man and a spoon in it with more gingerbread cookies around the glass.

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Why You'll Love These Overnight Oats
Ingredients
Variations and Substitutions
Step-by-Step Instructions
Serving and Storing
FAQs
Other Overnight Oatmeal Recipes
📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love These Overnight Oats

Holiday flavor with homemade spice - You can use any gingerbread spice mix you have, but I highly recommend using my homemade Christmas Spice! It's very similar to gingerbread, and it's what we use in our classic Czech gingerbread cookies. It has lots more spices than regular gingerbread and surprisingly no ginger! It's warm, flavorful, and it smells like Christmas!

Only 5 minutes of prep - All you have to do is stir everything together in the evening and let the oats soak overnight. By the time you wake up the next morning, your breakfast will already be ready! It's so simple and totally fail-proof!

Great for meal prep - Overnight oats are perfect for meal prepping, and these are no different! You can easily make a bigger batch to enjoy them during this busy holiday season!

A ceramic beige bowl with creamy thin overnight oats garnished with almond butter and small gingerbread cookies.

Ingredients

Rolled oats - For best results, use classic old-fashioned rolled oats. Quick oats work as well; they'll just be more mushy. I don't recommend steel-cut oats because they need more liquid and a longer soaking time.
Milk - My go-to is either almond milk or cashew milk for these oats. You can use whole milk, oat milk, boxed coconut milk, soy milk, or any other non-dairy milk as well.
Sweetener - I like using honey in this recipe because that's what I sweeten my Gingerbread Cookies with, but pure maple syrup is a great vegan alternative.
Gingerbread spice - If you want the best flavor that's more unique than your regular ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves, definitely make my Christmas Spice! It's a spice blend we've been using in my family for years! It has a bunch of spices, and it's the definition of Christmas for me. I also have a recipe for a more classic Gingerbread Spice Mix if that's what you prefer.
Cacao powder - This one is optional, but chocolate goes really well with all the spices here. You can use either raw cacao powder or Dutch-processed cocoa powder.

Variations and Substitutions

Ground flax seeds and chia seeds - These both thicken the oats and add extra nutrients and protein. I usually like to add 1 teaspoon of each per serving.
Yogurt - Replace some of the milk with full-fat Greek yogurt or plant-based yogurt to make the oats thicker and extra creamy. It also has a higher protein content so it makes the oats more filling.
Protein powder - If you want to make the oats extra filling, stir in some protein powder! I like chocolate or vanilla protein powder here.
Sweetener - You can use practically any sweetener you prefer here. Brown sugar, coconut sugar, agave, maple syrup, honey, or a sugar-free alternative. I'm not a huge fan of molasses, so I skipped it in this recipe, but you can always add it to get that classic gingerbread flavor! Start with 1 tsp and add more to taste.

Step-by-Step Instructions

In a mason jar or a bowl, mix together rolled oats, chia seeds (optional), cacao powder, Christmas spice, ground flaxseed (optional), and a small pinch of sea salt.
Whisk in the milk, maple syrup, molasses (optional), and vanilla extract.

Rolled oats, gingerbread spice, and ground flax in a glass bowl mixed with milk and honey.

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Cover and allow to soak in the fridge overnight or for at least 5 hours.
Stir again before serving and enjoy with your favorite toppings! If you find the oatmeal too thick in the morning, stir in some more milk.

Oats soaking in milk, spices, and maple syrup in a glass bowl and it spooned into a short glass the next day.

Serving and Storing

Drizzle the oats with almond butter, add a dollop of yogurt, and a sprinkle of nuts, seeds, or maybe even some Gingerbread Granola!
If you want to make it extra pretty and special, add some mini Gingerbread Cookies as garnish.
Top the oats with fresh fruit like berries, stone fruit, fresh figs, apples, or pears.
To make the oats taste more like a dessert, you can also add some Caramelized Apples on top or some caramelized banana from this Caramelized Banana Oatmeal!

Store the overnight oats in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. I find the oatmeal tastes the best the first 1-3 days.

You can make a bigger batch and store it either in single-serving containers already topped with things like berries or nut butter to save time in the morning. Just wait to add anything crunchy when you're ready to eat the oats.

FAQs

Can I warm up the oatmeal?

Yes! While I usually enjoy these oats cold on busy mornings, they can be warmed up on the stove and served hot as well. Just transfer the soaked oats to a small saucepan and warm them up over medium heat on the stove. Add more milk if needed.

Is this oatmeal gluten-free?

Yes, oats are naturally gluten-free, but always make sure they're certified gluten-free if needed!

Gingerbread overnight oats in a stemmed red glass garnished with a mini gingerbread man and a hand scooping up the oatmeal with a spoon.

Other Overnight Oatmeal Recipes

If you want to try other overnight oats, check out the four below! The last one with acai is one of my oldest recipes, but still one of my all-time favorites! Head over to Oatmeal Recipes to see all the latest ones and other types of oatmeal, like baked oats and stovetop oatmeal.

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Have you tried these Gingerbread Overnight Oats? Please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!

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