Another overnight oats recipe for your well-being. This time, it's red velvet, just in time for Valentine's! These creamy overnight oats are sweet, chocolatey, and satisfyingly tasty with a rich red-brown cacao hue. Even better? They are 100% date-sweetened, naturally colored, are high-protein, and take only 5 minutes to make w/ no cooking required! And there's a secret hidden veggie responsible for their reddish hue... can you guess it? These overnight oats are also coconut-free and oil-free, and can be made nut-free too (just use nut-free plant milk and seed butter!). Indulge in these luscious chocolate oats for breakfast, topped with fresh berries and dairy-free dark chocolate chunks to show yourself some self-love this Valentine's. Or make two jars for your significant other to share with you <3
The overnight oats never stop on The Dimpled Date. And the latest addition is simply delicious, luxurious, and nutritious! Enjoy these oats for a healthy breakfast that will make your tastebuds and body happy.
These overnight oats are 100% vegan, gluten-free, fruit-sweetened, naturally colored, oil-free, coconut-free, and can be easily made nut-free too. Plus they're high protein, and have a hidden veggie... you guessed it, beets! Well, beet juice, but still even the juice is filled with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!
This jar of oats is velvety, sweet, and packs a whole lotta cacao flavor without making you feel heavy. It's one of my lighter overnight oats recipes, yet it doesn't sacrifice on flavor or texture.
Which Dimpled Date overnight oats flavor is your favorite? Let us know in the comments! So far, we've had a whole rainbow of overnight oats, including:
And now, red, too! All naturally colored using superfood powders, fruits, and spices! Now all I need is white overnight oats (which I've test run before), black overnight oats (however, I don't want to use activated charcoal bc although it's great for detoxing, it can block nutrient absorption in the meal you're eating), and pink. Maybe "Barbie" overnight oats are in order?? Also: perhaps, I should make true orange overnight oats because the golden milk ones are more of a yellow hue... Stay tuned for these colors!
Substitutions
The oats cannot be substituted. I HIGHLY recommend gluten-free rolled (AKA gluten-free old-fashioned) oats, but you can try using GF quick oats or GF plain unsweetened instant oats with mixed results. I DO NOT recommend using steel-cut oats, as steel-cut overnight oats require a whole different recipe (which I've experimented with and am trying to perfect). You may use any kind of unsweetened plant milk, homemade or store-bought. Use nut-free/coconut-free plant milk for nut-free and soy-free plant milk if need be. The hempseed can be replaced with chia seeds or whole flaxseeds. The almond butter can be replaced with cashew butter OR your nut/seed butter of choice, such as peanut butter, walnut butter, pecan butter, hazelnut butter (for a "Nutella" effect), macadamia nut butter, tahini, sunflower seed butter, pumpkin seed AKA pepita butter, hemp butter, etc. (raw or roasted, salted or unsalted is fine. Just make sure it's unsweetened). Softened coconut butter (AKA "coconut manna") would even work here, but keep in mind that the oats will be lower in protein with coconut butter.
The date paste can technically be replaced with 1 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup OR agave OR coconut nectar OR honey (if not strictly vegan) OR date syrup OR yacon syrup. Alternatively, you could try using 1 tsp of your granulated or powdered unrefined sugar of choice plus more to taste (using no more than 1 Tbsp). These unrefined sugars could include: coconut sugar, maple sugar, date sugar, etc. For 100% sugar-free, use a sweetener like 100% pure liquid monk fruit extract, to taste (JUST monk fruit in its concentrated form, NO erythritol or other sweeteners). A few drops of this should suffice. Or, you could just use 1 very ripe banana (up to 1 1/2 very ripe bananas) as the only sweetener in these oats. But note, that they will be a little less sweet than with the other sweeteners.
The 1/4 of a banana that I recommend adding in addition to the main sweetener can be omitted (definitely omit for 100% sugar-free). If you want, you can replace it with a little bit of additional sweetener to taste. The cacao powder can be replaced with cocoa powder OR carob powder (for caffeine-free & cacao-free). The vanilla extract can be replaced with a good pinch of pure ground vanilla beans (the brown/black powder), a tiny bit of the scrapings from a vanilla bean, a pinch of sugar-free vanilla powder (the white kind), a drizzle of sugar-free vanilla syrup, OR 1/8 tsp sugar-free vanilla paste. Instead of vanilla, you can use natural coconut extract (make sure it's sugar-free). Technically, you can omit the vanilla, but I recommend it to balance the chocolate flavor.
The beet juice is 100% optional, but it's what I use to make these oats naturally reddish. Instead, you could use just enough beet powder to color the oats (start with 1/8 tsp and add additional beet powder a pinch at a time) OR just enough of your natural/vegan red food coloring of choice until your desired shade of red is reached. If you want your oats to be red, you have to color them with beets OR natural/vegan red food coloring (otherwise they'll be brown in color).
Lastly, the dairy-free dark chocolate chunks are optional to stir into your overnight oats. If you need refined sugar free, make sure you use refined sugar free dairy-free dark chocolate (vegan chocolate sweetened w/ coconut sugar, maple sugar, etc.). Use 100% dark chocolate if you need (use 100% dark chocolate OR stevia-sweetened dark chocolate for 100% sugar-free overnight oats). Or, use my Date-Sweetened Dark Chocolate, chopped, for 100% vegan, paleo, and whole-date-sweetened homemade chocolate. Or you could try unsweetened cacao nibs, but note this will add a crunchy texture to your oats. Add any other add-ins you like, and get creative!
For serving, I like garnishing with halved fresh strawberries and 100% dark chocolate, but any fresh berries/fruit will work. Some other suggestions: a drizzle of nut/seed butter, melted dark chocolate, unsweetened flaked/shredded/desiccated coconut, crushed nuts/seeds of choice, additional unsweetened plant milk, etc.
Stay Tuned for Valentine's/Galentine's/Late Winter Treats Coming Soon!
Lots of good recipes are coming to The Dimpled Date, both new recipes I've been test-running in The Dimpled Date kitchen (incl. for Valentine's) and recipes I need to catch up with by posting (since I still have 7+ recipes that I've had perfected and photographed since August 2023, but I was having website issues).
Stay tuned, more yumminess loading!
As always,
Enjoy! <3
-K.
Healthy Red Velvet Overnight Oats (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Fruit-Sweetened, Natural, Coconut-Free, Oil-Free)
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Chill/Soak Time (inactive): overnight (at least 8 hours)
Total Time: 5 minutes (active time)
Servings: 1 jar of oats
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats (AKA gluten-free old-fashioned oats)
-3/4 cup unsweetened plant milk of choice (use nut-free, coconut-free, and soy-free plant milk as needed // I used almond)
-1 Tbsp hempseed (AKA hemp hearts) OR 1 Tbsp chia seeds
-1 Tbsp creamy almond butter (OR unsweetened nut/seed butter of choice)
-1 1/2 Tbsp date paste (Detoxinista has a great recipe!) OR 1 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup OR 1 very ripe mashed banana (omit the 1/4 of a banana if using this whole banana)
-1/4 of a ripe banana, mashed
-1 Tbsp cacao powder (can sub cocoa powder)
-1/4 tsp vanilla extract
-3 Tbsp beet juice (from cooked beets OR canned beets) OR a pinch of beet powder plus more to color until desired color is reached OR just enough natural/vegan red food coloring to color (optional // to color red naturally)
-1 Tbsp 100% dark chocolate OR dairy-free dark chocolate of choice (refined sugar free as needed), chopped finely (optional)
For serving (optional):
-fresh strawberries or other fresh berries
-100% dark chocolate OR dairy-free dark chocolate of choice, chopped
-a drizzle of nut/seed butter
-unsweetened flaked/shredded/desiccated coconut
-crushed nuts/seeds of choice
-additional unsweetened plant milk of choice
Directions:
1. Make sure the date paste is made ahead of time (if using). Ensure the banana is mashed. Collect the beet juice and chop the dark chocolate (if using). Grab one mason jar with a lid, or a bowl.
2. Add all ingredients to the mason jar/bowl and stir to combine (stir less for swirls of date paste and nut/seed butter).
3. After stirring, lightly press down the oats with the backside of a spoon to fully submerge them so they can soak. Make sure all oats are submerged in the plant milk before putting on the lid and placing in the fridge overnight. If using a bowl, cover with plastic wrap before putting in the fridge.
5. Allow the oats to soak/chill overnight. Soaking the oats in the plant milk overnight softens them to an oatmeal-like consistency, which is why you don't need to cook these oats.
6. The next morning, remove the overnight oats from the fridge, add toppings, if desired, and enjoy!*
Overnight oats are best enjoyed within the first 12-24 hours. Keep refrigerated until enjoying.
NOTES:
*Note if you want your overnight oats to be warm instead of cold, place your jar of oats in the microwave and heat for several seconds until warm. Also, if your mason jar has a screwable metal lid please remove the lid before putting the jar in the microwave, and/or if the jar has metal hinges, spoon the oats into a microwave-safe bowl before heating it in the microwave.
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