Pumpkin Spice Overnight Steel Cut Oats

Did you know overnight steel cut oats is a thing? They sure are, and this recipe is perfect for fall!

I was skeptical too. Same boat as you. Would overnight steel cut oats work? They sure do! I’ve made plenty of overnight oats like these Blackberry Fool Overnight Oats or Cherry Walnut Overnight Oats, and now I can say that this pumpkin spice overnight steel cut oats recipe is equally delicious and simple, and surprisingly creamy! Make these at lunch time the day before you want to eat them (at least 10 hours ahead), and the oats will pick up the moisture from the yogurt and water easily. While they won’t be totally falling apart and soft (as what you get when cooking), they’ll be creamy and have a nice little chewiness to them.

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Steel Cut Oats

I first fell in love with steel cut oats when I made Heidi Swanson‘s cooked steel cut oatmeal from her book Super Natural Cooking. Steel cut oats usually take a long time to cook, but she found a fool-proof almost instant way of cooking them so you end up having delicious porridge in the morning. I highly recommend the book and all of her amazing plant-powered recipes.

Steel Cut Oats Vs. Rolled Oats

When I was teaching nutrition at the local college (pre-pandemic times), I loved drawing a picture of how far removed a food can become from its original source, in order to recommend eating as close and unprocessed as possible. Oats are one item we can definitely present in this way. The farther down you go in the list, the more processed you get (and also the shorter it takes to cook). If you’re interested in an in-depth look at oats, read this post, but for now, here is the gist:

• Oat Groats: whole, unprocessed grain
• Steel Cut Oats: whole oat groats that have been chopped. These are sometimes called Irish or Scottish oatmeal. These typically get super creamy and soft when cooked, not holding their shape (if cooked long enough)
• Rolled Oats: these first steamed whole oats that are then rolled. These look flat, and are great for oatmeal, baked goods. I find that these typically hold their shape when cooked.
• Instant Oats: these have been cooked, dried and rolled thinner than rolled oats. These make a porridge that’s super soft, and they cook very quickly. They are so thin that they don’t retain their shape. You would use these in baked goods that you’d want a soft texture, vs. rolled oats that typically hold their shape in baked goods.
• Farina: Farina (sometimes called cream of wheat) this is milled wheat, and cooks up more like a flour (completely smooth).

A Little Lesson on the Glycemic Index

I think this is all good info we should all know, so we can make better choices in our foods. Here’s a quick little nutrition lesson:

The glycemic index is a value given to a food that relates to how they affect blood glucose. A high number means they enter the blood stream quickly and can spike blood sugar, while a lower number means the opposite. I have insulin resistance and diabetes in my family’s history, so I have to pay attention to these things. But it’s also fun to learn, just as a foundational knowledge, for everyone.

While I enjoy all of these varieties of oats, I particularly enjoy them better if they’re less processed. The more refined a food is (specifically grains), the easier it is for the sugars/carbohydrates to enter the blood stream. Think of all the chewing that goes into digesting a whole oat groat (lower glycemic), vs. how quickly you can eat a bowl of farina (high glycemic). You will get a slower carbohydrate/sugar release in the blood if a food takes longer to digest, like a whole grain. While you will get a quicker surge of sugar in the blood if the food is more refined, like a flour (or even farina).

For me in particular, I’ve found that I get pretty hungry if I eat something that’s processed (like farina, or even a no-sugar, no-flour treat) and prefer food in its whole form. I stay satisfied for longer too, since blood sugar spikes often fall and cravings move in (what goes up must come down).

See, that was easy! Moving on!

Quick tips about this recipe:

1. Yes you can use rolled oats instead of steel cut oats. They will soak up the same and be delicious!
2. If you don’t have pumpkin spice, just adjust with cinnamon and nutmeg and you’ll be fine!
3. These steel cut oats will still have a little bite to them. Make sure you give them ample time to soak by making it at lunchtime or so the day before you intend on eating them.

Recipe for Pumpkin Spice Overnight Steel Cut Oats

Grain: 1 oz steel cut oats

Fruit:

• 3 oz banana
• 3 oz pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
• If you’d like it more sweet, try a ratio of 4:2

Protein:

• 4 oz almond yogurt
• 1 oz walnuts

Extras:

• 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice (or more, per your taste) ~ if you don’t have pumpkin spice, you can just mix some cinnamon and nutmeg and that would work.
• pinch salt (this brings out sweetness 🙂
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. First, mash the banana well and mix with the pumpkin.
2. Next, to the banana/pumpkin mixture, add the oats, yogurt, pumpkin spice, salt, water, and vanilla and mix well. Leave this in the fridge overnight to set (ideally make this at lunch time for the next morning, so it has at least 10 hours to sit)
3. Lastly, assemble the pumpkin spice overnight steel cut oats by topping it with the walnuts and a sprinkle of pumpkin spice.
4. For those measuring, this breakfast includes: grain, fruit, protein.

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Steel Cut Oats

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Pumpkin Spice Overnight Steel Cut Oats

DID YOU KNOW OVERNIGHT STEEL CUT OATS IS A THING? THEY SURE ARE, AND THIS RECIPE IS PERFECT FOR FALL!

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Ingredients

  

Grain

• 1 oz steel cut oats

Fruit

• 3 oz banana
• 3 oz canned pumpkin
• if you'd like this recipe more sweet, try a ratio of 4:2 banana to pumpkin.

Protein

• 4 oz almond yogurt
• 1 oz walnuts

Extras

• 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice (or more, per your taste) ~ if you don’t have pumpkin spice, you can just mix some cinnamon and nutmeg and that would work.
• pinch salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• First, mash the banana well and mix with the pumpkin.
• Next, to the banana/pumpkin mixture, add the oats, yogurt, pumpkin spice, salt, water, and vanilla and mix well. Leave this in the fridge overnight to set (ideally make this at lunch time for the next morning, so it has at least 10 hours to sit)
• Lastly, assemble the pumpkin spice overnight steel cut oats by topping it with the walnuts and a sprinkle of pumpkin spice.

Notes

For those counting, this recipe equals: 1 grain, 1 protein, 1 fruit.

 

Quick tips for this recipe: 

1. Yes you can use rolled oats instead of steel cut oats. They will soak up the same and be delicious!
2. If you don’t have pumpkin spice, just adjust with cinnamon and nutmeg and you’ll be fine!
3. These steel cut oats will still have a little bite to them. Make sure you give them ample time to soak by making it at lunchtime or so the day before you intend on eating them.