Tiramisu Overnight Oats

These easy tiramisu overnight oats are the perfect combo of your morning caffeine and a hint of decadence for those blah days you need a bit of a treat.

Ingredients

The ingredients for this recipe combine a basic overnight oat formula (milk and rolled oats) along with the flavors of tiramisu (espresso, mascarpone and chocolate).

Oats

As someone who hates cooked oatmeal made with rolled oats, I can understand if you’re feeling a bit weary of using rolled oats here. However, soaking the oats in liquid rather than boiling them into nothingness yields oatmeal that still has a bit of chew, and isn’t gluey in the slightest.

Steel cut oats can be a bit too hearty to be eaten without cooking, so I would recommend sticking with rolled oats. Or, you can use quick cook steel cut oats if you’re adamant against rolled oats (with the understanding that you might need to let the oats sit for longer).

The only other overnight oat recipe I have on the blog as of now is this Nutella overnight oatmeal. If you're in the mood for something baked, how about this apple and blueberry oatmeal, or this autumnal pumpkin cranberry oatmeal?

Espresso

Use your favorite espresso here (my current favorite is Queer Wave Coffee’s dark roast!). It’s going to be the main flavor in these oats, so I wouldn’t use instant espresso unless you’re in a pinch.

Mascarpone

Mascarpone is a smooth, scoopable cheese that mainly contributes creaminess to tiramisu and other desserts. It’s pretty mild, although it does have a rich dairy flavor that is similar to fresh mozzarella or really good Japanese or Korean style milk soft serve.

It can be expensive, hard to find and somewhat useless (I still have a bit in my fridge months after testing this recipe oops), so you could alternatively use a splash of creamer, half and half or heavy cream in the oats instead.

Lady Fingers and Cocoa Powder

Lady fingers and cocoa powder are iconic tiramisu components, so you might be wondering about the absence of both here.

However, lady fingers don’t feel necessary for at home breakfast adventures, since the oats already act as a flavor sponge. And honestly, lady fingers in your morning oatmeal sounds a bit like a caloric waste to me.

I’m indifferent about the cocoa powder. You could dust a bit on top if you think your future Wednesday morning self would appreciate it, though I’d personally rather throw in an extra handful of chocolate chips and call it a day.

How to Make

Start by making the espresso, then stir the sugar and salt into the hot espresso until dissolved.

Then, combine the milk and mascarpone until smooth and you can’t see any floating bits of mascarpone anymore.

Pour the oats, espresso and milk mixture into a jar or container with a lid, then cover and refrigerate for at least five hours or up to one week.

When ready to serve, mix in the chocolate chips and make sure that the oatmeal is combined. Add water or milk to thin out the oatmeal if you’d like.

I like to eat these cold, but you can also microwave them quickly instead before serving!

Storage

I know this is a post on overnight oats, but how long you can/should store them will really depend on your schedule and your oatmeal preferences.

You can make a big batch at the beginning of the week and eat for breakfast everyday. The oatmeal does get softer and thicker as you let it sit longer though, so keep that in mind if you don’t like your oatmeal as soft (you can remedy the thickness by adding a splash or two of milk or water).

Maybe you got distracted rabbit holing and your overnight oats don’t have overnight to settle; that’s completely fine too. Five to six hours can be sufficient, so long as you skew towards the firmer/toothier (sorry, running out of ways to describe my oatmeal preferences lol) end of the spectrum.

Variations and Substitutions

This recipe is very flexible, whether you’re trying to adapt it for personal preferences, allergies, or some other want and/or necessity.

Vegan

You can make this recipe vegan by substituting in non-dairy milk.

For the mascarpone, you either use a non-dairy mascarpone cheese (which sounds difficult to find and expensive), or you could omit altogether, so long as the milk you’re using is creamy enough to add the richness you’d otherwise miss.

If you only have watery rice milk (I’m stubbornly biased against rice milk, but any rice milk enthusiasts can ignore me), creamer, half and half or heavy cream would also work to give the oats a bit of decadence. Just make sure to accommodate any sugar that might be in the creamer and adjust the sugar dissolved in the espresso accordingly.

Protein

For more protein, you could stir in a scoop of protein powder. Make sure it’s well mixed and not clumpy before the oats go into the fridge.

Although not strictly traditional for tiramisu, I can imagine how good almonds (either almond butter stirred into the oatmeal, or toasted almonds on top added right before serving) would be.