The Best Strawberry Cheesecake Overnight Oats For Toddlers
The English language lacks a good word for the Goldilocks midpoint between lumpy and creamy, but that’s precisely where overnight oats for toddlers have to land. Make them too thick and a small child will get hung up on the texture and grittiness, regardless of how pleasant or sweet the flavor is; make them too thin, and your child will quickly lose interest in spooning up brothy porridge, because who wants to eat soup for breakfast? In short: overnight oats are no given.
The secret, as we have shown elsewhere, is to cheesecake them: use cream cheese – and, here, too, cottage cheese – to create an almost yogurt-like texture that fits where your kid’s dessert-for-breakfast dreams lie. Add some strawberries and some graham cracker crumbs and you’re hitting all those dessert notes in a bowl with a day’s worth of protein and tons of fiber–everyone wins!
Ingredients
Instructions
Prep and Assemble
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Let your cream cheese sit out for 10-15 minutes before use to soften.
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To a medium- or large-sized bowl, add the oats and chia seeds; toss or sift to mix.
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Remove stems from strawberries; halve each piece of fruit. Toss into blender.
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To the blender, add the milk, cream cheese, cottage cheese, a big glug of maple syrup, and a splash of vanilla extract. Blend on High for 30-45 seconds.
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Pour blender contents into bowl; stir thoroughly to fully mix oats and liquid.
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Refrigerate for at least four hours, if not overnight.
Serve
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We take a parfait approach here: a layer of oats + dusting of graham cracker crumbs + another layer of oats + diced strawberries and graham cracker crumbs. Feel free to mix the graham cracker crumbs right in, or leave out altogether. A small bowl or ramekin works best for serving the oats, as the walls will help your child scoop and pull up servings.
Adapt
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We’ve got blueberry, banana nut, and carrot cake variations of overnight oats on the site, too.
