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!
- 1/2 cup Rolled Oats
- 3 tbsp Chia Seeds
- 8 strawberries
- 4 oz milk
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 6 oz cottage cheese
- Maple syrup
- Vanilla extract
- Graham Cracker Crumbs
- Let your cream cheese sit out for 10-15 minutes before use to soften.
- To a medium- or large-sized bowl, add the oats and chia seeds; toss or sift to mix.
- Remove stems from strawberries; halve each piece of fruit. Toss into blender.
- 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.
- Pour blender contents into bowl; stir thoroughly to fully mix oats and liquid.
- Refrigerate for at least four hours, if not overnight.
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.
We’ve got blueberry, banana nut, and carrot cake variations of overnight oats on the site, too.