Make Ahead
Overnight Oats With Cherry Compote & Hazelnut Brittle
- Prep time 6 hours 30 minutes
- Cook time 40 minutes
- Serves 2 to 3
Author Notes
This overnight oats recipe is your next breakfast BFF. It is richly creamy thanks to the slow absorption of the oat milk overnight, while additions of sweet-tart cherry compote and crunchy brittle create brilliant juicy and crunchy layers that give the humble oats verve. This pantry and freezer star makes an enlivened breakfast doable, any day, any time of year. It’s also vegan and gluten-free, which means it’s fit for virtually everyone at the breakfast table. Set yourself up for success and make the compote up to a week in advance, and the brittle a day or two before. —Melina Hammer
What You'll Need
Ingredients
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For the oats:
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1 1/2 cups
rolled oats
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1/2 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon
freshly grated nutmeg
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1 1/2 cups
oat milk, plus more as needed
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1 pinch
kosher salt
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1 tablespoon
maple syrup
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2 teaspoons
crushed pink peppercorns, to garnish
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For the brittle:
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1/4 cup
buckwheat groats, toasted
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1/3 cup
hazelnuts, toasted, skins sloughed off, and lightly crushed
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3 tablespoons
cane sugar
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1/4 teaspoon
Aleppo chile flakes
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For the compote:
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2 cups
frozen tart cherries
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1 cup
frozen sweet cherries
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1 tablespoon
fresh orange zest (about ½ orange)
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1 pinch
kosher salt
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1 tablespoon
maple syrup
Directions
- Make the oats: Combine the oats, spices, salt, syrup, and oat milk in a shallow bowl. Stir until uniform. Allow to sit for 6 hours, up to overnight in the refrigerator.
- Make the brittle: Pour the sugar into a small sauté pan and agitate to settle it into an even layer, then set it over medium heat. Leave the pan undisturbed as the sugar heats and begins to melt—this will take at least 5 minutes.
- When the sugar is almost completely melted, stir any remaining granules toward the center, then add the hazelnuts, buckwheat, salt, and chile flakes. Fold swiftly to combine and coat all the elements in melted sugar. Slide the mixture out onto a small parchment-lined tray, along with any remaining caramelized sugar. Chill for at least 10 minutes, up to overnight. This can be done 2 days in advance.
- Make the compote: Add the cherries, zest, salt, and syrup to a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Periodically turn the cherries as they thaw, bringing the topmost still-frozen cherries to the bottom, and moving the softened cherries to make room for the frozen ones.
- Once the cherries have thawed and begun to collapse, bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir occasionally as the mixture bubbles. After 10 minutes, mash some of the cherries with a fork. Simmer for another 10 minutes, lowering the heat as needed, until the cherries are collapsed and resemble a loose sauce. You will have reduced most of the liquid. If you aren’t eating it immediately, transfer the compote to a wide-mouth jar, allow to cool to room temperature, then seal and refrigerate.
- When it’s time to serve, add a little more oat milk or water to thin the oats to the desired consistency and stir. Divide between bowls and spoon compote on top. Break the brittle into bite-sized chunks and scatter onto the compote, and rub the pink peppercorns between your fingers, sloughing the papery skins over the oats.
Melina is the author of 'A Year at Catbird Cottage' with Ten Speed Press. She grows an heirloom and pollinator garden and forages wild foods at her namesake Hudson Valley getaway, Catbird Cottage. Melina loves serving curated menus for guests from near and far seeking community amidst the hummingbirds, grosbeaks, finches, and the robust flavors of the seasons.
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