Kefir overnight oats

On a cold morning, porridge is hard to beat: a pot on the hob, a splash of milk, a spoon of golden syrup or brown sugar. Overnight oats are its cold cousin. Instead of cooking the oats, you let them soak overnight. With milk kefir instead of milk, you get a bowl that is creamier, with a fresh, slightly tangy flavour that works beautifully with apple and cinnamon. It takes ten minutes the evening before and none at all in the morning.

Jumbo, rolled or pinhead?

Jumbo or rolled porridge oats work best. The flakes soften but keep a little bite, and the oats stay light. Quick oats soak up liquid much faster and turn into a rather soft mush overnight. Still tasty, but a different texture; use a little less of them, around 80 g. Pinhead oatmeal is lovely for cooked porridge but stays too hard when it is only soaked, so keep that for the saucepan.

Thick kefir or thin kefir

The quantities here are for ordinary, pourable milk kefir. If yours is as thick as yoghurt, you need a little more milk, otherwise the oats turn stiff. If it is very thin, leave the milk out. How thick your kefir gets depends on the milk, the temperature and the time, all explained in milk kefir too thin or too thick.

You make the kefir with 20 g milk kefir grains and 1 litre of whole milk, 24 hours at 20 to 25°C. With 10 g of grains you get half a litre, enough for a week of overnight oats. The method step by step is in How to make milk kefir. In a cold kitchen in winter, a shelf in the airing cupboard keeps the jar in the right range.

Variations

• Blackberry and apple: a handful of hedgerow blackberries in September, stirred through with the grated apple. The kefir turns a pretty purple.
• Banana and peanut butter: leave out the apple and stir in a tablespoon of peanut butter and a sliced banana in the morning.
• Rhubarb: a few spoons of the compote left over from the rhubarb water kefir, with a little extra honey.
• Pear and ginger: a grated pear instead of the apple and a pinch of ground ginger.
• Seeds: a tablespoon of chia seeds or ground flaxseed thickens the oats. Add an extra splash of kefir.

Warm, if you must

Overnight oats are meant to be eaten cold, but on a bitter January morning that can be a hard sell. Warm the jar gently in a saucepan of hot water, or heat the oats briefly in a small pot, without boiling. The tang mellows a little and the texture stays creamy. For a quick drink rather than a bowl, the banana kefir smoothie uses the same kefir and oats.

Frequently asked questions

With our live milk kefir grains you always have kefir for breakfast. More recipes are on the milk kefir page.