By Emily Malloy

Let's face it, mornings can be difficult. Lingering grogginess after a restless night or overwhelm at the pending tasks of the day can lead to stress over breakfast. Once the school schedule gets thrown into the routine, chaos can reach a fever pitch. Yet, we still want to be sure that our kids (and we, too) are nourished. 

And, to be honest, it isn't just the folks hustling to get out of the door in the morning that desire an easy breakfast routine. After the morning milking, I find myself placing the first meal of the day lowest on the totem of priority. But simplifying little tasks make for a less stressful morning with the help of make-ahead breakfast recipes. You don't have to agonize over what to make, it's already done!

Overnight oats were one of our go-to breakfast options long before we plunged into the dairy cow world on the farm. I love that all it requires is a bit of prep-work and time takes care of the rest. Creating a recipe highlighting the tastes of fall highlights the great flavors of this season.

Having an over-abundance of sugar pie pumpkins to harvest influenced this recipe almost as much as the busy morning. Such is life in the garden!

This recipe can be set overnight in one large container to scoop from or several washed out jam jars or Mason jars.

Pumpkin Chai Overnight Oats
Time: 20 minutes prep / 8+ hours rest
Yields: 8 servings

Ingredients
3 chai tea bags
3 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt
1 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups rolled oats (or I like to substitute one cup of oats for a 10-grain cereal)
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup Chia seeds, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 

Directions: 

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 cup of milk to a steam and add the chai tea bags. Remove from heat and steep for 5 minutes. Squeeze out the milk from the tea bags into the pot and discard them.

2. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, milk and chai milk, maple syrup, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Whisk until combined.

3. Add in the dry ingredients and stir until well-combined. 

4. Evenly distribute between mason jars, or any other small jelly-sized jar, and place into the refrigerator overnight. Enjoy the next morning!

Printable version of the recipe can be found here!