Best Autumn Fruits for Overnight Oats – 10 Cosy Ideas
I eat overnight oats all year round, but I think it’s really easy to get stuck making the same combinations again and again.
Berries are probably the obvious choice during summer, but once autumn arrives there are loads of other fruits that work really well. Apples, pears, plums and blackberries are all lovely with oats, especially when you start adding cinnamon, ginger and other warmer flavours.
And yes, I know overnight oats are cold and autumn is when we’re all starting to think about porridge again! I still like them though, especially on mornings when I don’t have time to make breakfast.
The other nice thing about using seasonal fruit is that you can make your overnight oats taste completely different without changing the basic recipe.
Here are some of my favourite autumn fruits to try, along with a few combinations that are worth making.
Apples
Let’s start with the obvious one.
Apples and oats just work.
You can chop an apple into little pieces and stir it straight into your overnight oats, but I actually prefer grated apple. It mixes right through the oats and adds sweetness without leaving you with enormous chunks of cold apple first thing in the morning.
Cinnamon is the obvious partner.
Apple, cinnamon and a few raisins gives you something vaguely reminiscent of apple pie without me trying to convince you that a jar of oats is actually pudding!
If you’ve got apples that need using up, you can also cook them first. Chop them into small pieces and gently cook with a splash of water and some cinnamon until soft.
Keep them in the fridge and you’ve got an easy topping for several breakfasts.
Try: apple + cinnamon + raisins.
Pears
Pears don’t seem to get anywhere near as much attention as apples, which is a shame because they’re lovely in overnight oats.
A really ripe pear is naturally sweet and soft enough to stir straight through.
I particularly like pear with warming spices. Cinnamon works, obviously, but ginger is lovely too.
You could also add a few chopped walnuts for some crunch.
If your pears are still rock hard – as they somehow seem to be for days before suddenly becoming overripe approximately eleven minutes later – I’d wait until they’ve softened before using them!
Try: pear + ginger + walnuts.
Blackberries
If you’ve got somewhere nearby where you can pick blackberries, this has the added advantage of being free breakfast!
Blackberries are lovely with oats because they’re slightly sharper than some other fruits.
You can simply put them on top in the morning or stir them through the oats the night before. If you want the whole thing to turn a gorgeous purple colour, squash a few of the berries with a fork before mixing them in.
Apple and blackberry is another combination I love.
It immediately reminds me of crumble, especially with a little cinnamon.
Just make sure you’ve washed any foraged blackberries really well before eating them.
Try: blackberry + apple + cinnamon.
Plums
Plums are another fruit I think works particularly well when it’s cooked first.
You can chop fresh ripe plums into overnight oats, but gently cooking them makes them softer and brings out their sweetness.
Remove the stones, chop them up and cook with a splash of water until they start breaking down.
You don’t necessarily need to add sugar. Taste them first because some plums are much sweeter than others.
Make a bigger batch of stewed plums and keep them in the fridge, then you can spoon some over your oats each morning.
Try: plum + cinnamon + vanilla.
Figs
Fresh figs have quite a short season in the UK, so they’re one to make the most of while you can.
They’re also a little more expensive than chucking an apple into your breakfast, so perhaps not the everyday option!
I wouldn’t bother cooking them for overnight oats.
Slice a fresh fig in the morning and put it on top. They’re naturally very sweet and work really nicely with yoghurt and oats.
A few chopped nuts or seeds add some texture if you fancy them.
Try: fig + yoghurt + chopped walnuts.
Damsons
If you can get hold of damsons, they’re another lovely autumn option.
They’re related to plums but tend to be much more tart, so I definitely wouldn’t recommend chopping up a raw damson and enthusiastically adding it to breakfast!
They’re much better cooked.
Stew them gently and sweeten to your taste, then use a spoonful as a topping for your oats.
If someone gives you an enormous bag of damsons from their tree and you have absolutely no idea what you’re going to do with them all, breakfast is at least one answer.
Try: stewed damson + apple.
Raspberries
We tend to think of raspberries as a summer fruit, but UK-grown autumn-fruiting varieties can continue producing well into September and sometimes October.
If you find British raspberries reduced in the supermarket towards the end of the season, they’re perfect for overnight oats.
Squash some through the oat mixture and keep a few whole ones for the top.
They work particularly well with apple or pear if you want to combine autumn fruits rather than using just one.
Try: raspberry + pear + vanilla.
Grapes
Grapes probably aren’t the first thing you think of putting into overnight oats, but they can work surprisingly well.
I’d halve them rather than leaving them whole, particularly the larger ones.
If you fancy experimenting, try roasting grapes first. Roasting concentrates their sweetness and makes them soft and almost jammy.
It’s a bit more effort than throwing a handful of berries into a jar, admittedly, but it’s a nice way of using grapes that are starting to look slightly past their best.
Try: roasted grapes + cinnamon + yoghurt.
Cranberries
Fresh cranberries start appearing towards the end of autumn, although they’re much sharper than most of the other fruits on this list.
I wouldn’t eat a handful of raw cranberries with my oats unless I fancied starting the morning with an interesting facial expression!
Cook them first with some apple or pear to balance the sharpness.
Dried cranberries are another easy option, although they’re quite different nutritionally and often have sugar added, so don’t treat dried and fresh fruit as though they’re exactly the same thing.
Try: cranberry + apple + cinnamon.
Frozen fruit absolutely counts too
Seasonal eating is lovely in theory. Then it’s November, raining sideways, you’ve forgotten to go shopping and the only fresh fruit in the house is one slightly questionable banana. Frozen fruit is absolutely fine.
I nearly always have some in the freezer because it’s convenient, doesn’t suddenly go mouldy because I forgot about it and means you can have berries whenever you fancy them.
Frozen berries can go straight into overnight oats the night before and will defrost in the fridge.
They also release plenty of juice as they thaw, which can make your oats look rather colourful by morning!
Should you add fruit the night before or in the morning?
Either works, but it depends on the fruit and the texture you like.
Apples, pears, berries and cooked fruit can all be mixed through the oats the night before.
If you want something to stay crisp, add it in the morning. I’d also add toppings such as nuts and seeds just before eating if you want them to retain their crunch.
Fresh figs are another one I’d probably slice and add at breakfast rather than leaving them sitting in the oats overnight. There’s no strict rule, though.
If you’re making overnight oats because you need to grab breakfast from the fridge and immediately leave the house, put everything in the night before and don’t worry about it!
Easy autumn overnight oats combinations
Once you’ve chosen your fruit, you really don’t need dozens of other ingredients.
Some combinations I’d try are:
- Apple crumble: grated apple, cinnamon and raisins
- Blackberry and apple: mashed blackberries, grated apple and cinnamon
- Pear and ginger: diced pear, ground ginger and walnuts
- Plum and vanilla: stewed plums with a little vanilla
- Fig and walnut: fresh figs, yoghurt and chopped walnuts
- Apple and cranberry: cooked apple and cranberries with cinnamon
- Pear and blackberry: ripe pear with crushed blackberries
- Spiced apple: apple, cinnamon, ginger and a tiny pinch of nutmeg
- Plum crumble: stewed plums with a sprinkle of granola added in the morning
- Apple and peanut butter: grated apple, cinnamon and a spoonful of peanut butter
You don’t need a completely different overnight oats recipe for every combination. Once you’ve found a basic ratio of oats, milk and yoghurt that you like, just change the fruit and toppings.
Make use of fruit that’s getting past its best
This is one of my favourite reasons for cooking fruit for breakfast. Those slightly wrinkly apples nobody wants from the fruit bowl? Cook them.
The plums that have suddenly all ripened on the same day? Cook them.
Pears that need eating approximately now? Chop them into your oats.
Stewed fruit keeps for a few days in the fridge, so making a small batch can sort breakfast for several mornings. It’s also a good way to reduce food waste without forcing yourself to eat four pears in one afternoon because you’ve realised they’re all about to go off!
Are overnight oats a healthy breakfast?
They certainly can be. Oats are a wholegrain and a source of fibre, including beta-glucan. Fruit adds more fibre as well as vitamins and minerals.
What else you add obviously changes the finished breakfast.
If you find overnight oats don’t keep you full for very long, think about adding a source of protein rather than simply making an enormous portion of oats.
Greek-style or Skyr yoghurt can work well if you eat dairy, while there are also higher-protein dairy-free yoghurts available.
Nuts and seeds can add some protein and healthy fats too.
I find it much more useful to think about making breakfast satisfying than trying to create the lowest-calorie jar of overnight oats possible.
Don’t forget you can warm overnight oats up
This always sounds slightly wrong because they’re called overnight oats, but they don’t actually have to be eaten cold!
If you’ve made apple and cinnamon overnight oats and wake up on a freezing October morning thinking cold breakfast sounds absolutely awful, warm them up.
Depending on the ingredients you’ve used, you can transfer them to a microwave-safe bowl and gently heat them, adding a splash more milk if they’ve become very thick.
At that point we’re getting suspiciously close to porridge, admittedly. But there are no overnight-oats police.
My favourite autumn combinations
If I had to choose, apple and blackberry would probably win for me.
There’s something about that combination that immediately feels autumnal, and if you add cinnamon it tastes much more exciting than the amount of effort involved would suggest.
Pear and ginger would be a close second.
The nice thing is that you can use exactly the same basic overnight oats recipe throughout the year and simply change what you’re adding according to what’s in season – strawberries in summer, apples and blackberries in autumn and whatever happens to be in the freezer when you’ve forgotten to buy any fruit!
A few guides you may find helpful
- Buying suitable containers for overnight oats
- Why fibre is important in your diet
- Overnight oats recipes
