Vanilla Overnight Oats (MUSH Copycat)
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Published Jun 03, 2024, Updated Jul 12, 2024
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These MUSH copycat vanilla overnight oats are super easy to make with just 5 ingredients. It’s the perfect healthy breakfast recipe to meal prep for the week.
If you love MUSH overnight oats, get excited because now you can make them at home!
Recently I had an Instagram follower (Hi Audra!) request a copycat recipe for MUSH overnight oats and if you know me, you know that I love creating copycat recipes… whether it’s for store-bought foods (or restaurant meals) that I want to make at home or making classic recipes healthier. I’m all about a good copycat recipe!
To start, I decided to work on the MUSH vanilla bean flavor! Given how simple the ingredient list is (you only need 5 ingredients plus water) I figured it would be quite easy to replicate at home. Funny enough, it actually took quite a few tests to get the exact consistency and flavor. I’m also pretty proud that the nutrition facts of my homemade recipe are very similar to that of the MUSH oats too!
PS: If you’re new to overnight oats, be sure to check out my easy overnight oats post with everything you need to know on overnight oats and my basic recipe.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to make – Prep in minutes the night before and enjoy a hassle-free breakfast that’s ready when you are.
- Simple ingredients – You only need 5 ingredients (plus water) for this recipe.
- Less expensive – Buying MUSH overnight oats at the store can be pricy, but they’re pretty inexpensive to make at home!
Ingredients Needed
You only need a few ingredients to make this recipe. I bet you already have most, if not all of the ingredients in your kitchen right now. Here’s what you need:
- old fashioned rolled oats – old-fashioned rolled oats are a must for overnight oats. They soak up the liquid, which gives you a lovely creamy texture. Instant, quick-cooking and steel cut oats don’t work because they don’t absorb the liquid in the same way that rolled oats do.
- water – used to blend the other ingredients into a smooth mixture that will soak into the oats.
- almond butter – we’re making our own almond “milk” by blending together the water and almond butter.
- pitted medjool dates – these add natural sweetness with a hint of caramel flavor to your oats.
- vanilla extract – can’t have vanilla overnight oats without the vanilla!
- salt – just a pinch to enhance all the flavors. Skip this if your almond butter is salted.
Recipe Notes + Substitutions
This recipe was created specifically to copycat the MUSH vanilla bean overnight oats, so I wouldn’t suggest substituting many ingredients otherwise the flavor and consistency will likely be different.
I did test this recipe with multiple variations on how to make the almond milk, so if you don’t have almond butter on hand you can use ¼ cup almond flour or 1 oz raw almonds instead.
Want to make chocolate MUSH overnight oats? Just replace the vanilla with 2.5 Tablespoons of cocoa powder and add 1/4 cup more water to the date mixture.
How to Make
This recipe is super simple, which is why I love making them for when I have busy mornings! Follow these steps for quick and delicious overnight oats.
Step 1: Add your dates, water, almond butter, vanilla, and salt to a high speed blender.
Step 2: Blend all the ingredients until a smooth consistency. It should take about 30 seconds.
Step 3: Add 1/3 cup oats to three jars and divide the mixture evenly between them. Stir to combine and place in the fridge overnight.
Step 4: After a few hours (or overnight) your oats are ready to enjoy! Add your favorite toppings and dig in.
Recipe Tips
- Add protein: For a protein-packed version add 1 scoop of your favorite vanilla protein powder to the mixture before letting it set in the fridge. If you do add protein powder, you’ll need 1/4 cup extra water, possibly more if you use a plant-based protein powder since it soaks up more liquid.
- Add more liquid if needed: In the morning if your oats are too thick, feel free to add more almond milk to thin the mixture out.
- In a rush? You should be able to get by with only letting the oats soak for 2 or so hours.
How to Store
Overnight oats are one of my favorite meal prep recipes because they keep well in the fridge. Feel free to double, triple or quadruple this recipe for the week on Sunday so you have an easy and healthy breakfast ready to go throughout the week!
When stored in a sealed container (I personally like using wide mouth 16 oz Mason jars) in the refrigerator overnight oats should last for up to 5 days. They will soften more the longer they sit so I find they’re best on days 1-3, but they’re still safe to eat on days 4 and 5
Frequently Asked Questions
Given the name, you’d assume overnight oats need to soak overnight, but you can actually get by with only letting them soak 2 hours or so. While it does take some time for the oats to absorb the liquid, they don’t necessarily have to be soaked overnight.
I don’t recommend using steel cut oats unless you follow a specific recipe. See my steel cut overnight oats.
Short answer, yes! You can definitely warm up overnight oats, but the whole point of overnight oats is to eat them cold like muesli. Of course, if you simply can’t do the cold oats you can always heat them up. Just pop the soaked oats in your microwave, cooking in 30 second increments until the oats are warm throughout.
More Overnight Oat Recipes to Try
- Strawberry Cheesecake Overnight Oats
- Banana Bread Overnight Oats
- Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
- Chocolate Overnight Oats
- Blueberry Overnight Oats
- Overnight Oats with Yogurt
Check out all my full collection of oatmeal recipes!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Vanilla Overnight Oats (MUSH Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 53 grams pitted medjool dates, about 4 small dates
- 2 Tablespoons almond butter
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt, omit if almond butter is salted
Instructions
- Add water, dates, almond butter, vanilla and salt into a blender and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds or so.
- Add ⅓ cup rolled oats to three jars or containers.
- Divide the blended date mixture between the three jars. Stir to combine, place in the fridge overnight, or at least a couple hours and enjoy.
Notes
- Don’t have almond butter on hand? You can use ¼ cup almond flour or 1 oz raw almonds instead.
- I was able to get the nutrition facts very similar to that of MUSH if you use this recipe to make three servings. If you want a bigger portion you can certainly only do two servings, but the macros will change.
- Want to make chocolate MUSH overnight oats? Just replace the vanilla with 2.5 Tablespoons of cocoa powder and add 1/4 cup more water to the date mixture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you have the dark chocolate version? Thanks
I don’t have this exact recipe in a dark chocolate version, but you could try my chocolate overnight oats! You can also add some cacao powder or dark chocolate chips to this one for a chocolatey twist. Hope that helps!
Loved this recipe!!! Do you have a blueberry version?
Hi Ellie – I’m so glad you loved this recipe. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it! I haven’t tried recreating the blueberry version, but I’ll have to add it to my list. 🙂
We have nut allergies. Do you think it would turn out similar with sunbutter?
I think SunButter would work, but the flavor will change since SunButter has a more distinct flavor. Also, it might be a bit sweeter since SunButter usually has added sugar, unless you use a no sugar added version. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!
These were so delicious, I’m shocked at how spot on the flavor is. I added chia seeds to one of them for extra fiber and because I like oats a little thicker. PSA if anyone wants to make the peanut butter version, literally just replace the almond butter with peanut butter and omit the vanilla. 5/5, will be making again
Yay! So glad you loved this recipe, Petya. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!!
Do you have recommendation on how to do the apple cinnamon MUSH? Thank you!
I don’t, but I should make one! I’ll add it to my list.
Great copycat recipe! I used almond flour and it turned out great!
So glad you loved this recipe, Jenna! Thanks for the review!
Did you measure the dates with or without the pits? I measured the dates with out the pits and I got that 6 dates was around 53 grams, not 4 dates, so I am worried I am putting too much.
Hi Emma – You’ll want to measure these pitted. Enjoy!
Have you used plant based milk instead of water?
Hi Julia – The mix (with the water, almond butter, and dates) creates the almond milk base. It keeps the flavor and consistency of the oats most like the actual MUSH oats. I am sure the base would work with almond milk as well, but I can’t say if that’ll change the flavor or consistency of the base. Let me know if you give this a try!
I followed the recipe except switched out water for almond milk. It was absolutely delicious and tasted like the real thing. Please create more MUSH copycat recipes!
Did you still use the almond butter even though you used almond milk rather than water?