Overnight gluten-free oats with macerated apricots and coconut yoghurt

The simple preparation of soaking your oats and seeds overnight transforms them into a nourishing delicious breakfast that’s now a whole lot easier to digest. Soaking oats starts breaking down the starches and increasing resistant starch (which is a good thing), making them easier for you to digest. It effectively works like slow cooking.

For me, one of the biggest bonuses of soaking oats in this way is they taste like dessert. If you’re not big on breakfast but have a sweet tooth in the evenings, this is a great recipe to try for a healthy, low-sugar dessert. Soaking them with coconut makes them incredibly creamy.Top with any seasonal fruit — ginger works great with the apricots but is not essential if you don’t like it. You could also try adding grated apple or pear to the overnight oats (and omit the honey) for sweetness and extra flavour.

For the oats

1 cup	Rolled oats, gluten free or organic (Main)
2 Tbsp	Sunflower seeds
4 Tbsp	Dried coconut
2 Tbsp	Chia seeds, or golden flaxseeds
1 ¼ cups	Coconut milk
1 tsp	Lemon juice
1 tsp	Honey

For the apricots

3	Apricots, use up to 4, ripe (Main)
1 Tbsp	Ginger juice, you can make juice by grating and then squeezing it through a cheesecloth or nut milk bag or simply squeeze in your hand (Main)
1 Tbsp	Lemon juice
2 tsp	Honey, or more to taste, raw

To serve

2 Tbsp	Coconut yoghurt
1 dash	Honey, raw, to taste
1 small handful	Almonds, roughly chopped

Directions

1. To prepare the overnight oats: Before going to bed, combine the oats, sunflower seeds, dried coconut and chia seeds in a medium bowl. Stir in the coconut milk, lemon juice and honey and keep covered in the refrigerator overnight.
2. To prepare the macerated apricots: You can prepare the apricots the night before or right before serving. They will be softer and more flavourful if you make them ahead, but will work nicely with 10 minutes of macerating too.
3. Cut apricots in half and remove the pit. Cut into quarters and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine ginger juice, lemon juice and honey. Add apricots to the marinade and mix well, making sure they are evenly coated.
4. To serve, divide the oats into two bowls, top witha generous dollop of coconut yoghurt, and a few tablespoons of macerated apricots. Drizzle with extra honey if desired and finish with the chopped almonds.