Cinnamon Roll Overnight Oats
These cinnamon roll overnight oats taste like the pastry in breakfast form: a creamy, high fiber oat base swirled with cinnamon nut butter and finished with a vanilla Greek yogurt icing that works like a lighter cinnamon roll icing without the powdered sugar spiral. No stovetop, no oven, just a bowl, four jars, and a night in the fridge.
This is the third member of my overnight oats family, right alongside my cosmic brownie overnight oats and banana bread overnight oats. If those two are dessert-for-breakfast energy, this one is straight up cinnamon roll energy, minus the hour of proofing dough.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
The Greek yogurt is doing double duty here. It’s stirred right into the oat base for a thick, creamy texture, and it’s the base of the icing on top, so this is genuinely a greek yogurt oatmeal through and through, not just oats with a dollop of yogurt as an afterthought. Between the yogurt, chia seeds, and ground flaxseed, this is also a high fiber overnight oats situation, which is exactly the kind of breakfast that keeps you full past 10am instead of hungry by 9:30.
The cinnamon swirl is the other star. A quick mix of nut butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon gets swirled through the oats instead of stirred in completely, so you get actual ribbons of cinnamon filling running through every jar instead of one uniform cinnamon-flavored bowl. It’s a small step that makes a big difference in how close this actually tastes to a cinnamon roll.
And because it makes four jars in one go, this is real meal prep oats. Mix once on Sunday, eat breakfast handled through Wednesday.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the oat base:
- Rolled oats: the classic overnight oats base. They soften in the fridge overnight without ever touching heat. Feel free to use gluten-free oats if needed for your diet!
- Whole milk: loosens the oats to the right consistency. Any milk (like almond milk or oat milk) works if you need a dairy free overnight oats version; more on that below.
- Plain Greek yogurt: the ingredient doing the most work in this recipe. It thickens the oats, adds protein, and its tang balances all that maple and cinnamon sweetness.
- Chia seeds and ground flaxseed: this duo is where the fiber lives. They also help the oats set up thick and pudding-like overnight instead of soupy.
- Maple syrup: the only sweetener in the base, kept light since the swirl and icing bring their own sweetness too.
- Vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt: the flavor backbone. Salt might feel unnecessary in a sweet recipe, but it’s what keeps the cinnamon and vanilla from tasting flat.
For the cinnamon swirl:
- Almond or cashew butter: the base of the swirl. Either keeps things neutral enough for the cinnamon to lead.
- Maple syrup and cinnamon: mixed into the nut butter to create that distinct cinnamon filling flavor you swirl through the oats.
For the vanilla icing:
- Greek yogurt, maple syrup, and vanilla: whisked together into a simple, tangy icing that sits on top of each jar. If you’d rather go the classic route, a thinned cream cheese icing swaps in beautifully here; just whisk softened cream cheese with a splash of milk, maple syrup, and vanilla until pourable.
How to make cinnamon roll overnight oats
- Combine the oats, milk, Greek yogurt, chia seeds, flaxseed, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
- Divide the mixture evenly between 4 jars.
- Stir together the nut butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon for the swirl.
- Add a spoonful to each jar and lightly swirl it into the oats. Don’t overmix; you want visible ribbons, not a uniformly cinnamon-colored jar.
- Whisk the Greek yogurt, maple syrup, and vanilla together for the icing.
- Spoon the icing over each jar.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Recipe Tips
- Swirl gently. A butter knife or the back of a spoon dragged through the jar two or three times is plenty. Overmixing the cinnamon swirl blends it into the whole jar instead of leaving distinct ribbons, and the ribbons are half the appeal.
- Layer the icing, don’t stir it in. Spoon it on top and let it sit. It’ll marble into the oats a little as you eat, which is exactly the effect you want.
- Give it the full overnight. Chia and flax need real time to absorb liquid and thicken properly. A quick one-hour chill leaves you with soupy oats; a full overnight gets you the thick, pudding-like texture this recipe is built for.
- Thin it out if needed. If the oats are thicker than you like after their overnight rest, a splash of milk stirred in brings them right back to a spoonable consistency.
Topping and mix-in ideas
The oatmeal toppings possibilities here are basically endless. A few of my favorites: chopped pecans or walnuts for crunch, extra cinnamon sugar sprinkled over the icing, a few oats-friendly granola clusters, or fresh apple slices for a cinnamon-apple thing that’s very fall coded no matter what month it is.
Ingredient swaps
Dairy free or vegan: swap the whole milk for your favorite dairy free milk and use a plain dairy free yogurt in both the base and icing. Maple syrup is already vegan, so the rest of the recipe doesn’t need any adjusting. This turns it into genuinely vegan oatmeal ideas territory without losing the cinnamon roll flavor.
No Greek yogurt on hand: regular yogurt works, though the oats will be slightly looser and less protein-packed. Blended cottage cheese is another swap that keeps the protein content up.
Storage and meal prep
Refrigerate for up to 4 days, covered, right in the jars you made them in. This is exactly what makes them such solid meal prep oats: mix everything on a Sunday, and breakfast is grabbed and gone for most of the week without another dish touched.
frequently asked questions
Cold, straight from the fridge, is the traditional way and how this recipe is built to be eaten. That said, if you prefer warm oats, a minute or so in the microwave works fine; just stir well afterward since the icing can separate slightly when heated.
These cinnamon roll overnight oats lean balanced: rolled oats and flaxseed bring fiber, Greek yogurt and chia seeds add protein, and the only added sugar comes from a modest amount of maple syrup spread across the base, swirl, and icing. Like most foods, portion and context matter more than any single label, but this is a genuinely well-rounded breakfast built from real ingredients.
Not for this recipe. Steel cut oats need much more liquid and a longer soak to soften properly, so swapping them in as written will leave you with a hard, undercooked texture. Stick with old-fashioned rolled oats here.
More easy breakfast recipes
If mason jar breakfasts are becoming a whole system in your kitchen, they should be. My high protein breakfast sandwiches and hash brown egg muffins cover the savory side of the same grab-and-go breakfast strategy.
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Cinnamon Roll Overnight Oats
Ingredients
Oat base
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of fine sea salt
Cinnamon swirl
- 1/4 cup creamy almond or cashew butter
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Vanilla icing
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Enable step-by-step mode- Combine oats, milk, Greek yogurt, chia seeds, flaxseed, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
- Divide evenly between 4 jars.
- Stir together the nut butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
- Add a spoonful to each jar and lightly swirl it into the oats.
- Mix Greek yogurt, maple syrup, and vanilla for the icing.
- Spoon over each jar.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
