Italian Almond Cookie Overnight Oats
Whether you grew up calling them Almond Cookies, Soft Amaretti, Chewy Amaretti, or just plain Amaretti — if you ever faced down a tray of holiday Italian cookies, odds are these were your favorites. Crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside, these almond flavored treats (a distant relative of the French Macaroon, it seems) were normally topped with a Maraschino cherry, or, on more boring occasions, with an almond.
Those familiar with my overnight oats recipes know that I love recreating the flavors of favorite desserts and candies in breakfast form. The Italian Almond Cookie was one I’d been trying to crack for a while. My hope is that if you’re a fan of the cookie, or just a fan of these flavor combinations, you’ll enjoy this healthy, filling version to start your day, and relive wonderful holiday memories with friends and family.
All that for 198 calories? Pretty good deal, right?
Ingredients (Makes 4 Servings)
- 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
- 1 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1/2 cup sliced, unsalted almonds
- 1 tbsp confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 4 tsp maple syrup
- 20 Maraschino cherries*
Back to Basics
The basics of this oatmeal recipe are actually quite simple. In a small food processor, combine the almonds and the sugar. Process until they combine into a fine powder.
Into each of your four oatmeal jars, start with your dry ingredients: 1/4 cup of oats, and 1/4 of the almond powder (should be about 1 tbsp into each jar). Next add the wet ingredients: 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp of the almond milk, 1/4 tsp of the almond extract, and 1 tsp of maple syrup.
Mix well.
Cherries on Top
Finally, top with five Maraschino cherries, seal and refrigerate for at least 5-6 hours, but preferable overnight. To serve, either eat cold out of the fridge or (my preference) warm in the microwave for 60 seconds and enjoy warm.
*A Cherry Little Note
One of the reasons it took me a while to formulate this recipe was that I could not reconcile my goals of mindful eating with also creating a recipe that included store-bought Maraschino cherries. The store bought versions are blanched, brined and bombarded with food coloring and other additives in their manufacturing. Any health benefit from the original cherries are long gone.
So, what took the most time was coming up with my own recipe for homemade Maraschino cherries. These are easy to make, but the process does take three days. In the photo of the ingredients, you see a jar of my cherries, and in fact I include them in my nutritional calculations.
I’d highly recommend that you try my recipe for the cherries, and use them to make these overnight oats. That being said, if you wish to use store-bought cherries, I believe the basics nutritional values should be somewhat the same… although I can’t speak to sodium levels, and I assume that the calories and sugar levels will be higher.
If you do enjoy this recipe using the store-bought cherries, perhaps next time you’ll whip up a batch of my cherries and make the oats with them, so you can compare the two. My hope is that you’ll find that it’s worth the extra worth to make the cherries yourself.
Italian Almond Cookie Overnight Oats
Notes
* My recipe assumes that you are using my recipe for homemade Maraschino Cherries. I prefer to avoid the chemicals and processed nature of commercial cherries. They’re simple to make, but they do take three days, so plan ahead. If you wish to use canned cherries, the recipe should still work and taste fine… but the nutritional information would be different.
Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
- 1 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1/2 cup sliced, unsalted almonds
- 1 tbsp confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 4 tsp maple syrup
- 20 Maraschino cherries*
Instructions
- Combine the almonds and sugar in a small food processor and grind until the form a smooth powder. Set aside.
- Into each of your four oatmeal serving containers, add the dry ingredients: 1/4 cup of oats, and 1/4 of the almond/sugar powder (approx. 1 tbsp per jar).
- Add the wet ingredients to each jar: 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp of almond milk, 1/4 tsp of almond extract, and 1 tsp of maple syrup.
- Top with five Maraschino cherries.
- Seal and refrigerate for a minimum of 5-6 hours but preferable overnight.
- To serve, enjoy cold or (my recommendation) warm for 60 seconds in the microwave, stir and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Italian Almond Cookie Overnight Oats
Serves: 4 servings
| Amount Per Serving: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 198 | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 7.5 g | 10.8% | |
| Saturated Fat 0.5 g | 0% | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | ||
| Cholesterol 0 mg | 0 | |
| Sodium 68.5 mg | 2.8% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 33 g | 11% | |
| Dietary Fiber 3.5 g | 12% | |
| Sugars 17 g | ||
| Protein 5 g | ||
| Vitamin A 4 % | Vitamin C 0 % | |
| Calcium 27 % | Iron 9 % | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Lighten Up!
