Recipes › Breakfast & brunch› Maple cardamom overnight oats with seeds
Breakfast & brunch · Easy · Serves 4

Maple cardamom overnight oats with seeds

Five-minute overnight oats with skyr, maple, cardamom, and a generous spoonful of mixed seeds for crunch. Twenty-two grams of protein in a jar, ready by morning.

Anna Lind Harper
by Anna Lind Harper
Tested twice · Published 2026-06-07
A clear glass jar of finished overnight oats on a white marble counter, the contents in soft layers: a thick pale-cream oat-and-skyr base flecked with small dark cardamom and visible mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax) folded throughout, topped with a generous spoonful of fresh dark blueberries, a small handful of raspberries, a drizzle of golden amber maple syrup pooling at the edges, an extra small handful of mixed seeds scattered on top, and a tiny snow of more ground cardamom dusting the surface. Beside the jar: 3 more matching glass jars also filled with overnight oats and ready to go (lined up like a Sunday-night meal prep), a small ceramic dish of mixed seeds with a tiny wooden spoon, a small wooden honey dipper, a small lemon, a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel. Soft Sunday-evening kitchen light.
Prep
5 min
Cook
0 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
easy

This is the breakfast I make in a small flurry on Sunday night, line up four jars in the fridge, and stop thinking about Monday morning altogether. Old-fashioned rolled oats, thick Icelandic skyr, milk, a tiny pour of maple, a generous pinch of cardamom, and a spoonful of mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax) for crunch and protein. Five minutes of stirring, four jars, four mornings handled.

The cardamom is the small Nordic detail that pulls these out of generic overnight-oats territory into something that tastes like a fika at my grandmother's kitchen table. The skyr is the second trick; it pushes the protein to twenty-two grams per jar without anyone tasting protein-powder energy. Topped fresh each morning with a handful of berries, a drizzle more maple, and another spoonful of seeds for the crunch.

“Five minutes on Sunday night for four jars of breakfast. Cardamom, maple, skyr, seeds. Twenty-two grams of protein, Monday morning solved.”
Why this one earns a weeknight

What you'll love about it

  • 01Twenty-two grams of protein per jar, mostly from the skyr. No protein powder, no weird aftertaste, just thick Icelandic yogurt doing the work.
  • 02Five minutes of effort on Sunday night, four breakfasts handled through Thursday. The kind of meal prep that quietly makes the week easier.
  • 03Cardamom is the small detail that pulls this past every generic overnight-oats recipe on the internet. It tastes like a fika at a Swedish grandmother's table.
  • 04The seeds layer is non-negotiable. Pumpkin and sunflower add crunch, sesame adds nuttiness, flax adds omega-3 and protein, and chia gives the second-day thickness.
A near-overhead view of a large cream-speckled stoneware mixing bowl on a white marble counter holding the just-mixed overnight oats batter: a thick creamy pale base with rolled oats, visible white skyr swirled in, small flecks of ground cardamom dusted across the surface, golden amber maple syrup ribboning through, and visible mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax) folded throughout. A wooden spoon rests at the edge of the bowl. Beside the bowl on the marble: a small ceramic dish of mixed seeds, a small glass bottle of maple syrup with a wooden honey dipper, a small jar of ground cardamom with a tiny spoon, a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel.
Whisk the wet first; stir in the oats and seeds last. The mixture will look loose; the chia and oats will soak it up overnight.
Ingredients

For the oats (makes 4 jars)

  • 2 cupsold-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1½ cupsvanilla or plain skyr
  • 2 cupsmilk
  • 3 Tbsppure maple syrup
  • 1 tspground cardamom
  • 1 tspvanilla extract
  • ¼ tspkosher salt
  • ¼ cupmixed seeds, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, and flax
  • 2 Tbspchia seeds

To finish each jar (per morning)

  • ¼ cupfresh berries
  • 1 Tbspmixed seeds
  • 1 tspmaple syrup
  • a tiny pinch of ground cardamom
Method

How I make it

  1. 01
    Stir everything together.
    In a large bowl, whisk the skyr, milk, maple syrup, ground cardamom, vanilla, and salt until smooth and uniform. Stir in the rolled oats, the ¼ cup mixed seeds, and the chia seeds. The mixture will be on the loose side; that's correct, the chia and oats will absorb liquid overnight.
  2. 02
    Portion into 4 jars.
    Divide between 4 clean 1-pint glass jars or 16-oz containers (about 1 cup per jar). Seal the lids.
  3. 03
    Refrigerate at least 6 hours.
    Refrigerate at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. The oats and chia will absorb the liquid and the mixture will set to a thick spoonable consistency.
  4. 04
    Finish each jar fresh.
    When ready to eat (the next morning, or any of the next three), top with ¼ cup fresh berries, a tablespoon of mixed seeds for crunch, an optional drizzle of maple syrup, and a tiny pinch of ground cardamom. Eat cold from the jar.
    A pair of women's hands in a fitted white tee at three-quarter sleeve length (with a glimpse of light-wash denim jeans visible at the lower edge of the frame) topping one jar of overnight oats with fresh blueberries on a white marble counter. One hand holds the open jar steady; the other hand sprinkles a small handful of fresh blueberries down into the jar from above (the berries are mid-fall, captured just before they land on the oat surface). A thin gold band visible on one finger. Beside the jar: 3 more matching glass jars of overnight oats already filled, a small ceramic dish of mixed seeds, a small glass bottle of maple syrup with a small wooden honey dipper, a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel.
    Top each jar fresh in the morning. Pre-topped jars on Sunday night go soggy by Tuesday; thirty seconds of topping work each morning is the whole trick.
Macro close-up of one finished jar of maple cardamom overnight oats on a white marble counter: a clear glass jar showing the contents in soft layers from the side, with a thick pale-cream oat-and-skyr base flecked with small dark cardamom and visible mixed seeds throughout, topped with a generous spoonful of fresh dark blueberries and raspberries clustered at the top, a slow drizzle of golden amber maple syrup pooling at the edges of the berries, an extra small handful of mixed seeds scattered on top, and a tiny snow of more ground cardamom dusting the surface. A small wooden spoon rests across the top of the jar.
A note from Anna

Two notes that matter. First, use old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats. Quick oats turn to mush; rolled oats hold their structure overnight and stay pleasantly chewy. Second, don't pre-mix the berries and topping seeds into the jars on Sunday; the berries will weep and the seeds will go soft. Add them in 30 seconds at the bowl each morning. The whole appeal of overnight oats is the textural contrast of soft creamy oats against fresh berries and crunchy seeds.

What to serve with it

Round out the table.

  • ·01
    A small glass of cold milk
    If the jar is thicker than you like, splash some in at the table and stir to loosen.
  • ·02
    A handful of toasted nuts
    Almonds or walnuts, slivered. The morning where you want more crunch.
  • ·03
    Strong coffee or black tea
    The Tuesday-through-Thursday breakfast combination I keep returning to.
Storage & reheating

Keeping the leftovers good.

Fridge: The base oats keep for 4 days in sealed jars in the fridge. Don't add berries or topping seeds until you're ready to eat.

Reheat: Eat cold or, if you prefer warm, microwave the jar (without lid) for 60 to 90 seconds before adding the fresh toppings.

Make ahead: The whole point. Prep on Sunday night, eat Monday through Thursday. Friday is for a fresh pastry from the bakery up the street.

Freezer: Not recommended; the oats and skyr both lose texture in the freezer.

Recipe card

Maple cardamom overnight oats with seeds

Five-minute overnight oats with skyr, maple, cardamom, and a generous spoonful of mixed seeds for crunch. Twenty-two grams of protein in a jar, ready by morning.

Prep
5 min
Cook
0 min
Serves
4
Total
5 min
Ingredients
  • 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1½ cups vanilla or plain skyr
  • 2 cups milk
  • 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ cup mixed seeds, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, and flax
  • 2 Tbsp chia seeds
  • ¼ cup fresh berries
  • 1 Tbsp mixed seeds
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • a tiny pinch of ground cardamom
Method (short version)
  1. 01Stir everything together.
  2. 02Portion into 4 jars.
  3. 03Refrigerate at least 6 hours.
  4. 04Finish each jar fresh.

Nutrition information is an estimate. See full nutrition disclaimer.

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