Overnight Oat Buns
These seedy no-knead overnight oat buns are so easy and delicious, you’ll be making them every single week!
I love the idea of homemade bread, but only if it isn’t a twenty-step process with a million of ingredients. Four-ingredient bagels? Yes, please! Simple focaccia? Sign me up!
These overnight oat buns follow the same principle. They use accessible ingredients, require low effort, and even sneak in a couple of vegetables!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Did I mention these indulgent buns don’t require kneading? You could say… there’s no knead for it!
- In addition to the usual ingredients you would expect to see in a bread recipe, these overnight oat buns feature carrot and zucchini. A great way to sneak in veggies into your diet!
- These buns are super-wholesome, thanks to the inclusion of veggies, oats, wholemeal flour, and a variety of seeds.
- Let’s not forget that they are SO DELICIOUS, you’ll be making these every week!
How to Make This Recipe
While adding zucchini and carrot to this recipe is optional, I highly recommend it for the extra soft, moist buns.
If you do decide to use veggies, add your grated zucchini to a colander with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and leave it for 10 minutes. This will draw out any excess moisture. Using a cheesecloth or strainer, squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the zucchini.
Next, add yogurt, water, yeast, carrot, zucchini, oats, whole grain flour, white flour and salt to a large bowl. Using a wooden spoon, carefully combine everything together until you have a dough with no flour streaks.
Add the sunflower, pumpkin, and poppy seeds on top and cover your bowl. Set your bowl in the fridge overnight.
After your dough has been proving for at least 8 hours in the fridge, preheat the oven to 425 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or reusable silicone baking liner. Add a cast iron pan to the bottom rack and allow it to heat up along with the oven.
Using a large spoon, divide the dough into 12-14 buns, and position the dough on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between them. I recommend to do these overnight oat buns in batches of 6 at a time.
Add your baking sheet into the center of the oven rack. If you want to steam the top of your buns, you can add a cast iron pan on the bottom wrack, and pour hot water into it to create steam in your oven while they are baking.
Bake your buns for 25-30 minutes until they are evenly browned both at the bottom and at the top. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool down for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bake your next batch.
Hack It!
- The addition of carrot and zucchini is totally optional. If you only have one and not the other, that’s okay too. You can also experiment with similar veggies once you master the main recipe.
- Store these seeded oat buns in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- You can use as few or as many varieties of seeds as you like. If you only have sunflower seeds, your buns will still come out delicious. You can also add flax seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, caraway seeds, or even chia seeds.
- I used coconut yogurt, but any unsweetened vegan yogurt will do the job.
- As for how to use these buns, the possibilities are endless! Enjoy them with vegan burgers, sandwich fillings, or a bowl of soup. They can also be toasted and served with jam, peanut butter, or another breakfast topping of choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What should I use to cover the bowl overnight? Cover it with plastic, wax cloth or a damp kitchen towel. This will allow the dough to rise without drying out at the top.
- Do I have to steam the buns? Your kitchen – your rules. If adding that extra step sounds like too much trouble, you don’t have to steam your buns. Just bear in mind that this will affect the texture of the crust, and you may want to leave your bread in the oven for the full 30 minutes.
- How long can the dough stay in the fridge past 8 hours? Ideally, you don’t want to leave it longer than 12, because it will affect the texture of your buns. However, we all have a different schedule, and sometimes you have no other choice than to experiment a little bit.
Nutritional Benefits of Overnight Oat Buns
- Protein. The vegan coconut yogurt, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and whole wheat flour all contain protein, which is essential for building and repairing tissues in the body.
- Fiber. The oats and whole wheat flour, along with carrot and zucchini, are great sources of fiber, which can help to promote healthy digestion and lower cholesterol levels.
- Vitamins and minerals. The grated carrot and zucchini (if included) would add useful macronutrients, such as vitamin A and potassium, to the recipe.
- Healthy fats. The sunflower and pumpkin seeds contain healthy fats, including omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which can help to reduce inflammation in the body and support brain health.
- Low sodium. Unlike some of the store-bought bread, this recipe only calls for a small amount of salt, which can help to keep sodium levels in check.
Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Hidden Veggie Chocolate Cookies
- Loaded Veggie Sandwich
- Sweet Potato Chickpea Burgers
- Vegetable Patties
- Vegan Sloppy Joes
If you enjoy simple yet filling recipes like this one, I suggest you get your hands on the PlantYou Cookbook. It has over 140 recipes, all rather affordable and beginner-friendly. In addition, each recipe is accompanied by an infographic to display every ingredient. Perfect for visual learners like myself.
And if you want more inspiration on how to make use of these delicious overnight oat buns, join the PlantYou Planner! It’s an incredible vegan meal planner app that allows you to choose from a huge database of delicious wholesome recipes. Once you join, you get access to ALL 600+ recipes, and the best part? You can toggle the number of servings! No more wasted food or sad-looking veggies in your fridge!
The Recipe: Overnight Oat Buns
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup coconut yogurt
- 2 cups cold water
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- ¼ cup carrot, grated, optional
- ¼ cup zucchini, grated, optional
- 1¾ cup oatmeal
- ¾ cup whole-wheat flour
- 3 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- 4 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 tsp salt
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Colander and cheesecloth if using zucchini
- Parchment
- Cast iron
Instructions
- If using grated zucchini, first add it to a colander with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, and then using a cheesecloth or strainer, strain as much liquid as possible out of the zucchini.
- Combine the yogurt, water, yeast, carrot, zucchini, oatmeal, whole grain flour, white flour and salt to a bowl, and using a wooden spoon, carefully stir until a dough is formed.
- Pour the seeds over top, then cover and set in the fridge overnight, for at least 8 hours.
- When ready to bake, set the oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Using a large spoon, divide the dough into 12 to 14 buns, and place on the baking sheet (you will want to do this 6 at a time).
- Place the buns in the oven on the center rack.
- To ensure crisp buns, place a cast iron pan in the bottom of your oven, and quickly pour in 3 to 4 cups of warm water into it. Quickly shut the door to trap in steam, which will make the crust of the buns crispy.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until browned on the bottom and top. Remove and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. Store in a sealed container on the counter for up to 4 days.
