Overnight oats

Name: Overnight oats
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1 adult and 1 toddler (soaks overnight)
Ingredients: 40 g (about ½ cup) quick or rolled oats; 150 ml (⅔ cup) whole cow's milk; 4 tbsp plain, unsweetened, full-fat yogurt; ½ ripe banana; To serve soft ripe fruit

Oats soaked overnight in whole milk and plain yogurt until soft, with mashed banana for sweetness and no sugar or syrup. About 10 minutes to make the night before. From 12 months: before then, cook oats until soft instead, as in our apple cinnamon porridge. Offer it once your baby has had dairy on its own without a reaction.

From: 12 months
Time: 10 min
Makes: 1 adult and 1 toddler (soaks overnight)

Contains milk

Ingredients

40 g (about ½ cup)quick or rolled oatsplain, with no added sugar or salt. Quick oats soak softest
150 ml (⅔ cup)whole cow's milkpasteurized, unsweetened
4 tbspplain, unsweetened, full-fat yogurtmade from pasteurized milk
½ripe bananayellow with brown speckles, so it mashes easily
To servesoft ripe fruitsuch as fresh mango, peach or berries, cut as in the serving rows. Frozen berries are safest cooked until steaming hot for babies and toddlers, then cooled, before they go on

Steps

1Wash your hands. Rinse the banana and any fruit for topping under running water, gently rubbing it, even if you'll peel it.
2Mash the banana in a jar or bowl until smooth. Stir in the oats, milk and yogurt until there are no dry oats left. Don't add sugar, honey or syrup.
3Cover and put it straight in the fridge to soak overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
4In the morning, stir well. Press a spoonful between your thumb and finger: the oats should squash easily, with no dry or chewy flakes. If they're still firm, stir in a splash more milk and give them longer in the fridge.
5Spoon your toddler's portion into a bowl and top it with fresh soft fruit cut for their age. If you use frozen berries, simmer them from frozen with a splash of water and let them bubble for at least a minute, then mash or cut them and let them cool before they go on the oats.

How to serve it by age

12 months+

Serve in a bowl with a spoon. Top with fresh soft ripe fruit (or frozen berries cooked and cooled, as in step 5) in pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch). Quarter or flatten blueberries and other small round fruit: never serve them whole. Each piece should squash easily between your thumb and finger.

18 months+

Spoon your child's portion from the family jar into their own bowl. Keep checking that the oats are soft, and keep cutting round fruit. Skip granola and nuts on your child's bowl: the CDC lists granola bars and whole or chopped nuts as choking hazards for young children.

If your baby reacts

This recipe contains milk. Introduce one new allergen at a time, mixed into a food your baby already eats, before serving it in a dish with other new foods. Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if you notice mild signs after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.

Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.

Leftovers and the rest of the family

Storing it

Keep overnight oats covered in the fridge and eat them within 3 to 4 days, before the use-by date on the milk and yogurt. Serve them cold; they don't need reheating. Throw away anything left in your child's bowl. Don't leave them at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F (32°C).

For the grown-ups

Make a jar for each person the night before. Adults and children aged 4 and over can add chopped nuts, seeds or a drizzle of honey to their own jar; the NHS says to avoid sugar, including honey, up to age 4.