The other half of the creatine routine, for mornings that want a spoon rather than a straw. Bircher is the original overnight oats, the Swiss doctor’s recipe from a hundred years ago, and the trick that makes it better than plain soaked oats is the grated apple stirred through raw, which sweetens it and keeps it fresh-tasting. Mix it after dinner, and breakfast is already done.
Yield and time
- Makes: 2 bowls
- Hands-on: 5 minutes the night before
- Total: overnight in the fridge
Ingredients
- 100g rolled (porridge) oats
- 150ml milk (dairy or plant)
- 100ml apple juice (or more milk)
- 1 apple, coarsely grated, skin on
- 100g natural or Greek yoghurt
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- a squeeze of lemon
- 2 x 5g scoops creatine monohydrate (one per bowl)
- to finish: fresh berries, toasted flaked almonds or seeds
The night before
Stir the oats, milk, apple juice, grated apple, yoghurt, honey, lemon and the creatine together in a tub. The lemon keeps the apple from browning; the creatine dissolves into the liquid overnight so there’s no grit left by morning. Lid on, into the fridge.
In the morning
Give it a stir. It’ll have thickened, loosen with a splash more milk to the texture you like. Spoon into bowls and top with berries and toasted nuts.
It keeps three days in the fridge, so a doubled batch covers most of the working week; just stir a little milk through each morning to loosen it again.
On the creatine: 5g per person, mixed in the night before. By morning it’s part of the soak, nothing to stir in, nothing to taste.