Busy Morning Breakfast Ideas
August feels like summer is just getting started, but for many people, school will be back in session in just a few short weeks! After all the lazy mornings of summer, switching gears to school mornings can be a rough go. Trying to rally your crew and get some sort of nutrition can be challenging, and when time isn’t on your side, it’s easy to see how cereal or frozen waffles are often the go-to (scoring pretty low on the w on the “nutritious breakfast” scale).
There are always options like overnight oats or quick scrambled eggs, but what about an actual hearty breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs and veggies? On a school morning? Yep! This recipe comes together in under 30 minutes, most of which is cook time, and uses only one pan for easy clean-up. Plus it’s pretty versatile; you can change up the ingredients to suit almost any taste (ramp up the veggies and leave out the sausage and bacon for a vegetarian version, or use plant-based sausages). Picky eaters will LOVE our breakfast cookies - they’re full of good ingredients , naturally sweetened, and everyone loves them. Make these on a Sunday and have a grab and go breakfast option all week (the baked cookies will keep for about a week in an airtight container).
SHEET PAN BREAKFAST—WHAT YOU NEED:
4-6 small links uncooked breakfast sausage
4-6 strips bacon
16 cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz. small brown mushrooms, halved (quartered if large)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4-6 large eggs (one per person)
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs, such as basil and Italian parsley
Toast for serving, if desired
WHAT YOU DO:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Wash tomatoes and cut into halves lengthwise. Brush mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel and halve (or quarter if large). Mince garlic. Add these ingredients to a large bowl and set aside. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment or foil (for easy cleanup and to keep eggs from sticking). Place the sausages and bacon on the prepared baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes.
While sausages and bacon are roasting, toss the tomatoes, mushrooms, and garlic with 1 tablespoon EVOO, a few good pinches of kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Take pan out of oven, flip sausages and bacon and add veggies. Return pan to oven and roast for 5 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and make wells among the vegetables. Crack one egg into each well, return baking sheet to the oven and roast until meats are cooked through and egg whites are opaque throughout, 5 minutes if you want runny yolks, 8 for jammy yolks, 10 for fully cooked yolks.
Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with herbs. Serve on top of or alongside toast if desired.
BUSY MORNING BREAKFAST COOKIES—WHAT YOU NEED:
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 large egg, room temperature
½ cup melted coconut oil
½ cup pure maple syrup (or use ¼ cup for a less sweet cookie)
1 small ripe banana, mashed (about ½ cup)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (optional)
7 Medjool dates, roughly chopped, or ¼ cup golden raisins
· Optional add-ins: dried cherries or other dried fruit, chopped nuts
Food processor or large blender
WHAT YOU DO:
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Place the oats, flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in the bowl of a food process (or you can use a blender with a low/pulse speed). Pulse a few times to break down the oats and combine the mixture.
Add the egg, coconut oil, maple syrup, banana, vanilla, and chopped dates or raisins. Pulse just until the mixture comes together and resembles cookie dough. The dough should hold together when pinched (if dough is too runny, add a sprinkle of flour and pulse again until dough sticks together). If you do not have a food processor, you can stir in these ingredients until dough comes together. If you’re adding any seeds or additional dried fruit, like flax seeds or raisins, stir them into the dough at this time.
Use a small ice cream scoop or a large tablespoon to scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets. Place the scooped dough in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes (chilling the dough is optional but will prevent cookies from spreading too much).
Bake for about 15 minutes or until cookies are golden brown, rotating pans halfway through. Allow cookies to cool on pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.
