By the time our children straggled downstairs last Christmas morning, my husband and I had: slept in, worked out, showered, dressed in at-home Christmas attire, started a fire in the fireplace and cued up our favorite Christmas music.
In the end, it wasn’t excitement over gifts or some resurgent fondness for a family holiday that finally awakened our teenager and young adult; it was the smell of bacon and muffins wafting up the stairs.
Here are five breakfast recipes that just might rouse any reluctant risers in your house this holiday season.
Double Chocolate Crunch Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Crunch topping ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa (regular, Dutch-processed, or a blend)
½ cup brown sugar (pack it tightly into the cup to measure)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
Muffins ingredients
1¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa (regular, Dutch-processed, or a blend)
½ cup brown sugar (pack it tightly into the cup to measure)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 egg
⅓ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (I promise this works)
Additional ingredients
¼ to ½ cup mini semisweet chocolate morsels
Nonstick cooking spray
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a 12-spot muffin tin with cupcake liners and spray each lightly with nonstick cooking spray. (Yes, you need to do both these things.) For the crunch topping, stir the cocoa powder into the vegetable oil with a fork. Dump in the brown sugar and flour and blend with a fork just until crumbly. It should look like chocolate gravel. You can do this ahead of time; just make sure it is stored airtight in the refrigerator, then stir it before using to break up any large clumps.
For the muffins, blend the flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl with a fork or whisk. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, mix the remaining muffin ingredients (water through vinegar) with a fork or whisk. Dump the “wet” ingredients on top of the dry and mix together with a rubber spatula just until incorporated. Divide the muffin batter equally among your prepared cups. Divide your prepared crunch topping equally among your muffins, pressing down slightly. Sprinkle each muffin with a few (or more) mini chocolate chips.
Bake for 12–18 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter) clinging to it. Cool in the muffin tin on a wire rack for about 5 minutes before gently removing from the tin. Serve warm. Store airtight at room temperature for a day or freeze for about a month.
Sheet-Pan Pancakes
Serves 4 to 8 (depending on other items on the menu)
Ingredients
2 cups “complete” pancake mix (the box should say “just add water”)
Water as called for on the package in proportion to 2 cups mix (my mix used 1⅓ cups water)
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the pancake mix, water, orange juice and vanilla just until no more dry mix remains. When the oven has preheated, place butter on a jelly roll pan or sheet pan (or, in a pinch, in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish), and put the pan in the oven for 1–2 minutes just until the butter melts. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and tilt it to distribute the melted butter evenly. Set the pan on the stovetop and pour in the pancake batter. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 10–15 minutes, or until the center springs back when lightly pressed. Serve warm with more butter, maple syrup, fruit, whipped cream or powdered sugar.
Maple Glazed Bacon
Ingredients
10 to12 slices bacon
¼ cup pure maple syrup, or as needed
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed sheet pan with foil and set a rectangular baking rack on top of it. Place slices of bacon on top of the rack; they can overhang a little, and they can touch each other, but it’s best if they don’t overlap. Bake the bacon for 15–20 minutes, or until almost cooked to your desired doneness (depending on if you like your bacon crisp or chewy). Remove the pan from the oven and set it on the stovetop. Using a pastry brush (or a brand-new small paint brush), brush the entire surface of each piece of bacon generously with maple syrup. Return the pan to the oven for 2–3 minutes more (any longer, and the syrup will start to burn). Remove the pan from the oven and let the bacon cool for a couple minutes before serving.
Have It Your Way Quiche
Serves 4 to 8 (depending on other items on the menu)
Crust ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour (can substitute half whole wheat flour if desired)
Dash salt
⅓ cup vegetable oil or mild-tasting olive oil
1½ tablespoons milk
Filling ingredients
1 tablespoon flour
2 eggs
½ cup milk
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup cooked meat of your choosing (diced ham, crumbled bacon, sausage, etc.)
1 cup shredded cheese of your choosing (cheddar, dill Havarti, Swiss, etc.)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. For the crust: Place the flour and salt in a 9-inch pie plate. Drizzle the oil and milk over the flour and stir with a fork. Do not panic when at first the mixture looks like a runny mess; just keep stirring with your fork, and you’ll soon have a crumbly mixture that can be pressed up the sides and into the bottom of your pie plate. Do this, and then put the crust in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
For the filling, place the flour in a large bowl and add the eggs. Whip these together with a whisk until smooth. Add in the milk and mayonnaise and whisk until mostly smooth. Fold in the meat and cheese of your choosing. Pour the filling mixture into your prepared crust and bake for 20–30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving warm or at room temperature.
Blueberry Almond Baked Oatmeal
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
2 cups old-fashioned oats (do NOT use quick or instant oats here)
¼ teaspoon salt
2½ cups milk (not nonfat)
¼ cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw … wild blueberries are lovely)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking dish (glass or ceramic) or a 9-inch deep dish pie pan or an oblong oval baking dish (about 13 inches at its widest point) with nonstick cooking spray.
Mix all ingredients except the blueberries together in a large bowl. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Scatter blueberries over the surface evenly and use a fork to tap down lightly into the mixture. Bake 30–40 minutes, or until set in the center. Serve warm with milk, cream, melted butter or maple syrup. Can be baked ahead of time and refrigerated, then warmed in individual serving bowls in the microwave.
Sol Cotti
