3 make ahead summer breakfasts

peach crisp overnight oats, the only granola recipe you need, breakfast sausage egg sandwich

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I go through phases with liking and disliking breakfast.

I personally just don’t wake up hungry, and really just want to hydrate and have a nice cup of coffee in the morning. This leads me to forego thinking about breakfast, and therefore not plan to have anything readily available. I’m not very proud of this, but it’s what has worked for me over the past few years.

When I do eat breakfast, it typically consists of ingredients I always have, but it does take 5-10 minutes to whip together. Here are what have been my go-tos:

• warm oat bowl (1/3 cup of rolled oats cooked in water + 1 tablespoon of nut butter, 1 tablespoon of maple syrup then topped with 1/2 banana and granola)

• egg taco (I crack an egg into my cast iron, break the yolk, add salt and cheese over it, then put a corn tortilla over it)

• toast (with butter and cinnamon sugar - this is such a midwestern thing from my childhood that I will never grow tired of) (<5 min)

• or a bowl of granola and milk with banana or blueberries (<5 min)

*note - we always have granola at our house, as Shiping is a religious granola + milk + banana eater. per request of Shiping, I make my granola recipe with NO honey / added sugar. it changes the texture of the final product, but he prefers a fully unsweetened version.

As I wanted to introduce some easy meal prep breakfast items for Jackie’s Supper Club, it got me thinking about breakfasts that would truly make me excited to eat. I came up with the list below:

• a light but filling breakfast sandwich with egg, simply seasoned sausage, and greens

• overnight oats with fruit and granola

• yogurt parfait with fruit and granola

It’s basic, but I knew these could be really good options.

And with that, I got to recipe developing and testing. Could the overnight oats last for 5 days? Could I mix in fruit with the oats without the fruit turning into a weird consistency? Would I be happy eating a microwaved breakfast sandwich if someone didn’t have a toaster oven (or didn’t want to turn on their stove oven?)

Well - I’m here to share with you my recipes and notes, AND get you excited about breakfast.

After 4 weeks of testing and our official launch of breakfast items last week, I’m happy to report that I’ve started eating a more regular breakfast, and I’m loving these recipes.

I’m curious to know what y’alls take on breakfast is - are you religious about eating breakfast? Do you wake up hungry? What’s your go-to <5 minute breakfast that you will eat again and again? Let me know in the comments or reply directly to me, I’d love to hear from you.

Recipe - Peach Crisp Overnight Oats

Ingredients

Makes 3 individual portions

• 1 cup rolled oats

• 2 nectarines - washed and diced

• 2.25 cups milk of choice

• 3 tablespoons of honey or caramel

• 1 cup of granola (see below recipe)

Directions:

1. Dice the nectarines - cut 4 pieces around the core, then cut into 1/2” cubes.

2. Add the rolled oats to a food processor and pulse for 10 seconds, or until the oats have broken up slightly and you see a powder like texture.

3. Portion the oats into individual containers - this recipe calls for 3 individual portions, and I use (3) 2 cup tupperware.

4. Add 1/3 cup of processed oats into each container. Pour 3/4 cup of milk over the oats.

5. Add 1 tablespoon of honey or caramel to each of the containers.

6. Divide the diced nectarines between all the containers and stir to combine.

7. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

8. When ready to eat, top with granola, and enjoy.

Notes:

• This recipe yields for a slightly runnier / looser texture (what I prefer). If you prefer a thicker texture, use the same ratio of oats to milk. My rule of thumb for the looser texture is 1 part oats : 2 parts liquid.

• You can use any milk for this. I’ve tried it with almond milk, oat milk, and whole milk, and they all are delicious.

• You can add stonfruit when you mix the oats. It’s best when eaten the next day or day after, and the texture deteriorates after day 3. You can still eat it after 3 days of prepping ahead, just note the fruit is going to be a bit on the softer side.

• This might be obvious, but it’s important to note that you should add the granola right before you eat each morning. I like the oat texture to be a bit looser so that when you’re eating it with granola, it almost feels like a cereal in a way. (Thick oats sometimes give me that gag reflex…) If you add the granola before you’re ready to eat, it will become soggy and you’ll lose the nice textural difference of the oats and crunchy granola.

• You can substitute any stonefruit here - apricots, peaches, cherries (!!) would all be delicious.

• I used honey because I wanted to keep this dairy free for my meal delivery service, but a store bought caramel would be my choice of sweetener to really make this taste like peach crisp. The oats as a whole actually aren’t very sweet at all. Just one tablespoon I find is the perfect amount of sweetness (+the sweetness from the fruit and granola).

Recipe - Granola

Ingredients

Serves 12

• 3 cups of rolled oats

• 1 cup shaved almonds

• .5 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)