MINI SERIES with ‘Our Best Bites’: Kid-Friendly Breakfasts

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Hi, guys! This is Kate again with Our Best Bites. So guess what? I get up at 4:30 every morning and go to the gym where I run on the treadmill for a solid hour and then I come home and get beautiful before my husband can see me all sweaty and gross and without makeup. I then prepare a delectable, healthy, well-balanced breakfast for my angel children who are beyond thrilled to be awakened because they were most definitely not up late the night before playing with toys in their beds. After that, I whisk them away to school in a timely and peaceful fashion and we are always on time. And there is never any kind of yelling involved.

Or…not. I promise. I’m pretty sure the director of my daughter’s preschool can vouch for the fact that we are late 99% of the time and that 98% of the time, I’m still in pajamas or workout clothes. If I made a hot breakfast every morning, my husband would be figure skating in my driveway because things would have frozen over. Heck, even as far as cold cereal goes, I’m a slacker–we’re on a first name basis with the Cap’n of Crunch at our house.

That said…while my kids may suffer from Count Choculitis (10 bonus points to anyone who gets the reference), if I give them the option of something other than cold cereal for breakfast, 9 times out of 10, they’ll take me up on it.

My solution to preventing this from needling my mommy guilt? Whenever I do make a big breakfast or breakfast for dinner, I freeze the extras. That way, it only takes a minute or two to heat up some of our favorite breakfast foods on those busy mornings.

Like…pancakes! We’ve got these fluffy Saturday morning-worthy Buttermilk Pancakes:

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and these amazing, easy Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes that don’t trash your kitchen quite as thoroughly as the other variety.

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Crepes are another great option! One thing I love about them is that you can fill them with sweet stuff like fruit or you can roll up some scrambled eggs (or doctored-up scrambled eggs like we did here).

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You can’t have pancakes or crepes without syrup, right? We’ve got you covered there, too! This Buttermilk Syrup is one of our (and our readers’!) all-time favorites.

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If you’re looking for other things besides your finger to dip in the syrup, these French Toast sticks are always a huge hit.

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For the French toast as well as the pancakes, all you need to do is place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer and place the baking sheet in the freezer. When the pancakes/French toast are frozen, just throw them into a large freezer-safe Ziploc bag, seal it up, and then place it back into the freezer. When you’re ready to serve them, just heat them in your microwave or toaster oven (again, in a single layer) for about 20-30 seconds per item and you’re good to go.

If eggs are more up your alley, we’ve got lots of those options, too. Like these yummy little English muffin breakfast pizzas, which are the perfect “Get out the door and eat in the car!” food.

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These ham and egg cups are also super portable, high in protein, and all-around good for you.

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One of my ALL-TIME favorite breakfast recipes (and that’s saying a lot because I’m not super crazy about eggs) is the recipe for these breakfast taquitos. And the dipping sauce is to-die-for. If you dip your fingers in it after the taquitos are long gone, I won’t tell anyone, I promise.

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Those were just a few of our favorite kid-friendly breakfasts, but I also wanted to share a recipe we just barely posted to go along with this post today. If any of you have ever felt alone and sad because deep in your heart of hearts, you believe that oatmeal cookies can be breakfast, too, I’m here today to validate you. Not with cookies. But almost.

I give you…baked oatmeal!

You’ll need oats (duh, right?! But don’t get the quick-cooking ones), milk, some kind of dried fruit (I love craisins, but raisins, cherries, coconut, or even dried apples are all good), eggs (these are not cookies), 3/4-1 cup of brown sugar (I do 3/4 c. and then if anyone wants more, they can add it themselves), cinnamon, baking powder, and butter (again…definitely not cookies!). I bet you could add some walnuts or pecans, too, and it would be awesome.

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Also, in the spirit of not-cookie-ness, I bet it would be not disgusting if you left out the fruit and added some chocolate chips right before serving the oatmeal. If you can live with yourself for adding chocolate chips to your breakfast. And I think you guys know me well enough by now to know that I totally can.

Anyway. Preheat your oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, oats, dried fruit, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.

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See? Doesn’t that look wholesome and healthy? It just kind of makes you think of something warm and cozy you’d be whipping up in a snowy cottage after a morning of cross-country skiing or other strenuous and good-for-you activity. At which point you take out a smaller mixing bowl and melt a stick of butter.

Add your eggs, milk, and vanilla to the melted butter and whisk it to combine.

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Then add the butter/milk/egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour this mixture into a deep 9″ or 10″ pie plate or an 8″x8″ or 9″x9″ baking dish. Or something similar. Just don’t get too big–I’ve found a 9×13″ pan makes things a little too dry.

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Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

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Don’t worry about cutting it–just scoop it into individual bowls and add a splash of warm or hot milk (cold milk is weird–everything becomes lukewarm, which isn’t really what you’re after). If you’re wondering what it’s like (besides awesome), it’s kind of a cross between regular oatmeal and a granola bar. Like (dare I say it??) a warm cookie that kind of falls apart with a spoon.