When you’re not a morning person

Some people can spring out of bed at the crack of dawn, complete a workout, make a great breakfast, and get ready for work, all with a smile on their face. I am not one of those people. I hit the snooze until the last possible moment, drag myself out of bed, and rarely have time for more than a bowl of cereal before frantically rushing out the door to work. Making a good breakfast – especially a weekday breakfast – is a challenge when you are not a morning person. That is why I will always click on articles promising a make-ahead breakfast, like this one from Food52 that just popped up on my Twitter feed.

That recipe for easily-to-customize overnight oats got me thinking about other things you can prepare the night before to streamline making them in the morning. One of my favorites is yeasted or raised waffles. Many recipes call for a 2-hour rise, but I find that you can put the dough into the refrigerator overnight with excellent results. I am partial to the Marion Cunningham recipe shown above, but there are several other interesting variations worth exploring. Since I recently acquired some pearl sugar I might try Curtis Stone’s Liège-style waffles with rhubarb-vanilla jam. Brioche dough studded with pockets of crunchy sugar bits sounds like the perfect thing to help ease me into the morning.

Overnight French toast is another tasty make ahead breakfast. The only task necessary when I get up is to pop it into the oven. My oven even has a setting that allows me to turn it on at a specified time, so it will be already preheated when I get up. I have used this to help prepare bagels and cinnamon rolls the night before and boil/bake or just bake the next morning. Few breakfasts are more satisfying than fresh homemade bagels with a schmear.

If these sound too sweet or carb-heavy, there are other options. Better Homes & Gardens has a Ham soufflé roll that rests overnight in the refrigerator, Delicious Magazine (UK) features a Big breakfast Yorkshire pudding that sounds fantastic and Martha Stewart Living Magazine has a Cheesy spinach-potato egg casserole. There are plenty of other casserole/egg bake recipes in a similar vein.

While all of these are easy ways to start the day, if there is leftover pizza available in the morning, I must admit that I’m definitely going to eat that.