Easy Ways to Make an Amazing Mother's Day Brunch
These unfussy recipes—for a crustless quiche, a dazzling fruit salad, an a.m.-appropriate cobbler and more—take about as long to prep as it takes for a pot of coffee to brew.
By Lynn Andriani
An Egg—and a Basket—for Everyone
This four-ingredient miracle recipe delivers a gorgeous-looking dish with a surprisingly tiny amount of work. You simply line each cup of a muffin pan with a slice of ham, crack an egg into each and drizzle heavy cream on top. Salt, pepper and a sprig of thyme are the only seasonings needed, since the ham has so much flavor. After about 10 minutes in the oven, each person can enjoy his or her very own edible breakfast basket.
Get the recipe: Baked Eggs in Ham Baskets
A Yogurt Parfait That Tastes as Good as It Looks
Chia seeds are the trick for turning ho-hum yogurt into thick, rich pudding that tastes way richer than you might expect. This lovely recipe, from
Steeped: Recipes Infused with Tea, has you combine the
protein-rich seeds with plain yogurt, plus milk that you've spiked with matcha, aka green-tea powder. Stir everything together, refrigerate and that's it—the tea gives the pudding a light grassy-sweet flavor. Layer it with pureed peach and raspberries and you've got a beautiful, delicious (and healthy!) treat.
Get the recipe: Matcha-Chia Pudding Parfaits
Photo: Sarah Ashley Schiear
The Incredible 19-Cent Fruit Transformation
Banana pancakes are among the most economical breakfasts you can make—but they certainly don't taste low-budget. That's because when the cheap, grocery-store staples hit the griddle, they caramelize, turning into something otherworldly. To make these beauties, just prepare a usual pancake batter and stir in one mashed banana. Then, when you ladle the batter onto the pan, drop a couple of banana slices onto each cake. A drizzle of honey before flipping allows the fruit to brown as it cooks. And instead of syrup, try the maple-almond sauce that accompanies this recipe; just a little bit takes this dish to the next level.
Get the recipe: Caramelized Banana Pancakes with Maple-Almond Sauce
The Fruit Salad to End All Fruit Salads
Fruit salads can be boring, but not this one from the new cookbook
Grain Power. It has three parts (fruit, crunch, dressing), so you get a variety of textures and color. You can use whatever fruit you'd like, from kiwis to strawberries to canned pineapple to berries. Cooked quinoa adds a fantastic nutty element, and the dressing is a simple combination of the juice from the pineapple can, and that of a lime.
Get the recipe: Toasted Coconut Fruit Salad with Quinoa and Pineapple-Lime Dressing
The Breakfast Cobbler
If the idea of peach pie for breakfast speaks to you, you'll love this morning spin from Megan Gordon's book
Whole-Grain Mornings. Its filling is sweet peaches covered with mounds of biscuit dough that's been seasoned with fresh thyme. The best part: You don't have to peel the peaches, and you can mix the dry ingredients for the biscuits the night before. In the morning, just combine the dry with the wet ingredients and slice the peaches; by the time you've finished your first cup of coffee, it's ready to pull from the oven.
Get the recipe: Peach Breakfast Cobbler with Cornmeal-Thyme Biscuits
Quiche Sans Crust
You don't have to worry about rolling out dough and dealing with cracks, breaks or a not-quite-right texture with this recipe. A mixture of shredded zucchini, eggs, chopped onions, baking mix (like Bisquick) and shredded Cheddar form the crust on their own.
Get the recipe: Savory Zucchini Pie
Photo: Richard Gerhard Jung
Eggs That Won't Make You Feel Like a Short-Order Cook
Frying eggs to each person's individual taste (sunny-side up, over easy, enough already!) can be maddening. The solution: Bake the eggs in ramekins. You can pull just-set ones out of the oven a minute early and let others cook a bit longer—without sweating over a frying pan.
Get the recipe: Baked Eggs with Fresh Herbs and Goat Cheese
A Simpler Spin on Muffins
Instead of greasing cupcake tins, dropping spoonfuls of dough into each cup and having to scrub each little one clean later, make this berry-topped focaccia. It tastes like a slightly sweet, less-crumbly alternative to a classic blueberry breakfast muffin.
Get the recipe: Blueberry Focaccia
A Trusty Make-Ahead Casserole
If you assemble this casserole the night before, all you have to do is preheat the oven and pop it in to bake. It's best with day-old challah or a similar egg bread, which does a fine job of soaking up the eggs, milk and cream.
Get the recipe: Raspberry and Goat Cheese Breakfast Strata
The No-Brainer Coffee Cake
Spiked with dried fruits, honey, citrus zest and nutty-tasting walnut oil, a rustic apple cake comes together in a flash. No need to make a separate crumb topping; this treat is wonderful with just a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.
Get the recipe: Apple Polenta Cake with Walnut Oil
Homemade Bloody Marys Without 14 Ingredients
The quandary: Use bottled Bloody Mary mix, which is quick but not as good as homemade, or make your own but deal with a long list of ingredients. The solution: Cat Cora's recipe, which mainly relies on basil-infused vodka (that you can make days ahead of time) for flavor.
Get the recipe: Bloody Marys with Basil Vodka
Published 04/20/2015
