Our Best Breakfast Quick Breads, Muffins, Scones, and Pastries to Help You Start Your Day Deliciously
Get an excellent start every day of the week with these delicious takes on classic breakfast baked goods. As sure as the sun rises in the east, these quick breads, muffins, pastries, scones, and sweet yeast breads will make any morning meal special.
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If you generally only indulge on weekends—or when the coffee-shop display proves irresistible—we have a rousing wake-up call: You can make those crave-worthy treats yourself, and most of the indulgent goodies you love can be made any day of the week. Even better, several can be made ahead and frozen, then defrosted overnight and baked off while you shower.
If you're ready to bake, why not start with the better-tasting and better-for-you Maple Bran Muffins that are shown here? They take about 30 minutes to make and they can be frozen, then thawed in a 375 degree oven for that warm-from-the-oven feeling on a busy weekday morning. Our chocolate-hazelnut take on monkey bread actually tastes better if you make it the night before and leave the yeasted dough in the refrigerator overnight. Next morning, just bring the dough to room temperature and bake.
A couple of these sweets are made using store-bought all-butter puff pastry. It's one of those things our food editors' always keep in the freezer. It works beautifully in sweet breakfasts, like our tempting take on that supermarket staple, the toaster pastry (note: our version is baked in the oven like the rest of these treats), but it's just as stellar in a savory recipe; give it a try in our simple potato-and-feta take on the Turkish turnover, the boreka, and you'll be convinced.
Simple baked goods like scones, muffins, and quick breads (such as the all-time favorite, banana bread), don't require a stand mixer, come together quickly, and bake up so fast. Our new recipes take these easy-going standards to new heights of flavor.
Then there are new hybrids we're sure will become classics over time. After all, is there anyone out there who could resist a streamlined version of the cheese Danish or the sublime baked good created when the biscuit met the jelly roll?
What are you waiting for? Go ahead and try these enticing new spins on bakery classics this week. We're sure you'll love them as much as we do.
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Easy Cheese-and-Jam Danishes
Store-bought puff pastry forms the super flaky base, and a few spoonfuls of good jam sweetens these cream-cheese-filled easy pasties. OK, they're not technically Danishes—as they aren't made with a yeasted dough—but no one will care, they'll be too busy enjoying a second slice.
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Rhubarb-Blueberry Corn Muffins
Corn muffins go next level thanks to the addition of rhubarb and blueberries. Rhubarb and blueberries, not strawberries you're wondering? Don't wonder, try this recipe and we're sure you'll always be team blue barb!
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Cocoa-Swirl Coffee Cake with Hazelnut Crumb
No mixer needed! This smart take on the coffee cake uses our food editors favorite reverse-creaming technique, adds yogurt to the batter for moisture, and finishes everything off with a hazelnut topping.
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Breakfast-Sausage-and-Gruyere Drop Biscuits
Here's a quick route to freshly baked biscuits for breakfast. This easy recipe has you scoop the dough straight from the mixing bowl onto a baking sheet—no shaping or cutting required— so you can whip them up while you're still half asleep. For a savory, vegetarian version, try our Feta-and-Dill Drop Biscuits.
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Strawberry-and-Toasted-Sesame-Scones
Try these strawberry scones on a morning when you don't have time to bake; you can freeze them, baked or unbaked, and take them straight to the oven for a quick and delicious breakfast.
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Cinnamon Sugar Ragamuffins
Think of this treat as a cross between a buttermilk biscuit and a cinnamon bun without the frosting (trust us, you don't don't need it here). A sprinkle of sanding sugar provides all the needed sparkle these yummy baked goods (which are baked in a muffin tin) require to really stand out.
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Streusel Banana Bread
Here's another delicious hybrid: If coffee cake and banana bread sang a duet, the harmonious result would be this moist loaf and its nutty cinnamon-and-brown-sugar topping. The streusel not only caps off the creation, but it also winds its way through every slice. The result is a sweet-salty note in every single bite.
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Glazed Lemon-Ginger Scones
Just the thing for ginger lovers, this sweet scone has a trifecta fresh, dried, and crystallized ginger. To really take it to the next level, there's also lemon in the batter and glaze.
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Monkey Bread with Hazelnut-Chocolate Swirl
Leisurely weekend mornings were made for monkey bread. Yeasted dough gets rolled into tiny orbs, then assembled in a Bundt pan, where it rises while you relax with your coffee. (Parents and grandparents, take note: This is an excellent job for little hands.) The deep chocolate-hazelnut notes come from generous drizzles of Nutella on the bottom of the pan and layered throughout. Prefer to sleep in? Work ahead of time. This recipe actually benefits from an overnight ferment in the fridge, taking on a more robust flavor. The next day, bring it to room temperature and set it in the oven.
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Whole-Grain Breakfast Cookies
Cookies for breakfast? We're all for it, especially when we're talking about cookies loaded with wholesome ingredients, including oats, buckwheat flour, millet, cashew butter, coconut oil, and fresh raspberries. Bake them ahead and look forward to pairing them with a latte or a glass of cold milk in the morning.
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Lemon-Poppy Seed Buttermilk Biscuits
Lemon zest and poppy seeds amp up these fluffy, light-as-air biscuits, which are a perky take on our Test Kitchen's Favorite Buttermilk Biscuits. Serve them with lightly sweetened whipped cream and sliced strawberries for an oh-so-sweet way to start the day.
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Herb-Cheddar Scones
While delectable on their own, these cheesy scallion-and-dill-flecked beauties are our food editors' new go-to vehicle for egg sandwiches, elevating a simple scramble into a savory feast. The herbs and sharp cheddar are folded into the crumbly, buttery dough (which comes together in a flash, no mixer required) and showered over the scones before baking to create crisp tops. For a shortcut, slice the dough into squares or wedges rather than cutting out rounds. And for maximum enjoyment, serve with a swirl of butter.
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Biscuit-Jelly Roll with Rhubarb and Raspberries
Biscuits get a bold, sweet new look. Our fruit-swirled stunner starts with a classic buttermilk-infused dough that is rolled into a rectangle, blanketed in gorgeous pink filling, and folded into thirds like a letter. Rather than bubbling in a pan on the stovetop, the jammy rhubarb-raspberry mixture is caramelized to perfection on a sheet pan in the oven, a mostly hands-off step that can be done up to five days ahead. Finish with a devil-may-care dusting of sanding sugar to add sweet, sparkly crunch.
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Apricot-and-Cream Cheese Squares
Inspired by an old-fashioned brunch favorite—the cheese-and-fruit Danish—our cheerful tray bake skips the fussy, laminated pastry in favor of lower-maintenance focaccia dough. As for the plump apricots, we prefer jarred or canned ones, which have been poached in syrup. They have a mellower flavor and silkier texture than their just-picked counter-parts, and provide the right balance to the tangy cream cheese.
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Morning Glory Muffins
We've all met muffins that are actually cupcakes disguised as breakfast. These are not that kind of muffin. This is an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink recipe in the best possible way, the hearty, generously sized muffins burst with grated apples, carrot, and coconut; golden raisins; and pepitas, which we use in place of more traditional walnuts. That means fewer allergy concerns. Bake-sale volunteers, victory is yours!
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Potato-Feta Bourekas
Bourekas, or flaky little parcels stuffed with savory fillings, originated in Turkey, but are now a morning nosh in kitchens and cafés all over the Middle East. In our version, store-bought puff pastry speeds things up, as do leftover baked or mashed potatoes. Assemble and freeze these ahead of time, then give them a quick egg wash and a scattering of nigella seeds before baking. Black sesame seeds are fine in a pinch, but we highly recommend seeking out the more intense-tasting real deal.
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Blueberry "Toaster" Pastries
Beyond an airy crust and a fruity middle, these sweet treats have little in common with their store-bought siblings—though if you fill and freeze a batch in advance, they're almost as convenient on a weekday morning (bake them for 25 minutes while you shower and dress). Packed with a zesty blueberry filling, they're drizzled and coated with a basic confectioners'-sugar glaze; the intense violet hue comes from ground freeze-dried blueberries, found in the supermarket snack aisle. A smattering of sprinkles might be gilding the lily, but trust us, no one will complain.
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Vegan Banana Bread
No dairy, no problem! Our vegan take on this perennial favorite quick bread is soft, sweet, and eminently sliceable. Bet you don't have just one piece!