ISO portable b'fast food (recipe) I can put together the night before and pop in the oven in the morning

[The Oracle]

I live about 2 minutes away from my BF's work. We are celebrating an anniversary this week, and I'd love to take him something yummy for b'fast, first thing in the morning, before I head to work.

The problem is - I am not a morning person! To put together a recipe bleery-eyed could likely be a cooking disaster.

Does anyone have any recipes I could put together night before, pop in the refrigerator and then just put in the oven in the morning?? I'd love the idea of showing up at his work with something still warm - 'fresh from the oven'.

The tricky thing is it has to be easily portable and easy to handle (like finger foods - scones/muffins/etc). I have a killer overnight coffee cake recipe that would be perfect, but it's too gooey and bulky - and I don't think would work to put in muffin tins. I'd also like to take enough so he can share with co-workers (10-20 servings of whatever) - but this is not as important of a criteria.

Anything come to mind? Or do I just need to sacrifice sleep for a killer early morning treat? Any and all recipe suggestions are appreciated (as my recent go at blueberry muffins was a minor disaster!)

[The Oracle]

REPORT:

Thank you everyone for the wonderful suggestions!!! I can't wait to try various variations - as I'm always trying to think up a creative 'treat' and my mind usually goes blank.

As for the food delivery: I loved the homemade cinnamon roll idea (ok, perhaps those would have been more for ME than him), but I didn't get to the task at hand til about 11pm, and didn't want to be up all night waiting for the dough to rise, etc.

I had some puff pastry in the freezer that was getting close to being in there too long - so I opted to make these mini pains au chocolat (super easy, can be made the night before, and sure-fire hit). I usually use high-end chocolate, but opted for the 1 pound TJ milk chocolate and a dab of nutella in each.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/rec...

In hind site - I would have baked them last night - or put them in a different container to transport. They took a little longer to bake than usual and I quickly put them (hot) in one of those big 9x12-ish tupperware containers (ack - what was I thinking?! ...see why I don't bake in the AM?! the brain is still asleep!) - and when I delivered them, he was in a meeting - so I left the container there (covered/sealed - doh!) and I'm sure my perfectly light and crispy puff pastry got steamed and soggy. ugh. it's the thought that counts, right? ;

)

Fortunately, there were a few that didn't fit in the container... so I'll get to enjoy some when I get home from work today and see how the chocolate/nutella combo worked.

Thanks again for all the ideas - I love all the creative suggestions/touches and am looking forward to expanding my slowing growing 'kitchen' skills with your expertise!

[content]

Hi Oracle,

Hope you and he enjoyed the chocolate puff pastries. :)

Would you care to share that killer overnight coffee cake recipe?

[The Oracle]

Absolutely! Here you go - (it's definitely not for you, if you have an aversion to using 'boxed' mixes in your baking) - but it's insanely easy and comes out wonderfully.

Overnight Coffee Cake

1 package frozen bread rolls (Bridgeford)
1 stick better (melted)
1 package vanilla pudding mix (the cood n serve NOT instant)
1/2 c. chopped nuts (pecans)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon

Put as many frozen bread rolls as you can fit in the bottom of the bundt pan (don't thaw the rolls).

Over the rolls, pour 1 stick melted butter.
Over the butter, sprinkle the package of dry vanilla pudding mix
Over that, sprinkle nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Cover it loosely with wax paper and place it on the counter overnight. (the dough will rise).

Bake the next morning at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Flip onto a plate and serve immediately.

Note: around the holidays, I can never seem to buy the frozen rolls before they sell out - so I've bought the premade frozen Bridgeford loaves (3 to a pack) and cut them in 1 1/2-2 inch slices and put a layer of slices in my bundt pan, and it works just as well. Also - since the recipe is a hand-me-down a couple times over, I never am sure if it's a small package or large package of the vanilla pudding. I think I always opt for the larger package of the cook n serve and it comes out just fine.

Enjoy.

[gourmanda]

That sounds great! And so easy for company. Just a question: how come a Bundt pan? do the rolls rise too much for a regular round cake pan?

[crosby_p]

I'm a fan of a sort of breakfast burrito that I make in a kind of assembly line! I scramble a dozen eggs with a little heavy cream, and some spices like cumin, s+p etc. Then I put out flour tortillas (the smaller ones) and put some egg on each, along with grated good cheese, perhaps some scallion and small bits of tomato. I then roll them up and wrap each individually in foil and stick them in the freezer. By the time I've arrived at work the next morning and am ready for breakfast, they're thawed. I pop one in the microwave and eat with some salsa and sour cream. It's a bit of work but when you're done you have quite a few breakfasts that you don't have to cook!

[The Oracle]

That's a great idea - I wouldn't think the eggs would freeze well. Heck, I'd eat those for quick dinners!!

[Amanita]

I'm a big fan of non-sweet breakfasts, because if I eat sugar in the morning my energy plummets at around 11 AM. So I would recommend this incredible sun-dried-tomato-and-feta bread my daughter researched. Link no longer works, but it was to a recipe in French anyway. Basically, a couple cups of flour, two tsp baking powder, three eggs, 1/4 cup or so of milk, 1/4 cup or so of olive oil, a whole jar of sun-dried tomatoes, snipped into pieces, a bunch of fresh basil, snipped the same, and 200 g of feta cheese (just shy of a half pound, 250 g) cut in chunks. This is delightful and would make a nice muffin. My daughter always adds the oil from the jar of sun-dried toms and skips the olive oil. It would probably be healthier to ditch the oil from the tomatoes and use olive oil instead.

[The Oracle]

wow - what an interesting recipe! he would DEFINITELY like something like this - I think I'll try it using giant muffin tins. How big a jar of sun-dried tomatoes do you use?

[soypower]

I'm helping to feed breakfast to a church group on Friday and came across an interesting recipe for a breakfast roulade that sounded really great. Sounds like something you'd be able to assemble in advance and bake off in the morning...

http://www.perfectentertaining.com/pa...

[Chef Casper]

This is easy.
The quickest simplest answear would be- muffins.
Yes, muffin batter is actually much more versitile and beautiful than most people realize. Whenever I make muffins for myself I always make a batter than refrigerate it and bake a new muffin every morning, so I always get that "fresh-baked" quality.
But you could also make pancake/crepe batter and 'fridgerate that, or if you really want to blow his mind (and yours attempting to make it-) you could make souffles, and freeze the batter in the ramekins, then fresh bake those in the morning-
I have only heard of doing this from the book "Sweet life, desserts from Chantrell", and she actually has some good morning-food sounding ones. (such as maple walnut, or goat cheese and purple basil.)

[The Oracle]

Do you have a favorite muffin recipe you'd care to share? I've pulled some off this board, but haven't tried them yet. The one I used was from the Betty Crocker cookbook. I found them bland and dense.

[amyzan]

Be sure to use double acting baking powder if you choose to make muffin batter the night before baking. You'll need that extra oomph of the second rise when it hits the heat of the oven.

Single acting baking powder will leave you with hockey pucks after scooping and baking as letting it sits deflates the batter, and there's no second rise.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

My former boss made scrambled egg sandwiches with fococcia (sp?) for us one morning. She made the eggs the night before and assembled the sandwiches at work. You could heat the bread and reheat the eggs and assemble them at your house, put them in those disposable cake pans (maybe double them so they don't collapse) cover with tin foil to keep them warm and visit your BF at work.

In the summer I like a fruit crisp for breakfast. It is always a crowd pleaser and very easy to transport.

[DrBehavior]

How do you reheat scrambled eggs the morning after the night before at home and then take them to the office while still keeping them tasting fluffy, fresh, and worth eating? I've just never heard of anything like that before.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

Ouch! My former boss didn't worry about the fluffyness of her eggs nor did any of us who had the privilege of enjoying her delicious, thoughful gift.

[DrBehavior]

Sorry - I didn't mean for it to sound 'testy'. I was actually just being my curious self :)

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

sorry if I got testy too.

[Richard 16]

Polenta -- make it the night before and refrigerate in muffin tins, or in a pan then slice in the morning. It can be reheated in the morning, perhaps with some cheese or butter on top. There are, at a conservative estimate, 5,394,657 variations you could do. Onions, nuts/seeds, bacon, etc.

[DrBehavior]

I'd buy bagels, lox, and cream cheese the night before along with a fresh heirloom tomato. In the morning I'd toast the bagel, slather it with the cream cheese, load it up with the lox, and put the sliced tomato in a container. I think the picnic basket idea is great - so, I'd wrap the bagel etc., in a lovely white linen napkin and put it all in. As a bonus - I'd place a fluted champagne glass in the basket as well along with a container of ice cold orange juice. Just a thought - :)

[The Oracle]

Love this (and the fluted champagne glass idea!) nice touch!

[MobyRichard]

I was going to suggest something very similar: a BLT bagel, using (if you can find it) toasted onion cream cheese.

[piccola]

Make cinnamon rolls. They can rise overnight in the fridge, they can travel well if you keep them in the pan, and he can share the extras.

[hrhboo]

You could make a frittata, quiche or a savory (or sweet) strata. You can make it the night before and bake the morning of, then cut into neat squares/slices. Or you could bake up some muffins.

[purple goddess]

I'd take a picnic basket with various jams and marmalades and butter, and some lovely hot rolls (which I'd buy on the way!)

Bacon and eggs for breakfast, but served as a quiche?? (you could bake it the night before and re-heat... or serve cold)