December is a month for all things warm and comforting — favorite holiday movies, snuggly blankets, twinkly lights and hot beverages from cocoa to mulled wine. Chances are that Thanksgiving may have left you overwhelmed at the thought of getting back into the kitchen, but we have you covered. These delicious and seasonal breakfast delights are the perfect way to cozy up in the mornings this month, and we have one for each weekend in December!
Plus, with local farmers’ markets* still swinging, it’s easy to pop down and grab fresh, seasonal produce. Feel free to swap any of the flavors in the following recipes based on what’s available at your local market or independent grocer! And you can even package them up in festive glass jars or other reusable containers to gift away as you choose. All you have to do now is pick one to tackle, and get cookin’!
*Find local market options at the following websites: Contra Costa Certified Farmers’ Markets, See California, California Farmers’ Markets Association, and KQED’s Bay Area Bites.
Cranberry Orange Overnight Oats
Recipe by Broma Bakery (Makes 2 servings)
Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- ⅔ cup yogurt (any kind you prefer!)
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- zest of ½ orange
- ½ orange, diced
- ½ cup pecans, or any local nut
- To make it your own, add any of your favorite toppings or spices in addition, and prepare to be wowed by how easy and tasty this morning treat is.
Instructions
- In a pint-sized mason jar, combine all ingredients. Mix thoroughly and cover with lid.
- Place jar in fridge overnight, then serve!
Sourdough Cheese Herb Scones
Recipe courtesy of CUESA (Makes 7 servings)
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough*
- ¼ cup lard, butter, or combination
- ¼ cup sprouted spelt flour, or unbleached white flour, plus more as needed
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder**
- ¼ cup packed grated cheddar cheese, preferably sharp
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs such as oregano, thyme, sage, and marjoram or 1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs
*Learn how easy it is to make sourdough here.
**You can substitute instant tapioca or cornstarch for arrowroot powder.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F and grease a cast-iron skillet with lard or butter. Put skillet in the oven to get it hot.
- In a bowl, cut together the sourdough and lard or butter, and then mix with a spoon until well combined.
- In a smaller bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, arrowroot powder, cheese, and herbs. If you’re using dried herbs, rub them between the palms of your hands before adding to the flour—this helps release their flavor.
- Add the flour mixture to the sourdough mixture and combine gently but thoroughly. If the mixture seems wet, add a bit more flour.
- Carefully remove the skillet from the oven.
- Using a ¼-cup measure, put mounds of dough onto the skillet. Return the skillet to the oven.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Serve with butter.
Cranberry Pecan Spiced Skillet Granola
Recipe by Strength & Sunshine (Makes 5 servings)
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 ½ cups puffed millet
- 1 ½ cups dried cranberries (sweetened or unsweetened, freeze-dried preferred)
- 1 cup raw unsalted pecan pieces, or other local nut
- 1 tablespoon roasted flax seed, or flax meal
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons Stevia syrup, or ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon 100% cranberry juice
- 2 whole cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the cinnamon sticks and mix together well until all is coated and blended.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet on the stove over high heat for 3 minutes. Once hot, pour the granola into the skillet. Add the cinnamon sticks to the granola mixture.
- Cook the granola over medium heat stirring often, for about 20-25 minutes. When the cranberries shrivel and start to darken, the granola will be ready.
- Turn off the heat, remove the cinnamon sticks, and let cool in the skillet before storing in an airtight container.
Asian Breakfast Tacos
Recipe by Molly Yeh, courtesy of Betty Crocker
Ingredients
- 1 large potato
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 12 ounces breakfast pork sausage
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 6 eggs
- Water
- 4 green onions, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons gochujang (Korean chile pepper paste)
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 6 tortillas
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°F. Chop potato into 1/2-inch cubes. In medium bowl, toss potato with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in single layer on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until tender and lightly browned.
- Meanwhile, in another medium bowl, mix sausage, 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, the maple syrup, ginger, pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil. In 10-inch skillet, cook sausage mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up sausage into small crumbles, until no longer pink.
- In small bowl, beat eggs, splash of water and 2 tablespoons of the green onions. Scramble eggs in 8-inch skillet. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- When potatoes are done, toss in mixture of remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, remaining 1 teaspoon sesame oil, the gochujang and lemon juice.
- Warm tortillas in skillet or in microwave. Assemble tacos with tortillas, sausage, eggs, potatoes and remaining green onions.
Spiced Parsnip Cake
Recipe courtesy of Food52 (Makes one cake)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
- ½ cup almond meal flour (2 ounces)
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut (1 ½ ounces)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon French four spice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¾ cup superfine or castor sugar (5 ¼ ounces)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 cups shredded parsnips (about 2 large parsnips)
- Maple Buttermilk Glaze
- Combine ¼ cup maple syrup and ¼ cup unsalted butter in microwave safe container. Heat until maple syrup starts to boil and butter is melted or close to it. Allow to cool for several minutes, then whisk in ½ cup buttermilk (room temperature).
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325º F with a rack near the center. Grease your 9- by 13-inch glass cake pan with butter or non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Combine the first nine ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk about 30 seconds to fully mix and aerate the flour some. Set aside.
- Combine the remaining ingredients, excluding the parsnips, in a medium bowl. Whisk well to combine. The sugar should dissolve before proceeding to the next step.
- Dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until almost incorporated — like making pancake batter. Add the parsnips and stir until just incorporated.
- Pour into prepared cake pan, and bake until center springs back or a toothpick inserted near center come out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack, and immediately pour the glaze over the hot cake, trying not to let much glaze spill between the cake and the pan. I sometimes pierce the surface of the cake with a fork to allow the glaze to seep in better.
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