A healthy, nutritious breakfast is an important part of our daily routine. But let’s be honest—sometimes you need a little sugar to start your day. From sugar-dusted donuts to fruit-filled pancakes and Nutella buns, these sweet breakfast treats make ideal accompaniments for a morning cup of coffee.
Donuts are awesome. What’s not to love about a rich, moist circle of dough, deep fried to perfection? If you like cake donuts, try our blueberry donuts with a blueberry jam glaze or triple coconut donuts made with coconut extract and oil and covered with toasted coconut flakes. For the yeast donut lover, you can’t go wrong with the berliner, a classic strawberry jelly-filled donut.
Sweet buns are a hearty way to start you day. You can’t beat a classic cinnamon roll with nuts, raisins, and cream cheese. If that’s not rich enough for you, try adding Nutella. For something that’s still rich but has a citrusy kick, our fragrant sweet orange buns are just the thing.
Crepes are a fun, elegant dish that can be customized however you’d like. For a fruity variation, try filling them with fromage blanc and maple syrup and topping them stewed blueberries, strawberries, and peaches. For something especially indulgent, roll crepes up with maple syrup and brown sugar.
As a kid you might have started your day with Pop-Tarts. We update the classic toaster pastry with tangy goat cheese and sweet strawberry jam.
Blur the line between breakfast and dessert with these sweet breakfast recipes.
Monkey Bread
This decadent pull-apart monkey bread loaf is composed of bite-sized yeasted rolls that get covered with a sticky-sweet brown sugar glaze and then baked together in a bundt pan.
Jelly-Filled Donuts (Berliners)
If piping the jelly into these donuts proves challenging, use a paring knife to hollow out the side of the donut, making a cavity for the jelly.
Coquito French Toast
Rich with coconut flavor and spiked with rum, this recipe falls somewhere between a decadent French toast and bread pudding.
Pain au Chocolat
Beautiful homemade croissants, each containing a bar of high-quality dark chocolate, make for an impressive and indulgent addition to a breakfast spread.
Sweet Orange Buns
Home cook Linda Worsley gave us the recipe for these luscious buns filled with fragrant orange-flavored butter.
Poppyseed Strudel (Mak Pirog)
Filled with a moist, sweet poppy seed paste, this rustic yeast-dough roulade is a comfort food eaten throughout Eastern and Central Europe.
Strawberry Loaf Bread
As a kid, I wasn’t really into cooking or baking, preferring instead to be outside playing soccer. The one thing that I did enjoy helping my mom make, however, was her strawberry bread: packed with fresh strawberries, I loved to eat it hot out of the oven slathered in butter. It’s so fast and easy, I make it all the time now, with whatever fresh or frozen fruits I have lying around. —Farideh Sadeghin, test kitchen director Get the recipe for Strawberry Loaf Bread »
Catalan Biscotti
The Hotel Empordà in Figueres often serves these cookies with its famous burnt cream ice cream.
Belgian Waffles
Maurice Vermesch baked these waffles (properly called Brussels waffles and, in Belgium, topped with just confectioners’ sugar) at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, but only after he sold them at the 1964-65 New York fair did they soar in popularity in this country. Vermersch’s daughter Mariepaule wouldn’t divulge her family’s recipe, but we think we’ve come very close. One tip she did reveal: Aunt Jemima self-rising flour produces a flavor that is the most like that of the original waffle.
Hungarian Sour Cherry Cake
Sweet and tangy, this Hungarian cake pairs perfectly with coffee. Frozen and thawed cherries can be used whenever fresh sour cherries are not in season.
Tozzetti (Anise, Almond, and Hazelnut Biscotti)
These Roman-style biscotti are a favorite of Nick Malgieri’s for their distinctive anise flavor and atypical baking method: the loose batter is poured onto a baking sheet and baked like a cake. The result is light biscotti with large chunks of almonds and hazelnuts.
Nutella on Ciabatta
Nutella, the hazelnut-chocolate spread, is perfect on ciabatta toast. It’s a popular breakfast throughout Europe.
