Break Your Overnight Fast with These Breakfast Cookbooks

There is no better place to start than here. It is undoubtedly a cookbook, but it’s a whole lot more too. Emily Elyse Miller is an actual breakfast expert! In addition to scrumptious recipes, you’ll be treated to a dozen-ish essays from people around the world, describing their culture’s breakfast traditions. From dishes most Americans have probably heard of, such as Huevos Rancheros and Congee, to dishes that are more likely new to us, like Nasi Lemak and Firfir, there is no shortage of deliciousness in this book.

Lisa Steele comes from egg-loving people — she is a fifth generation chicken keeper. As host of the blog Fresh Eggs Daily, she’s provided tips on how to get started as a chicken tender (as in, folks who tend chickens — not your child’s favorite meal at KFC), how to keep chickens, and what to do with all them damn eggs! This cookbook includes meals you can enjoy any time of day but is primarily breakfast focused.

I haven’t polled every human on Earth (yet), but I bet if I did, a large chunk of them would say they don’t get to make fabulous breakfasts every morning because they’re too dang busy. Personally, I empathize with you but ol’ Katie Sullivan Morford would like you to start shining in the kitchen right after rising in your sleeping room. But don’t worry, she’s helped you out with 75+ recipes that she promises are “entry-level-easy” and take no more than five hands-on minutes of prep each.

I don’t condone those puns (I am very mean) but I do condone opening up a conversation about all the ways oatmeal can be prepared. Until a few years ago, I associated oatmeal with mush that you put a lil brown sugar on and then choke down. Then I was introduced to savory oats with eggs on them. Delicious! Christian Tosch is way ahead of me and has created an entire cookbook about savory and sweet oatmeal options. What a nice person!

Here come the vegans — and they’re bringing some delicious recipes. This pair of Germans run a very popular German blog on — wait for it — vegan food. In this tome devoted to breakfast, they focus on foods that are “fast, filling, fresh, and fun!” Well I’d love that! You’ll find a ton of unique options here, including glazed baked donuts, breakfast burritos, and pesto bread.

While Basile and Zanardi don’t agree with me 100% on the best meal of the day, there’s plenty of overlap between brunch and straight breakfast so I say, let’s fucking go! This book that celebrates all things brunch was shortlisted for the 2019 Taste Canada Awards in the Single Subject Cookbooks category and handily won the 2019 Gourmand Cookbook Awards for Street Food Cookbook and Breakfast Cookbook.

I must warn you in advance that while this homage to toasted bread has lots of breakfast recipes, it does delve into the brunch and even a few lunch and dinner recipes. I can forgive that because this cookbook is wisely separated into seasons. Recipes treat bread in all sorts of ways to get it to toasted status, from pan-frying to deep frying to putting it in a dang toaster and going to town. Some recipes celebrate simplicity, others are very technical and involved, and all of them are delicious (I imagine).

If you want maximum recipes from a truly special cookbook author, then you want this book. Packed with more than 280 recipes, Cunningham is bringing a lifetime of cooking for her family to you with these clever and delicious recipes. Do you wish you could make cereal from scratch? She’s got you covered. Do you want a quick breakfast that can feed 10 hungry literal lumberjacks? I imagine that’s covered in here, but as Cheryl Hines and Tig Notaro love to remind me, there’s no way to tell.

Not only can you eat bagels any time you want, but when you put pizza on a bagel, you are also legally allowed to eat pizza anytime. Whether you want to top that bagel with pizza toppings or schmears, this cookbook brings a ton of interesting ideas to the table. It also includes a recipe to make your own bagels with just five ingredients and dozens of variations.