2 Time-Saving Breakfast Meal Prep Ideas: Donuts & Sandwiches

Homemade donut recipe

1. Make the donut dough

To make the donut dough, I used a basic bread recipe (amounts for 2 loaves) and added a teaspoon or so of vanilla and a teaspoon of cardamom.

I prepared the dough beforehand and let it rise. When you’re following the recipe, it will tell you to roll it out to make your bread loaf. Instead of doing that, I split my dough in half. I made one loaf of bread and set that aside to rise.

2. Cut the donuts out

With the other half of the dough, I rolled it out and then used a Mason jar like you would a cookie cutter to cut out the pieces of dough to make donut shapes. Then I set the donuts aside for the dough’s second rise as per the bread recipe instructions. Once the donuts have risen, we're going to fry them. 

If you want to make these in a big batch, they freeze well. I freeze them after I fry them. After taking them out of the freezer, put them on a sheet tray, and bake them at 350 just until they are not frozen anymore.

3. Heat the oil

Use Crisco to fry your donuts. Scrape the Crisco into the pan. Once it gets all melted and hot, I'll fry the donuts in it.

I have set aside a plate with some paper towels to soak up any of the excess oil that's going to be dripping off the fried donuts.

4. Fry the donuts

Once the Crisco starts to bubble in the pan, I'm going to start frying the donuts. Just drop them in the pan. They only take a couple of minutes on each side. You'll know when they're ready to flip if you pick them up and they're brown, crusted, and look golden.

I have never made the donuts without poking the donut hole in them, and I'm finding that these are taking a lot longer to cook through and to get golden. If you put the holes in them, they probably will take a lot less time to cook. Once they're done, take them out of the hot oil and drain them on the paper towel-covered plate. 

5. Chocolate topping (optional)

My kids did ask for chocolate, so I'm just going to melt some chocolate in the microwave for them to dip their donut top in. 

For the chocolate topping, all I'm going to do is melt down some chocolate chips that I have on hand. Pop them in the microwave, let them melt for a couple of seconds, and give the chocolate a good stir, and it'll be ready. 

Use a large spoon to scoop chocolate into, then pour the chocolate onto each individual donut. Once you’re done frosting the donuts, it’s time to check on your eggs that are baking in the oven.

Breakfast sandwich recipe

1. Bake eggs

I sprayed giant muffin tins with Pam, cracked an egg in each, and baked them in the oven at 350. They take eight minutes to cook in the oven. I wiggle the pan in the oven, and if the yolks wiggle, I leave them in for a little bit longer. 

I have learned that the best way to get the eggs out of the muffin pans is to use a spoon to loosen all around the sides of each egg cup, then scoop it out. It keeps the egg intact for the most part. 

2. Assemble the breakfast sandwiches 

All you need for these breakfast sandwiches are cooked sausage patties, optional cheese, and some type of bread. For my bread, I use English muffins. 

Toast the English muffin, add the egg on top of one half, place cheese on top of the egg, and a cooked sausage patty on top of that, then place the other half of the muffin on top.

Breakfast meal prep ideas

Breakfast meal prep can make the start of your day much less hectic. Now you have donuts and breakfast sandwiches ready for the week ahead. These are both very tasty breakfasts, so you'll also have a delicious meal each morning. 

Let me know what you think in the comments below.