Baby Breakfast Ideas from other Bloggers

Watching Pickle eat his breakfast is, without a doubt, my favourite part of the day. Not only is it the one time I’m guaranteed to be able to drink a hot cup of tea, but we just sit and kind of grin at each other for about half an hour, whilst he crams as much as he can in his mouth (before dropping it all on the floor, obviously). The only thing is… I’ve gotten stuck in the habit of just giving him a slice of buttered toast. Every day. And whilst I’m sure there’s probably nothing wrong with that (even though LPD is slightly nervous about Pickle’s white bread intake), it’d be nice to mix it up a bit and try something new. I asked some blogging friends to share some of their baby breakfast ideas and I’ve collated them all here: a tick list of new breakfast foods to try!

Porridge

Kristine from Max and Kai suggested porridge, which funnily enough, was the first proper ‘meal’ Pickle ate whilst we were at Center Parcs last year. It was only a free jar so I didn’t make it myself, and ever since, I’ve been a bit nervous to try making my own porridge as I haven’t been sure what kind of milk to use. And the idea of pumping milk especially for breakfast is a bit more of a faff than putting a slice of bread in the toaster.

I particularly like the idea of porridge fingers, suggested by Niki from Play and Learn Everyday and Jenny from Monkey and Mouse and I found this recipe floating around in a online Mums forum:

3 level tbsp porridge oats (not instant oat cereal), 3 tbsp milk

In a bowl, soak the oats in the milk until you have a mushy mixture. Press the mixture into a small, flat-bottomed dish or bowl using the back of a spoon. Cook in microwave for 2mins on high. Cut in to fingers while still hot and serve when cool.

Or oven cook for about 15mins at 190c/375f/gas mark5

Try pressing some ready to eat raisins or sultanas into the top of the oat mixture before you cook it.

I think one of my NCT Mummy friends has had great success with making these too, so will have to ask her for some tips and tricks.

Incidentally, if you’re in the market for some comforting porridge for yourself, my friend Katie Pix also has some stonking ideas for porridge toppings over on her YouTube channel. How good does the Caramel Apple topping sound?! YUM.

Pancakes

As someone who LOVES pancakes, I can’t believe I’ve not figured out these would be a perfect breakfast food for us. Kelly from Nature Mum Blog has what looks like an amazing recipe for Banana and Cinnamon Pancakes. And it looks like it couldn’t be simpler – just mash up a banana, add a couple of eggs and you’re onto a winner.

Fruit

I sometimes worry that I’m giving Pickle too much stodge (and I can usually tell from what comes out the other end how well hydrated he is!), so a nice big bowl of juicy fruit for breakfast as suggested by Jessica from Beauty and the Bibs sounds like a wonderful idea. Pickle would love it too, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen him turn down a piece of fruit! Or, I could do as Siobhan does from The Baby Boat Diaries and occupy Pickle with a bit of fruit whilst I prepare something else.

A word of warning though: if you are worried about baby’s digestion and getting a bit constipated, limit how much banana they have. Apparently, that doesn’t help!

Muffins

A whole host of different handmade muffins were suggested! And I have to say, they all sound a lot easier to make than I’d have thought (with the added bonus of being perfect for batch-making, freezing and defrosting). Lauren from Mummy is a Gadget Geek was a fan of Banana Bran muffins. I found this recipe for them on the BBC Good Food website but I’m not sure if you’d have to adapt it slightly to be suitable for babies or if it’s fine just as it is? If anyone knows – let me know! And I can edit this passage so that other readers benefit too.

Brilliantly, Amy from Eps and Amy shared her recipe for Weetabix muffins with me and I’m itching to try this one:

Mix 2 weetabix, 2 eggs, 1/2 muller yogurt, and a bit of vanilla essence
Bake at 180 for 20-25 mins

Top the Toast

And for the days when I’m reaching for the comfort blanket of toast, Laura from Five Little Doves and Alex from Lamb and Bear both recommended just switching the toppings up: jam, peanut butter, cream cheese, avocado, honey (for children aged over 12 months only), mashed banana. I wonder which will be Pickle’s favourite?

I’m sure there are even more baby breakfast ideas out there, but this will definitely keep me going for a little while and has given me a bit of motivation to be more adventurous. As long as I can still sit down and enjoy my morning brew and get a few cheeky baby smiles, long may breakfast remain my favourite time of the day.

Recipes galore…

And as a special treat, let me also send you in the direction of Nicola from Mummy to Dex. She has the most incredible range of baby led weaning recipes for all meal times on her site and I can’t wait to get working through these. YUM.