My husband leaves early for work, before breakfast is ready. So, he typically eats breakfast in the car. This requires food that is portable, easy to prepare in the early morning, and at least somewhat nutritious.
After a couple months of breakfast burritos and sausage sandwiches, it was time to find something different to send. So I started experimenting. Last week, I created these make ahead freezable stuffed breakfast rolls that work perfectly for a portable breakfast.
And best of all? The recipe made 36 rolls. The entire family ate these for breakfast and we still had plenty to put in the freezer. Now I just stick one in the microwave for a minute before my husband leaves, and wrap it in foil to help hold the heat in.
If you’d like to increase the amount of breakfast foods you have in your freezer, definitely give this recipe a try!
Disclaimer: I am NOT a food blogger. You won’t find beautiful step-by-step pictures. Honestly, I didn’t even think about taking pictures until I had them all rolled up. 😀 But, hopefully you can figure out the written directions.
The Experiment
My original plan was to make some homemade breakfast hot pockets. I used to love making this recipe from Money Saving Mom. The dough has a wonderful texture, and I knew it was a good recipe.
But, I didn’t want to spend the time to roll and fill each individual pocket. I never seem to seal them correctly, so they always explode when I bake them. Exploded hot pockets are not good to eat in the car! They’re too messy.
I knew there had to be a different way that’d work better for my family.
So once the dough was ready to work with, and my filling was done, I divided the dough into rough thirds. I used a little butter to grease a cookie sheet, and patted one third out onto the sheet. I kept patting until the entire cookie sheet was covered.
Then, I spread a third of the filling down the middle of the dough, lengthwise. Once I had it spooned on, I spread it out a bit. Then I started rolling the dough, cinnamon roll style. The filling got trapped in the dough and I ended up with a log shaped roll of stuffed dough.
I repeated this process twice more, using up the remaining dough and filling. Then I cut each log into 12 rolls. These baked up quite nicely in 20 minutes.
Here they are getting ready to bake:
When they came out, I spread a little butter on top to help keep them soft.
The Recipe
Here’s the recipe, with the filling modified slightly from the original on Money Saving Mom. I will say, this dough recipe is like none other I’ve ever made. It takes time to make, but most of that time is hands off, so it’s really easy.
Ingredients for the Incredible Dough
9 cups flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
4 1/2 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp. salt
1 cup melted butter
Put the flour in a large bowl, and make a crater in the center. (The kids like this part!)
In a medium sized bowl, beat your eggs with the sugar and yeast. Put the milk in a small bowl, and scald it in the microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. When it’s done, add the water and mix gently.
Dump the milk and water mixture into the egg bowl. Stir this until well combined. Add the salt and mix well.
Now you’re going to take this liquid mixture, and dump it into the crater you made in the flour. Then stop. Don’t stir it. Instead, cover it with a flour sack towel (or plastic wrap) and let it sit for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, add the melted butter and mix it all well.
Recover it and let it sit for an hour. The dough is now ready to make the stuffed rolls.
Ingredients for the Hearty Filling
I wanted a hearty filling to help keep my husband full until lunch. So I beefed up the original filling with some diced ham. This worked well because I had cooked a ham a couple days before and had leftovers to use.
You’ll need:
12 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons of butter
1 pound of breakfast sausage
1 cup of frozen pepper/onion mix (I buy this at Winco. I think it’s technically called pepper stir fry, but it just has strips of different colored bell peppers and onions.)
2 cups diced, cooked ham
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Cook your sausage in a large frying pan until it’s nicely browned and no pink remains. Add in the peppers and onions.
Stir in the diced ham, and cook until it’s hot.
Now, push this meaty mixture to one side of the pan, leaving a bare area on the other side. Melt the butter in this space, and add in the beaten eggs. Scramble them slightly before stirring the eggs into the meat mixture.
When the eggs are fully cooked, turn off the heat. Then sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top.
Put It All Together
Following the directions above (divide the dough into thirds, spread each third out onto a greased cookie sheet, put a third of the filling in the middle of each, and roll up lengthwise) prepare your stuffed rolls for baking.
After you cut each log into rolls, place the rolls cut side up on the baking sheets. Let rise for twenty minutes.
Then bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until slightly browned.
When they come out, use a kitchen brush to spread melted butter on the top of each.
Eat some immediately if you’d like, and then freeze the rest.
Freezing the Stuffed Breakfast Rolls
To freeze the rolls, I let them cool a bit. Then, I put each one in a sandwich bag. I put a dozen of these bagged rolls into a gallon sized freezer bag. This double protection helps keep freezer burn at bay.
When you’re ready to reheat, pull out the number of rolls you need. Heat each one in the microwave for a minute, or until hot.
Enjoy!
What Other Portable, Make Ahead Breakfasts Do You Enjoy?
I’m always on the lookout for portable breakfasts like these stuffed breakfast rolls. Do you have any recipes you recommend? I’d love you to share your ideas in the comments!