Cookies for breakfast! 🍪

These baked goods are designed to fuel workouts, but they can quicken up anyone’s morning routine

Breakfast has a rep as the most important meal of the day, but whether or not you buy the ad copy, the idea of a proper sit-down around the kitchen table is pretty much a fantasy for a lot of us. Kids have to be dropped off, adults gotta get to work, and me? I’ve gotta run—literally. As a baker I’m used to early mornings, but also I’m currently training for a triathlon, which can sometimes mean running 16 miles before 7 a.m. So I’ve gotta stay stocked up with quick, energizing bites that I can eat pre-run and protein-packed portable breakfasts for when I get back. 

Nothing gets me (and many of you, I dare say) out of bed faster than the promise of a breakfast pastry, so this week I’m sharing two of the mealtime treats I scarf before and after a run. Whether you’re sprinting around a track or just to get to the bus stop on time, you and your running—or snacking?—buddies will have all the fuel you need.

The review: The perfect make-ahead fuel for hectic mornings

This past spring, I was listening to Ali on the Run, a podcast hosted by a nonprofessional everyday runner like me, when a listener asked the host what her favorite “superhero muffin” flavor was. What is this marvelous muffin of which they speak? I wondered. I searched Instagram and was greeted with variations of delicious-looking baked goods filled with grated zucchini and carrot, nuts, oats, chocolate chips, and more. It quickly became obvious that these nutrient-rich muffins are kind of a big deal in the running community, and I traced them back to a 2016 cookbook for runners by Olympic silver medalist and NYC Marathon champ Shalane Flanagan and chef/nutrition coach Elyse Kopecky. 

I knew these sweet treats could never make me sprint at world-class speeds, but I was instantly hooked. They’ve since become my go-to for powering long runs while going easy on my gut. They have a good mix of carbs that burn quickly (honey and fruit) and slowly (oats), so they provide immediate energy but can also sustain me for a couple hours. Kopecky and Flanagan’s second cookbook’s stable of 24 muffin recipes, both sweet and savory, have kept me going ever since. Lately, I’ve been particularly hooked on their lemon-chia blueberry superhero muffins, a riff on my all-time favorite: lemon poppyseed.

“A superhero? Me?” Credit: Gabriella Vigoreaux

The batter comes together quickly. A dry mix including almond flour, oats, and chia seeds fold together with grated carrots, eggs, lemon zest, coconut oil, and honey. Some blueberries get stirred in, and the muffins bake for 25 minutes—during which your kitchen will begin to smell like buttery lemon shortbread (yet, no butter!).

Structurally these are more delicate than your average bakery muffin, so I recommend using liners so they don’t crumble when you’re getting them out of the pan. They’ll keep for a week in the fridge, or about three months in the freezer—and taste incredible nuked for 30 seconds or warmed up in the toaster oven.

If you’re expecting a traditional sweet muffin that flirts with being a cupcake, these are not for you. They are smaller, heartier, and have more texture thanks to the oats and carrots. They’re just sweet enough for the mornings, but I have been known to eat one for dessert with a drizzle of honey. 

Even on non-run days, I find myself reaching for ‘em after my eggs or as a grab-and-go breakfast on frantic mornings. Unlike your typical jumbo coffee shop offering, they’re packed with whole grains, healthy fats, and veggies, so they don’t spike my energy or cause a midmorning crash. When it comes to those extra-hard-effort days, however, I pull a different recovery dish out of my sleeve. Cookies for breakfast anyone?

The recipe: These cookies made me break up with my protein bar