Whole Grain Breakfasts

This crispy, lightly sweet, brittle-like granola is made with high-fiber oats and protein-rich seeds, including flaxseeds, which are also high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Erin McKenna developed the recipe because of a single determined customer who every day asked, “Do you have scones yet?”

Using polenta (cornmeal) in addition to white flour in these pancakes makes them especially satisfying, as the ground whole grain delivers lots of fiber and a good amount of protein.

Orange marmalade gives these homey muffins a unique flavor, and the whole grains make them a more virtuous alternative to cupcake-like pumpkin muffins.

Many people miss out on the nutty flavor and nubby texture of oatmeal made with steel-cut oats because they assume it’s too time-consuming to prepare. But if you soak the oats overnight, they cook in just 10 minutes.

“This breakfast will make your day so productive,” says Jill Donenfeld about her maple syrup-sweetened quinoa. Quinoa is naturally loaded with protein and fiber.

Spike Mendelsohn was inspired by the new beehive in the White House garden to make these lovely, not-too-sweet muffins. “I’m not a big breakfast eater, but I have muffins in my house right now,” he says.

Heidi Swanson, who blogs about healthy food, shares this lightened bread pudding in her cookbook, Super Natural Every Day.

“You can make this with any grain or fruit that goes with yogurt,” says Malin Elmlid. For her version of this cold cereal, she uses plain rolled grains, like oats or spelt, moistened with apples, coconut water and yogurt. When a friend brought her a goji-berry tree to barter for bread, she added a few berries right from the branch.

Lionel Vatinet developed this hearty bread—a good source of fiber—to satisfy his Eastern European customers.

When baking these scones, be sure to use whole wheat pastry flour, which is less dense than whole wheat flour. Mixing in some all-purpose white flour also lightens the texture of the scones, so they’re more delicate and tender.

These gingery, nutrient-packed bars use only natural sweeteners like brown rice syrup and natural cane sugar. “Brown rice syrup has a nice, round flavor that doesn’t give you the jolt of sweetness that processed sugars do,” Heidi Swanson says. The recipe itself is very versatile: “Once you get the hang of the technique, you can swap in all kinds of other nuts, spices and dried fruit.”