12 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Mother's Day Brunch at Home

Put the kids to work on easy, one-bowl recipes like jammy blueberry scones, fluffy scrambled eggs, or a cinnamon-scented apple pancake.

The Serious Eats Team

Updated May 06, 2022

A piece of coffee cake on a plate — Vicky Wasik

Mother's Day is the perfect excuse to treat Mom to a homemade brunch. This set of recipes—including standards like French toast, vanilla-scented waffles, plush pancakes, fluffy scrambled eggs, and crispy bacon—was compiled with an eye for simplicity. Many of these main courses, sweets, and sides, like the coffee cake and cinnamon rolls, come together easily in one bowl, making them ideal projects to tackle with kids.

Others, like the cream biscuits, scrambled eggs, and banana-peanut butter oatmeal, can be cooked and on the table in under 30 minutes, so they're perfect for lazy, sleepy weekend mornings. Eggs en cocotte with tomatoes and goat cheese and the German apple pancake might sound and look fancy, but they're composed of techniques that even a toddler can help with. A little bit of planning ahead will ensure brunch is on the table and ready for Mom next Sunday morning—whether she likes to sleep in or not.

Perfect French Toast
J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
Here's the ideal ratio of eggs to milk to sugar for French toast that's as custardy as creme brûlée. It's also supremely crisp on the outside, thanks to an easy sugar glaze. Use slightly stale or dried out bread for best results, and serve a stack with butter and syrup—maple or homemade—or fresh berries, bananas, or an easy apple compote.
Get the recipe for Perfect French Toast
Fluffy Scrambled Eggs
Vicky Wasik
For the fluffiest scramble, salt the eggs before cooking. Add a touch of milk for creaminess, and cook them in a hot pan with butter for large, almost curly curds. (Here's how to make softer, more custardy scrambled eggs, if that's Mom's preference, and here's our best method for making them sunny-side up.)
Fluffy Scrambled Eggs
The Easiest and Best Bacon
J. Kenji López-Alt
The easiest and best bacon is bacon that's cooked in the oven. This recipes offers three different methods, depending on whether Mom likes crisp and wavy bacon, chewy and wavy bacon, or flat and crisp bacon (which is best for a breakfast sandwich). In each case, baking bacon on aluminum foil ensures it cooks evenly—and eliminates a lot of the messy clean up.
Get the recipe for The Easiest and Best Bacon
Eggs en Cocotte With Tomato and Goat Cheese
Vicky Wasik
Fun to assemble with kids, eggs en cocotte are just eggs baked in ramekins—usually with other ingredients—in a water bath in the oven. Because they're cooked slowly, the egg achieves a custard-like texture. Flavor variations are endless, but this version, a combination of tomato and goat cheese with a touch of rosemary, comes together pretty quickly.
Get the recipe for Eggs en Cocotte With Tomato and Goat Cheese
Continue to 5 of 12 below
Buttermilk Vanilla Waffles
Vicky Wasik
Smelling deeply of vanilla, these waffles are airy and crisp thanks to extra egg whites in the batter. Buttermilk adds a pleasant tang, and a small amount of baking soda along with powdered sugar promotes browning, tames buttermilk's acidity, and adds depth. Serve with salted butter and plenty of syrup on the side. Out of maple? Make your own brown sugar-based syrup or consider a rich pineapple syrup to complement the vanilla.
Get the recipe for Buttermilk Vanilla Waffles
Light and Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
Plush and fluffy as a down comforter, pancakes are a weekend brunch classic. For these, whipping the egg whites separately provides extra loft, while just the right ratio of baking soda and baking powder provides lift and ensures each pancake browns evenly.
Get the recipe for Light and Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
German Apple Pancake
Yvonne Ruperti
A cousin of the Dutch baby, this baked pancake is based on a simple, eggy batter that puffs up and cuddles around apple slices as it cooks. Cook and caramelize the apples first with butter and cinnamon-sugar to build in extra flavor, and let the pancake set a bit after it finishes baking before carefully inverting it onto a plate. A dusting of powdered sugar is an easy but fanciful finish.
Get the recipe for German Apple Pancake
The Best No-Fuss Cinnamon Rolls
Vicky Wasik
Plump with cinnamon-scented brown sugar and crunchy pecans, and slathered while still warm with a cream cheese frosting, this one-bowl, overnight cinnamon roll recipe is great as part of a breakfast spread or perfect on its own with cups of hot coffee. Start it the night before, let the rolls rise while you sleep, and bake them before Mom wakes up for a sticky and warmly spiced breakfast treat.
Get the recipe for The Best No-Fuss Cinnamon Rolls
Continue to 9 of 12 below
Blueberry-Lemon Scones
Vicky Wasik
Rich with coconut oil and coconut milk, these fruity (and vegan) scones are full of blueberries, which get jammy in the oven as the pastries bake. Lemon zest perks up the berry flavor, and a finishing sprinkle of turbinado sugar adds a sweet, crunchy finish.
Get the recipe for Blueberry-Lemon Scones
2-Ingredient Never-Fail Cream Biscuits
J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
Composed of just two ingredients, these biscuits are easy enough for the kids to make almost all by themselves. (N.B. Do not leave children unattended in the kitchen!) Self-rising flour—which you can easily make at home—omits the need for leavening agents and salt, while cream takes the place of buttermilk or milk and butter. Bonus: Start-to-finish, these can be on the table in less than 20 minutes.
Get the recipe for 2-Ingredient Never-Fail Cream Biscuits
Bananas Foster Oatmeal With Walnuts and Peanut Butter
Vicky Wasik
Sweetened with bananas and enriched with peanut butter, this is not your everyday bowl of oatmeal. Steel-cut oats and walnuts add textural crunch, while cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange zest are easy garnishes that scent the bowl with warmth.
Get the recipe for Bananas Foster Oatmeal With Walnuts and Peanut Butter
One-Bowl Coffee Cake
Vicky Wasik
Greek yogurt makes this simple breakfast cake soft and light with a pleasant tang. Lots of cinnamon, a bit of cardamom, and whole wheat flour in the crumb topping adds plenty of flavor and textural contrast.
Get the recipe for One-Bowl Coffee Cake

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12 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Mother's Day Brunch at Home

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