LiveBest: Speed up your morning with this make-ahead breakfast sandwich

With summer behind us and school bells ringing, the leisurely mornings have disappeared. For something quick, you could pour a bowl of cereal. You could drop something in the toaster. You could have made overnight French toast. Yesterday.

Or you could eat something that tastes good and won’t find you scrounging for a snack in an hour. Something that takes the chaos out of morning. Or in my case, something that satisfies hungry friends.

I needed to feed buddies after a bike ride. I didn’t want hangry cyclists nor did I want to be stuck in the kitchen chopping and stirring while they were chatting in the other room.

The day before the bike brunch, I whipped up a make-ahead breakfast sandwich. I baked a thin omelet that I cut in squares and layered with cheese on whole-wheat English muffins. Within 30 minutes, I had 12 sandwiches stashed in the fridge.

Cut to the day of the ride. While they were drinking coffee, I heated the sammies for 10 minutes at 350°F. When I delivered them with a big bowl of strawberries, they said things like: These are delicious. I like that they’re not messy. Oooo, I like the green onion. Neat and easy to eat.

These egg muffins are great for crazy, busy mornings, before practice, or breakfast for dinner nights. Green onion added a spicy freshness. I used cheddar cheese but Swiss or pepper jack would be good. Consider adding a slice of tomato or avocado or handful of spinach or arugula after heating. And the whole-wheat English muffins added some fiber.

If you’re a meal prepper, these egg muffins are also a freezer breakfast sandwich. Freeze in an airtight container. No need to wrap in plastic or foil. Grab one from the freezer, wrap in a paper towel to keep it from getting soggy and microwave at 50 percent power for 1 minute. Quicker than you can pour a cup of coffee and toast a pastry you’re eating a handheld, protein-rich breakfast.

Green Onion Egg and Cheese Sandwich

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 1 cup sliced green onions, about 12 onions

12 large eggs

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

6 cheddar cheese slices, cut in half

12 whole-wheat English muffins

Spray a jellyroll pan (15x10) lightly with cooking spray, drop butter in pan, scatter onions over pan. Set oven to 350°F. Place pan in oven.

Lay English muffin halves on a baking sheet and toast while the eggs are baking.In a large bowl, stir eggs, water, salt, and pepper until well mixed.

When oven reaches 350°F, stir onions and carefully pour eggs into pan. Bake 10 minutes, rotate pan and if necessary bake 3-5 minutes more until eggs are set. The eggs will continue to cook after you take them from the oven.Cut eggs into 4 rows by 6 rows, so you have 24 squares. On one half of English muffin, layer one egg square, cheese half, another egg square. Top with muffin.

Egg and cheese sandwiches can be made ahead and when refrigerated, will keep for up to 4 days. Or freeze in airtight container for up to 2 months.

To reheat, bake for 10 minutes at 350°F or if frozen, wrap in paper towel, microwave at 50% power for 1 minute.