On most mornings, I’ll sacrifice just about anything for an extra five minutes of sleep. But I’ll always try to make time for my morning munch.

Most of the time I only have a few minutes, but I’ve managed to find a few go-tos that I can either eat quickly or take on my way to class.

To follow are three of my favourite on-the-go breakfast ideas. You’ll find that there’s a sweet theme, as I’m much more of a sweet person than savoury. Plus, knowing that there’s a treat waiting for me helps pull me out of bed in the morning. 

Date balls

These are so decadent that I’ll usually just have one, even though they’re only each about the size of a ping pong ball. All I do is combine and knead date paste (which can be found at most grocery stores), ground nuts, dried fruit and some cinnamon in a large bowl. Then I roll the mixture into little balls, roll them around in some coconut (or more ground nuts if you’re not too in love with the coco) and pop them into the fridge. It takes five minutes to prepare beforehand, and then it’s all ready to grab and go for the mornings. To save more time, prepare the date mix the night before.  

Fruit and peanut butter sandwiches

Peanut butter is a student staple, but sometimes just having it with toast gets boring. I like to sandwich peanut butter between sliced bananas or apples to make a few fruit “sandwiches”. When I’m feeling fancy, I’ll add granola, nuts, honey and/or dried fruit in there too. I opt for bananas if I’m making these the night before, as the apple slices will brown.

Fruit salad

This one’s a simple pleasure. Just chop up the fruit you have in the fridge and throw it all into a Tupperware you can take in the morning. It’s straightforward, but sometimes I like having food that I can peck at throughout a morning class. It’s also much cheaper than the ones they sell at Starbucks or grocery stores.