My favorite holiday meal isn't the Thanksgiving feast or the Christmas dinner. As much as I love these big meals where we congregate together around one long table, what I really love is brunch. In my house, brunch is the morning-after meal, a casual affair as people trickle downstairs in flannel pajamas with hair askew, rubbing sleep from their eyes, drawn into the kitchen by rich aromas of baked eggs and the irresistible scent of cinnamon rolls. It's a leisurely meal, as plates clatter and sleepy folks cradle mugs of hot coffee, relaxed and joking. Brunch expresses the best of everything I love about the holidays: Family, warmth, togetherness in the kitchen.
It's also a relaxed meal for the cook, with plenty of options for make-ahead dishes like casseroles with bacon, eggs, and potatoes, and sweet rolls glazed with lemon. These are generous dishes that stand up to the Thanksgiving meal itself for sheer deliciousness.
Read on for 15 of our favorites: A ricotta-cinnamon strata, no-knead pumpkin cinnamon rolls, a simple oven omelet and other dishes that will draw your family out of bed and into the kitchen.
SWEET, INDULGENT BRUNCH RECIPES
Let's start with the sweet stuff: Cream cheese breakfast bars, lemon strata, a buttery coffee cake and more. Most of these can be prepared the night before and baked off in the morning — see individual recipes for details (if you have questions on recipe specifics post them here and we'll do our best to answer).
• 1 Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Breakfast Bars
• 2 Lemon Brioche Baked French Toast
• 3 Apple and Cinnamon Whole Grain Breakfast Strata
• 4 Apple Bettelman (Alsatian bread pudding)
• 5 Overnight Buttery Streusel Coffee Cake
EGGY, SAVORY CASSEROLE RECIPES
But you want something savory too — how about easy do-ahead mini quiches? Or a quick oven omelet? Again, these can all be prepped ahead of time and just baked in the morning while you're making coffee and cutting up fruit.
• 6 Bacon, Potato & Egg Breakfast Casserole
• 7 "Ham and Cheese" Breakfast Casserole
• 8 Pancetta and Cinnamon Ricotta Casserole
• 9 Christmas Breakfast Strata
• 10 Basic Oven Omelet
• 11 Crustless Mini-Quiches
CINNAMON ROLLS & MORE
Here are four tried-and-tested recipes for delicious morning rolls. These are one of the best ways to make brunch ahead of time. Take a look at these basic instructions for making any sweet roll ahead of time and baking them the next day:
• Sleep In! How to Make Breakfast Rolls Ahead of Time
• 12 Kugelhopf Breakfast Rolls
• 13 No-Knead Pumpkin Rolls with Brown Sugar Glaze
• 14 IKEA-Inspired Cinnamon Rolls
• 15 Sticky Lemon Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze
What are your favorite recipes for family brunch? Anything special or indulgent you only trot out this time of year?
Related: 10 Make-Ahead Breakfasts to Start Your Day Off Right
(Images: See linked recipes for full image credits)
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I had previously bookmarked the lemon brioche french toast and forgotten about it, but that's what I'm making for thxgvn brnch!
Google "Land of Nod Cinnamon Rolls." Easy and amazing.
i can not get enough of this apple cake, which would be a delicious addition to a brunch: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/dessert/recipe-apple-yogurt-cake-with-a-cinnamonsugar-streak-141995
"2 *cans* refrigerated crescent rolls"? Seriously, you have tinned *rolls* in the States? I can't even imagine how this works. Oh, no, I see, it's tinned roll *dough*. Any suggestions for lower-tech Aussies? We have frozen puff & shortcrust pastry and pastry sheets, would this work? Or could I make a similar dough on the dough cycle of my breadmaker?
My family's favourite Boxing Day breakfast is summer pudding with clotted cream, made in the week before Xmas; but, as I say, we live in Aus, so it's summer @ Xmastime and HOT.
My family's favourite Boxing Day breakfast is summer pudding with clotted cream, made in the week before Xmas; but, as I say, we live in Aus, so it's summer @ Xmastime and HOT. And we don't have Thanksgiving of course. We have Melbourne Cup Day instead! And it's usually hot, too (and windy, and rainy: it's Melbourne!)
I'm from Argentina, and it's HOT in here too. We usually eat vitello tonnato sandwiches! Yeah, It's actually a savory but cool dish, and we love it in my family!
These look delicious but might waistline can't take it! Anything just as delicious but calorie-counting?
@UrbanMammal I believe that some folks have made that recipe with puff pastry instead of the crescent roll dough.
Last year I decided that since I had hosted both Thanksgiving & Christmas dinners for the past 20 yrs I would change it up and do a Christmas late morning brunch. Wonderful! Menu items were chosen for their ability to be made-ahead & self-serve, all that was left was the final heating/baking. Early guests help set the buffet and plate individual treats. There was a toaster "station" with butter and assorted fruit spreads, a beverage station on the kitchen counter, juices, coffees, mimosas etc. I was free for once to enjoy the day!
The author is right, and it was absolutely stress free. Already planning this years brunch once I get through Thanksgiving (maybe Chinese take-out lol)
Our blended family tradition is that everyone comes to Chez Mom (that's me) for Boxing Day breakfast... There are sure to be some new traditions in those recipes! Can't wait to try them.
Thanksgiving Day, I'll be sending my husband out for bagels while I get to cooking.
Christmas Day breakfast in my family has always been monkey bread and Bailey's-spiked coffee.