Q: I want to start a special Christmas breakfast tradition for my family (me, my husband, and our 4-year-old daughter). I just don't know a lot of breakfast recipes! Can you recommend anything?
It has to fit some qualifications. We don't want to spend too long cooking on Christmas morning, because we're going in the afternoon to my in-laws house, so it needs to be quick to make or prepped to go ahead of time. If it's pre-prepared, we have to be able to make it the morning before, or sooner, because we're spending Christmas Eve at my sister's house! Any good ideas? Thank you.
Sent by Tamara
Editor: What a sweet idea to start an annual Christmas tradition for your family! We also completely understand your need for something quick or that can easily be made ahead.
Happily, most breakfast casseroles can be made the day before, refrigerated, and baked the next morning. Even breakfast rolls can be made ahead, refrigerated, and then baked. You could also do something that's quick, but feels extra special, like making crepes for your whole family (fancier than pancakes!) or buttermilk biscuits with special holiday jams.
Take a look at these posts for some ideas:
• Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
• Fresh and Light! Modern Breakfast Casseroles
• Sticky Lemon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze (always a favorite!)
• Sleep In! How to Make Breakfast Rolls Ahead of Time
• Before the Turkey: 8 Breakfasts for Thanksgiving Morning
Readers, what are your favorite Christmas breakfasts?
Related: Breakfast on the Go: Scones
(Image: Faith Durand)

Comments (17)
We're having savory bread pudding (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Savory-Bread-Pudding-with-Mushrooms-and-Parmesan-Cheese-236494) and sausage. Yummy!
Our family usually does a baked french toast - there are tons of recipes out there. We mix it up the night before and throw it in the oven the morning of.
This is our traditional Christmas morning breakfast - made the day before. It's actually better when you make it ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge before baking.
Cornflake Casserole
Remove crusts from 8 slices of good white bread (I use Pepperidge Farm) and arrange in the bottom of a 13x9 dish. Next arrange a layer of sliced cheddar cheese on bread to completely cover. Next layer is cooked maple sausage.
In a bowl mix 6 eggs and 3 cups of milk, pour over casserole. Then I sort of poke at everything to make sure the sausage and cheese is still evenly covering the dish.
Let sit in fridge until Christmas morning.
The morning of, cover with cornflakes, dot with butter and bake at 350 for one hour!
It's amazing!
I usually do a baked french toast, too, for situations like this. My husband and I are spending our first married Christmas alone (well, just the morning!) and I'm going to prepare a bread, egg, cheese, and sausage casserole the night before. I just googled around for some recipes and tweaked them to fit my ingredients.
Merry Breakfasting!
I've made this the past several years, it gets better as it 'ages'.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sausage-Roasted-Red-Pepper-and-Spinach-Torta-Rustica-350774
lianamae's sounds good too!
I've also make the Sticky Lemon Rolls and they are very good, although most of the filling leaked out of my rolls into the bottom of the pan.
Last year we had a quiche with chard, mushroom, potato, provolone, and prosciutto. We made the crust, grated the cheese, and cut up the meat and veggies ahead of time, so all we had to do on Christmas morning was combine them with egg and milk, dump it in the crust, and put it in the oven for 40 minutes. Some waiting, but minimal effort.
The pumpkin cinnamon rolls that were on here last month were fantastic. I am going to make those again because they were so fantastic, and I could make them ahead of time.
Our butcher has fantastic premade sausages like cranberry basil, etc. Throw those in a pan on the bottom rack, and you have breakfast for the family!
I've started making beignets every Christmas morning. They are super easy and a huge hit with my 3 little kids. What kid doesn't love fried dough with powdered sugar once a year! There is also a good mix at Cost Plus but it is very easy to make them from scratch too.
When I want to make ahead a fancy breakfast, I usually make Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/overnight-cinnamon-rolls-recipe/index.html). They always come out spectacular! The recipe says to let them rise overnight in the fridge, but I have gone 24 hours in the fridge without a problem.
What about a strata? You could definitely prepare those ahead of time and they are sooo delicious.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spinach-and-Cheese-Strata-107754
We always do this amazing creme brulee french toast recipe. So yummy!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Creme-Brulee-French-Toast-15213
The butter dips (biscuits) featured here a couple weeks back are unbelievably easy and good, plus they can be varied to include all sorts of exciting flavorings. I got a bit out-of-hand here with a version with dried fruit and nuts.
As long as you have time to deal with the rises, sticky buns are also easy (my recipe is a serving for one, but the original linked in the blog is for a normal family). These also are amenable to different fillings, though I highly recommend the inclusion of a little cocoa powder.
I'll confess to being so tacky as to put marmalade and chocolate into prefab croissant dough, but it was good.
The lemon sticky rolls that Emma suggested are fabulous! We served those at a Mother's Day brunch this Spring and they were a huge hit with everyone. If the lemon flavor isn't what you have in mind, then a yummy cinnamon roll could be made ahead of time.
The Cooks' Illustrated 24 Hour Omelet is very easy and amazingly good. Nothing healthy like a vegetable in sight, but you can worry about that the day after Christmas.
Pancakes, buttermilk if you can swing it, with whipped cream, maple syrup, good bacon, and fresh fruit. Doesn't get much easier or faster.
Merry Christmas : ).
I made Boozy Baked French Toast from Smitten Kitchen and it was a hit (sans the booze, used vanilla essense instead). It was easy and quick to put together the night before, and even easier in the morning (30 minutes in the oven!).
Along with some other yummy things, one stand out were the peaches drizzled in honey and baked for half an hour, then sprinkled with a roasted almond praline (which you could make in advance), topped with a mix of mascarpone, cream and vanilla. Easy and delicious!