Every Christmas, DG and I look forward to lazy Christmas mornings where we sleep in, fix brunch, and while items are cooking, open our stockings to each other. We stopped giving each other material gifts our first married Christmas together and decided on taking trips instead. You can see our first married Christmas in D.C. here and here, our third married Christmas in Kinston here, and our fourth in New Orleans here. I wanted to share our favorite brunch menu with two recipes that we have been perfecting over the year.
Christmas Morning Brunch Menu
- bacon
- Overnight Christmas Morning French Toast (recipe below)
- Copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole (recipe below)
- Mimosas
Overnight Christmas Morning French Toast
from The Magnolia Journal Winter 2017
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp butter, softened
- 1 16 oz. loaf Italian bread, sliced 1 inch thick
- 10 eggs
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- Dash of salt
- Maple Syrup
Directions:
- Grease a 3-quart rectangular baking dish with the butter. Arrange slices of bread in baking dish in two rows with slices overlapping. In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Whisk in cream, milk, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Evenly pour over bread in dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Let casserole stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grate the stick of cold butter into a medium bowl. Add brown sugar, pecans, flour, and salt. Mix until blended and crumbly. Crumble mixture over bread in dish.
- Place baking dish in over. Place a foil-lined baking sheet on the rack below the dish. Bake, uncovered, for about 50 minutes, or until puffed, browned, and inside is set but soft. Cool slightly. If desired, serve warm with maple syrup.
Copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole
from Nicole at @_grits
Ingredients:
- 1 bag Frozen Hashbrowns, thawed
- 1 stick Butter, melted
- 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)
Directions:
- Grease 9×11 inch baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix onion, soup, black pepper, and all but one cup of the cheese.
- Add sour cream and mix well.
- Add hash browns and melted butter. Mix well.
- Transfer to prepared dish. Bake 45-55 minutes, until bubbly.
What do you look forward to serving on Christmas morning?
xx
Looks delicious! This is our first Christmas living together and away from family so we are planning to make brunch together and then go to the movies. I like the idea of stopping the gifts and taking trips instead. I am going to suggest this to him!