Since someone in your household will probably wake up before dawn to open gifts on Christmas morning, you’re going to need coffee and a good breakfast to get you through until dinner time. To keep the family’s tummy grumblings to a minimum, have a few breakfast nibbles ready to fuel the start of your Christmas Day.
Christmas Breakfast Tips
1. Plan Ahead
If your typical Christmas morning is all about unwrapping gifts and picture taking, you probably won’t have time to prepare a giant breakfast. However, if you plan ahead, you can have a
substantial morning meal beyond a bowl of cereal and milk. Put the coffee and the water in the pot the night before, make a French toast casserole or quiche a day or two ahead (simply reheat for
breakfast), and have muffins or croissants ready on a tray for a quick nibble.
2. Serve Christmas cookies for fun
Santa shouldn’t be the only one to enjoy cookies on Christmas. Make up a tray of homemade or store-bought cookies the night before and serve it as a sweet Christmas morning treat (just
remember that since you’re making them ahead of time, you may need to hide them from Santa).
3. Go all out with Christmas-inspired dishes
Prepare some favorites inspired by the holidays like eggnog pancakes, gingerbread waffles or peppermint scones. Don’t forget the holiday-flavored coffee to keep you energized for a long day of
family and food.
4. Treat the adults
Taking shots while your kids are unwrapping Santa’s gifts is probably not a good idea, but it can be a treat to sip a special Christmas morning cocktail. Try a simple Irish coffee, a
refreshing mimosa, or a warm mug of peppermint hot cocoa or eggnog.
Christmas breakfast recipes
Hot Buttered Coffee
Makes 1 serving
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
6 ounces brewed coffee
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
Pinch grated nutmeg
Directions:
Place the butter in the bottom of a coffee mug. Pour the hot coffee and rum over the butter then mix in the brown sugar with the cinnamon stick and sprinkle nutmeg overtop.
French Toast Casserole
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 loaf crusty French bread, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 tablespoon butter, cubed, plus more to butter baking dish
4 whole eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
1. Arrange bread slices on the bottom of an 8×8-inch square buttered baking dish.
2. Beat eggs with milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over bread and place butter cubes on top. Let casserole sit for 10 minutes to soak. (At this point, you can cover
casserole and chill overnight.)
3. When ready to serve, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (If you refrigerated casserole overnight, let it sit out at room temperature while the oven is preheating.)
4. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered, for 45 to 50 minutes or until cooked through and golden on top.
Eggnog Pancakes
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups eggnog (homemade or store-bought)
2-1/4 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg, beaten
Directions:
1. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat.
2. Combine flour with sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk eggnog with butter and egg then gradually whisk in flour mixture until well combined.
3. Ladle spoonfuls of batter onto the griddle and cook until you can see bubbles on top then flip and cook until golden. Serve with maple syrup and butter.
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