Here are two casseroles that are perfect for Christmas morning; they’re packed with flavor, and all you have to do is take them out of the fridge and pop them into the oven! With their dry bread chunks and egg custard soak, they’re designed to set overnight in your refrigerator and bake the next day. With one being savory and the other sweet, you can even bake both!

Feel free to play with the ingredients to create your own flavors. For the savory bake, substitute and/or add/eliminate any meats or veggies of your choice. Change the cheeses. For the sweet one, add raisins or coconut or chocolate chips. Try different spices. The proportions I’ve given you are approximate, so don’t be too tied to exact measurements.

The key to both recipes is to have a bread that can soak up the custard and not be mushy when cooked. If you start with soft bread, the result is a soggy mess. So either choose a bread that is sturdy from the start, like a good sourdough, or help your bread out by letting it get stale first. If you don’t have stale bread, do what I did: cut your fresh bread into cubes and then toast them in the oven at 350° for 30 minutes, or until bread gets hard and takes a hint of toasty color. An egg bread like brioche would be perfect, but for my example, I used one of the most common breads you can find: the regular loaf of French bread found at all grocery store bakeries.

 

Easy Breakfast Bake

1 loaf French bread (you’ll need about 6 cups of bread cubes)

1 lb ground sausage or cubed ham

½ cup each chopped onion, green pepper, mushrooms (any veggies you like)

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups half and half

¼ cup parmesan cheese

Dash of salt and pepper

1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar and/or swiss)

1 ½ cup or so of frozen hash browns

Cut bread into cubes. If not already stale, toast them in the oven at 350° for 30 minutes until lightly browned.

Sauté sausage and veggies together until cooked. (If using ham, sauté veggies in a little olive oil.) In another bowl, beat eggs and add half and half and parmesan cheese.

Grease a glass casserole dish (at least 8X8, but bigger is fine). Lay down a layer of bread cubes. Add a layer of the sausage mix, topped with half the cheese. Add a few more bread cubes, another layer of sausage mix and the remaining cheese. Top with hash browns. Pour the egg mixture over it all, cover with plastic, and let sit in the refrigerator overnight, or at least 4 hours. The next morning, uncover and bake for about one hour at 350° or until well puffed and set in the middle.

 

French Toast Breakfast Bake

1 loaf of French bread (You’ll need about 6 cups of bread cubes)

(cream cheese filing)

8 oz. of softened cream cheese

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

(egg custard)

2 tbsp. sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups half and half

2 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup maple syrup

¼ cup honey

Dash of salt

Cut bread into cubes and if not stale already, toast at 350° for 30 minutes, or until lightly toasted. You’ll need 6 cups of cubes.

For the cream cheese filling, blend together with a mixer the cream cheese, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside. For the custard, whisk together the eggs, half and half, vanilla, maple syrup, honey, and salt. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and add to the custard. (This helps the cinnamon blend in more easily.)

To assemble, grease a glass casserole dish, at least 8X8 inches, but larger is fine. Cover the bottom with a layer of bread crumbs. Cover with the cream cheese mixture, dropped in spoonfuls. Cover with another layer of bread crumbs. Pour the egg custard over it all and cover with plastic. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours. (For a little added flavor, you can sprinkle the top with a mixture of chopped pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon right before baking.) Bake at 350° for about an hour, until well puffed and set in the middle. Serve warm, with a dollop of sweetened whip cream and fresh fruit if desired.

 

Easy Egg Nog

If you like egg nog but don’t want to take the effort to make it from scratch, and you want something different from what you can buy in a box, here’s a simple idea. Just melt a container of egg nog ice cream. It’s very much like a Crème Anglaise, an egg-based sauce. If that is too rich for you and you want to thin it down, a family-friendly version would be to add a few cups of milk, or half/half, and/or some egg nog coffee creamer! You can even go crazy and use egg white powder to make some meringue and fold that in. You could add a dash of whipped cream and fresh grated nutmeg on top.