55+ Christmas Brunch Recipes

Christmas Breakfast Casserole  Recipe

This warm and comforting casserole is everything you could want in a Christmas morning breakfast: rich and cheesy grits, rounded out with sausage, bacon, and poblano. 

Raspberry and Cream Cheese Danish Roll Recipe

Make holiday mornings even more special with this raspberry danish. Tender, golden dough filled with fruity jam enriched with cream cheese creates the perfect pastry to serve family and friends. Master the jelly roll technique by following the steps in this simple recipe. 

Blueberry Pound Cake Muffins Recipe

What’s better than blueberry muffins? Blueberry pound cake muffins. These are sweet, fluffy, and rich, with a crispy caramelized top. The blueberries add color and flavor, and the lemon zest adds just enough tartness. 

Fluffy Pancakes Recipe

Pancakes are the ultimate comfort breakfast, but these pancakes are truly a fluffy cake you craft over the stove. They’re sweet and savory, with an incredibly bouncy texture wrapped in a buttery, golden crust. All you need for pancakes that go above and beyond is a little extra time and attention. Resist the urge to mess with the pancakes while they’re cooking—if they move too much, they’ll start to crumble.  

Bananas Foster Breakfast Strata Recipe

Take care when adding the rum to the hot pan; it flames up immediately. You can also add the rum off the heat and then carefully light it with a long match.

Tex-Mex Breakfast Bake  Recipe

This flavor-packed take on breakfast casserole is a great way to use up leftover Texas toast or garlic bread. Rich, indulgent, and spicy, its gooeyness is perfectly complimented by the tang from the crema, which can be found in a Latin market. Play around with frozen toast flavors to spice things up, or serve it as breakfast for dinner. 

Apple Pie French Toast Casserole Recipe

This overnight casserole could be breakfast, but it could also be bread pudding—in short, it’s the perfect thing to serve on a chilly Saturday morning. Cinnamon and comforting, it’s just sweet enough to be eaten as-is, but it’s also nice topped with a little butter and maple syrup. The chopped pecans absorb some of the moisture from the apples, leaving a nice caramelization and crunch. Assembly is super easy: Get everything together the night before, or even the day of—just be sure to let it sit at room temperature for an hour. Serve with your toppings of choice and a cup of coffee. 

Copycat Gingerbread Latte Recipe

Who needs to make a trip to the cafe when you can make your favorite holiday drinks at home? This gingerbread latte has everything you love about gingerbread and java in one delightfully caffeinated drink. If you can't steam milk at home, warm the milk slowly in a saucepan and froth the milk by shaking it in a tightly sealed jar, using a frother, or whisking thoroughly while heating.

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Waffles Recipe

The combination of brown sugar and cinnamon is a classic dessert flavor profile, so why not bring it into your waffle batter? Serve with maple syrup, or, if you're feeling particularly opulent, whipped cream and salted caramel sauce. 

Bacon-and-Cheddar Grits Quiche Recipe

Spread cheese to the edge of the warm, bacony grits "crust" to prevent any custard from seeping out while the quiche bakes.

Savory Pumpkin Spice Dutch Baby Recipe

This festive dish is essentially a large pumpkin pancake that is perfectly fitting for your fall brunch spread. Featuring cracked pepper, bacon, and roasted onions, this dish is a unique and savory take on pumpkin spice flavors.  Of course, if a sweet pumpkin spice version is more to your liking, the recipe can be adjusted to fit your sweet tooth cravings. Simply omit the black pepper and exchange the bacon and thyme roasted onions for a sweeter topping instead, such as sautéed apples, honey, or powdered sugar. 

Salsa-Roasted Potatoes Recipe

Yep. With Salsa. You won't believe how good they taste.

Cinnamon Apple Pull-Apart Bread Recipe

For a special breakfast that’s sure to impress, this easy Cinnamon Apple Pull-Apart Bread is a must. Not only is it a looker, but every fluffy crevice and golden fold of this loaf is smattered with irresistibly buttery, apple and cinnamon-brown sugar goodness. Using canned biscuits keeps this pull-apart bread recipe simple enough for bakers of all skill levels; however, it’s what you bring to the convenience dough product that yields a treat that tastes completely homemade. If you find that your melted butter begins to re-solidify slightly after you’ve stirred in the vanilla extract, no worries—just pop it back into the microwave for a few seconds and proceed with brushing the biscuit dough rounds. When arranging the stacks of dough into your pan, keep in mind that the dough will need space to rise and expand a bit as it bakes. A tangy cream cheese drizzle over the warm cinnamon-apple bread is certainly a welcome finishing touch, but it’s not essential if you’d rather dig in immediately. 

Cranberry Breakfast Pastries Recipe

Vegetable and Goat Cheese Frittata Recipe

A veggie-loaded frittata is a great way to use up produce odds and ends. Broccoli is an excellent addition here: The florets poke through the egg mixture and become delightfully frizzled in the oven. Look for refrigerated pico de gallo in the prepared produce section of the supermarket. You can also fold the pico into the egg mixture before cooking; simply drain off the excess liquid first. Serve with a simple salad made with the remaining arugula you bought.

Italian-Style Grits and Greens Recipe

To serve this make-ahead meal family style, spread the Parmesan grits and greens on a wooden board or oversize platter placed in the center of your table. Top with pulled pork and garlicky sautéed mushrooms. Use your slow cooker to keep the grits warm until you're ready to serve. The pork can be made up to two days ahead and reheated in a skillet.

Holiday Ham with Apricot Glaze Recipe

Refrigerate any leftover ham in individual servings. In the days after Christmas when your house is still full and your energy is waning, this will make it easy for guests to fix a meal on their own.

Cinnamon-Sugar Doughnut Bites Recipe

"Wash these warm, sugary doughnut bites down with a shooter of ice-cold chocolate milk. I like to stick the milk in the freezer about 10 minutes before serving."

Blueberry Scones Recipe

When we set out to create the best basic blueberry scone recipe, we knew it needed to be buttery and tender, but not cakey or overtly sweet—dense for sure, but not dry. These deliver on every front. While these blueberry scones are divine as-is, you can customize the recipe with whatever flavor add-ins you like. Try mixing in some spices—we found that ground ginger and ground cardamom (about 1/4 teaspoon each) to be great aromatic flavor compliments to the blueberries—or you could add a little fresh citrus zest to the dough. If you like your scones on the sweeter side, we’ve also included a simple citrus glaze recipe to drizzle over top. You can use fresh lemon or orange here; we actually used a combination of both with very tasty results. In order to prevent soggy blueberry scones, wait to glaze them until you’re ready to serve. 

Skillet PB&J Monkey Bread Recipe

Ooey gooey peanut butter and jelly goodness! Kids and adults alike will go nuts for this sweet and decadent treat, which gets its chewy, light-as-air feeling from store-bought pizza dough. 

Sheet Pan Ricotta-Chive Biscuits with Baked Eggs Recipe

Our sheet pan take on “egg-in-a-hole” is such a perfect play for a fun, and totally photogenic, weekend brunch. A slab of rich, tender, and herbaceous biscuit cradles just-right, over-easy eggs (you’ll have set whites and delightfully runny yolks after 7 minutes of baking), drizzled with hot sauce and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. The best part? While your giant egg-filled biscuit slab lends itself to being served savory, the (normal-sized) biscuits you cut out to create holes for the eggs can be served up with sweet accouterments, like jam and honey butter, in order to achieve the ultimate sweet and savory breakfast balance. Of course, you can also just slice and serve the egg-filled biscuit portion with a side of bacon and fresh fruit, then pop your individual biscuits in a plastic zip-top bag and freeze for your emergency biscuit stash. Also, topping this entire situation with sausage gravy is not a bad idea either. 

Winter Citrus Salad Recipe

This simple fruit salad is the perfect celebration of seasonal citrus fruit. It’s an effortlessly gorgeous dish that’s perfect for a winter brunch, but is easy enough to enjoy any day of the week, especially if you're looking for a boost of flavor or vitamin C. Pomegranate anrils and kiwi slices add extra zing and variety to fresh orange and grapefruit segments. 

Sticky Cinnamon Roll Babka Buns Recipe

If you're looking for decadence, you're in the right place. Though the dough requires multiple steps, the result is a bun that is sweeter, stickier, and more gooey than any bun you've had before. Our chefs joke about wanting to take a nap after experiencing the richness of this dessert. Saigon cinnamon is recommended for a stronger spicy-sweet flavor, but regular cinnamon can be easily substituted. Serve with coffee at brunch or as an afternoon treat. 

Farro Salad With Cherries, Corn, and Basil Recipe

Meal preppers, meet your new favorite salad. It’s bright and juicy thanks to the cherries, while the farro base keeps things feeling nice and hearty. The almonds bring in a crunch and nuttiness that helps bring everything together. Since it’s super versatile, you could make a batch on Sunday and serve it with arugula and baked chicken for a healthy lunch all week long. 

Tomato Tart with Smoked Mozzarella and Dijon Recipe

Our take on a Southern classic is super delicious, and kind of tastes like biscuit pizza—the biscuit is flaky and buttery with a fun cornmeal texture, and the tomatoes are tender and juicy without sogging out the crust. Mixing the mayonnaise and cheese together makes things feel even more Southern. Your local farmers’ market will have the most delightfully colorful tomatoes with the best flavor, so search there. For a crispier crust, invert a rimmed baking sheet, which will circulate more air underneath it. You can also reheat this in the oven without sacrificing any taste—just wrap it in foil first. 

Fig Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe

Ripe figs are hard to keep fresh, and peak fig season is a short, select window of time, so it's important to take advantage of these plump fruits and use them to their fullest potential. This Dutch baby is the perfect entertaining treat for a brunch crowd on a cozy weekend. Paired with ingredients you already have in your pantry, these figs make a sweet treat for breakfast. Feel free to use 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract in place of vanilla bean seeds.

Keto Chaffles Recipe

This keto-friendly take on waffles is crisp and golden on the outside and fluffy on the inside—like cloud bread, but better. They work great for savory breakfast sandwiches and lunch, and have a similar flavor to French toast when some cinnamon and vanilla is added. Make and freeze a big batch of these chaffles to pop in the toaster whenever a bread craving strikes. 

Copycat Bo-Berry Biscuits Recipe

Enjoy the Bojangles favorite whenever the craving strikes with our easy-to-follow copycat Bo-Berry Biscuit recipe. These indulgent blueberry biscuits feature freeze dried blueberries rather than fresh because the freeze dried berries provide a perfect pop of blueberry flavor without bursting and adding excess juices to your dough. (You can find freeze dried berries at grocery stores like Whole Foods and online.) To make your Bo-Berry biscuits ahead of time, simply prepare the dough, cut into circles, and freeze the unbaked biscuits for up to one month. 

Hoppin’ John Casserole Recipe

Get all your New Year’s good luck in one dish with this casserole full of bacon, peas, rice, and collards. The mixture of soft rice with tooth collards and peas, plus chopped bacon makes for a nice variety of textures. It’s great on its own, but it’s also a great side dish for fried chicken or pork chops. 

Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Make sure your butter is very soft when you spread it on the rolled dough so the dough doesn't tear.

Sheet Pan Fried Eggs Recipe

Say hello to the easiest way to make fried eggs for a crowd. In fact, this sheet pan technique for frying eggs might just be the best thing to happen to breakfast since oven baked bacon. 

2-Ingredient (More or Less) Sweet Potato Pancakes Recipe

Yes, you can make sweet potato pancakes with just two ingredients (give or take)! If you’re a little skeptical, you’ll become a believer after biting into them. They’re simple enough for weekdays, yet feel indulgent enough for weekend brunch. We’ve included a delicious topping that only three more ingredients. Roast a couple of sweet potatoes ahead of time, and try it this weekend!

Raspberry, Sumac, and Almond Pound Cake Recipe

The nuanced brightness of sumac matched with warming notes of almond and jammy raspberries takes a classic pound cake construct over the top and into pure wow-worthy territory. While it may seem like a lot between the batter and the pound cake’s raspberry-sumac glaze (especially if this is a new seasoning to you), sumac—which is the dried, powdered berries of the sumac bush—is a spice you need not be overly reserved with. Given sumac’s delicate tart flavor, a fair amount is needed here to shine within the context of the dense, buttery cake.  

Creamy Brioche and Egg Bake Recipe

This stand alone breakfast dish is an upgrade from the usual breakfast casserole. Baking eggs in brioche and heavy cream allows for perfectly set, soft, and runny eggs. Fresh herbs and rich egg and meaty sausage flavors round out this bake and give it irresistable texture. Ask for brioche at your local grocery store or bakery and they are sure to have it. 

Spinach, Bacon, and Gruyère Breakfast Strata Recipe

This dish has fewer than 20g of total carbs--about half of what you'll find in classic bread-based casseroles. Greek yogurt, eggs, and cheese pack a mighty protein punch, while a touch of bacon seasons to perfection. The strata is best if allowed to soak overnight. Not only does this build in make-ahead convenience, it also allows the bread to fully absorb the egg mixture--yielding a creamy texture inside, while the top bread pieces get delightfully crisp.

Holiday Brunch Tonic Recipe

This fizzy beverage takes on a festive feel with the scent of rosemary-infused sugar syrup. Garnish with extra rosemary sprigs, if desired. Serve shortly after mixing everything together so the tonic will sparkle.

Breakfast Hot Dish Recipe

If you're not from the Upper Midwest, you may not be familiar with hot dish. Traditionally, it's a casserole of starch (often french fries or tots), meat, and vegetables held together by a creamy sauce. "It's an easy way to feed a crowd," says Molly, "and it's perfect for the dead of winter because it's so hearty and warm and comforting." Her update uses sweet potatoes flavored with Aleppo pepper. To get a head start, you can roast the potatoes and brown the sausage a couple of days ahead.

Miso Walnut Sticky Buns Recipe

Incorporating instant mashed potato flakes into this foolproof sticky bun dough is the secret behind their incredibly moist, tender texture. Meanwhile, using a bit of bread flour, in addition to all-purpose, helps provide structure and height. White miso paste, also known as sweet miso, adds a dynamic element of salt-sweet depth to both the filling and caramel topping—making these a most impressive addition to any brunch spread. Pro-tip: Don’t let the buns rest in the pan for too long after baking as the sticky topping will begin to solidify as it cools, making it difficult to turn them out.  

Double-Berry French Toast Casserole Recipe

Slab Quiche with Spinach, Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Onions Recipe

My favorite way to entertain is to invite a bunch of friends over and lay everything out on the dining table: vegetables, pasta, quiche, breads, grains—you name it. I put out plates and forks and decorate the table with candles and cute seasonal vegetables—baby pumpkins and bouquets of sage in the fall, bunches of mint and carrots in the spring, bowlfuls of citrus fruit in the winter, and little fairytale eggplant or bright red cherry tomatoes in the summer. It’s casual and fun, and encourages everyone to eat, drink, and socialize at will. Quiche is an ideal player for this kind of setup—it can be served warm or at room temperature and is just as happy on a brunch spread as it is at dinner or in the afternoon with tea.

Slab Quiche with Spinach, Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Onions

Excerpted from Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless by Raquel Pelzel (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2017.

Pistachio Tahini Cinnamon Rolls  Recipe

Delicious and not too sweet, the flavors of tahini, pistachios, and cardamom combine beautifully in a fluffy, light roll. These cinnamon rolls take a little extra time, but they’re so worth the effort—especially since most of the work is hands-off. Working with yeast is nothing to be afraid of. If you’re worried about your water being too warm or cool, use a thermometer to keep the temperature in check. These rolls would be fantastic at breakfast or brunch, but they’re also perfect for a snack or treat with a cup of coffee or hot tea. 

Ham and Gruyère Belgian Waffles with Sautéed Pears Recipe

While traditional Belgian waffles are made with yeast, we use beaten egg whites to give these salty-sweet waffles their light, airy texture and crispy exterior. For freezing and heating instructions, see below.

Classic Banana Bread Recipe

This healthier take on banana bread uses yogurt instead of butter, but it's just as moist and indulgent as classic recipes. This banana bread recipe isn't just easy. It's also highly customizable and can adapt to a number of flavors and substitute ingredients. Banana bread should form a crack down the center as it bakes--a sign the baking soda is doing its job. Serve toasted with a smear of cream cheese, Greek yogurt, or peanut and top with mixed nuts, if desired. You can even customize your bread with a crunchy streusal topping that the kids will love.

Mixed Vegetable Shakshuka  Recipe

This veggie-packed sheet pan shakshuka is easy to prep and, equally important, an absolute breeze to clean up. It’s a great meatless weeknight meal option, and would also make for an impressive no-fuss brunch entree for a crowd; just serve with toast and a fresh fruit salad.

Shrimp and Grits Casserole  Recipe

This casserole is tangy and cheesy, but thanks to the tomato and mushroom mixture there’s a nice richness here as well—just how shrimp and grits should be. It’s perfect for a holiday potluck or buffet-style brunch, especially with a crisp green salad and a mimosa or Bloody Mary. 

Cream Cheese Pastries Recipe

Pam found this recipe in an old issue of Southern Living and was making this family favorite long before joining the staff in 2003.

Sheet Pan Huevos Rancheros Recipe

This smart sheet pan twist on the classic huevos rancheros is the perfect meal for a crowd and is easily customizable to suit your preferences/use whatever ingredients you have on hand. 

Apple Cinnamon Bread Recipe

Besides being simple enough to whip up on a moments notice, as it bakes, this easy apple cinnamon bread puts off the kind of warming, buttery, spiced aromas that usher in all the fall feels. And given just how well a warm slice pairs with a cup of coffee, don’t be surprised if you find yourself making a loaf of apple cinnamon bread on a weekly basis throughout the season. The rich quick bread is incredibly moist, thanks to the apple and sour cream, but the key to ensuring it’s as tender as possible is to avoid over-mixing. In fact, once the final addition of dry ingredients has been added to the batter, it’s helpful to finish incorporating everything together by hand, using a rubber spatula, rather than continuing to whip the batter with an electric mixer.  We used Granny Smith apple in testing the recipe, but you can really use any apple variety you have on hand. Feel free to substitute the pecans called for walnuts, or leave the nuts out entirely. 

Smoky Sausage-and-Grits Casserole Recipe

You can assemble this up to four days ahead, and keep in the fridge; then let it stand at room temp for 30 minutes before baking.

Strawberry Jam Recipe

Have an abundance of perfectly ripe strawberries on your hands? Sounds like you’re ready to make jam. We know what you’re thinking—but trust us, making your own strawberry jam at home is surprisingly easy, especially with this foolproof recipe in hand. The ingredient list is concise, but every element plays an important role. Adding water at the beginning of the cooking process keeps your sugar from burning before the berries can begin to release their juices; however, the water evaporates as the jam simmers, so it doesn’t dilute the final product. Meanwhile, utilizing pectin to thicken the jam allows you to encapsulate some of the strawberries’ fresh vibrancy, rather than having to extensively stew the berries down to reach a rich, jammy consistency. Red wine vinegar brightens the strawberry jam’s flavor without making it distinctly tangy. And a finishing touch of butter takes care of the little white air bubbles that can make a jam cloudy. Your completed homemade jam can provide a welcome burst of farm-fresh berry flavor to any number of foods; try it on biscuits or toast, spooned over oatmeal or ice cream, drizzled onto waffles or pound cake, whisked into a vinaigrette, or dolloped onto a cheese board. And for a herbaceous flavor variation on your next batch of strawberry jam, try adding 3-4 sprigs of an herb like basil, mint, tarragon, or thyme to the jam while it cooks (simply remove and discard the herbs before jarring). 

Ham Biscuit Casserole Recipe

Sandkaka Recipe

Potato flour serves as the backbone for this delightfully simple Swedish classic. Though gluten-free, sandkaka is similar in texture to a dense, buttery pound cake and, thanks to the starchiness of the potato flour, will retain its moisture for days. 

Grits Cakes with Poached Eggs and Country Gravy Recipe

Chicken in Waffles Recipe

This decadent brunch recipe is just like chicken-n-waffles, except we literally put the chicken in the waffle—thus, making it easier to eat. Also, incorporating the chopped fried chicken into the delightfully toothy cornmeal waffle batter allows evenly distributed, full-on fried chicken flavor to come through in every bite. While this is an excellent morning-after use for leftovers following a fried chicken dinner, this savory-sweet dish is fabulous enough to merit going out and buying a box of fried chicken specifically for the cause. Top these waffles off with a pat of softened butter, a generous pour of maple syrup, and a sprinkle of leftover crispy fried chicken crumbles for a legendary brunch feast.