These Christmas morning recipes focus on make-ahead baking, simple techniques, and holiday flavors that work for relaxed holiday mornings. The list includes savory bakes, pancakes, breads, muffins, no-stress sweet bakes, and other revised classics, so breakfast or brunch feels special without taking over your entire day.
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Festive recipe ideas
Christmas morning is not the moment to test a brand-new recipe while everyone is asking when breakfast is ready, or you have a small crowd coming over for brunch.
This is why I always lean on recipes I've made many times, know how they behave, and can prep partially or fully in advance. This list of Christmas breakfast recipes comes straight from my blog and from real-life mornings where coffee matters as much as food.
What is the best holiday brunch to make ahead for a crowd? Quick breads, sweet or savory casseroles, bundt cakes, muffins, and scones are great. They hold well overnight and often taste better the next day.
For a small family breakfast, you can do pancakes, individual French toast, or even omelettes. Don't even dare attempt them for more than four people or so.
Tips for a relaxed celebration
Have variety but don't overload the menu: For a small group, two or three solid baked goods plus beverages and fruit is more than enough. For a crowd, four to five options is a good number, focusing on variety rather than quantity. A crowded table looks festive, but creates too many leftovers.
A few make-aheads are a must: Anything you can bake the day before will taste better and save your sanity. Most quick breads, cakes, and muffins improve after resting overnight.
Have beverages made ahead that can be reheated on the stove. Individual microwave reheatings can take a long time and are not practical for a brunch table.
Choose recipes that slice cleanly: Christmas breakfast and brunch are usually served buffet style. Cakes that crumble or need last-minute assembly slow everything down. Bundt cakes, loaf cakes, and cheesecake pies are reliable choices.
Think about room-temperature serving: Recipes that taste great at room temperature and don't rely on being hot make the holiday morning more relaxed and flexible. They are ideal, especially if people eat in waves.
Plan for dishes that need refrigeration or to be reheated. Make sure you have oven or refrigeration space according to the number of pans you have to reheat or keep cold until serving time. Again, plan for this. It can be a nightmare. Trust me.
Peppermint Chocolate
'Tis the season for minty hot chocolate. It's simple to prepare, ready in 10 minutes, and you can adjust the sweetness.
Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream
We're talking about a classic: homemade hot chocolate with a swirl of whipped cream on top. It's a cozy, indulgent beverage for chilly days.
Apple Cider Recipe
This old-fashioned classic uses simple ingredients and can be adjusted for sweetness and spices. You can make it on the stovetop or slow cooker.
Ham and Cheese Strata
This old-fashioned brunch or breakfast casserole recipe has few ingredients and is very adaptable regarding flavor and variations.
Savory Muffins
A versatile, tasty muffin recipe with a good crumb. It's cheesy and can handle other add-ins, like tomatoes, spinach, mushroom, ham or bacon. They freeze well.
Crustless Quiche
This dish is egg-based and versatile. Add your favorite vegetables or cold meats, a mix of cheeses, or smoked salmon. An easy recipe that's ready in less than an hour.
Ham Cheese Sliders
These small sandwiches are irresistible with a butter poppy seed topping and quick to put together.
Mushroom Leek Quiche
Quiche is a short, fancy tart with a buttery crust and a rich, creamy filling. Mushrooms and leeks make this recipe extraordinary and flavorful.
Gingerbread Pancakes
Soft and whimsical gingerbread pancakes for Christmas breakfast or brunch. The batter can be made and refrigerated for up to two days.
Baked Cranberry French Toast (overnight option)
It's simple to put together and can feed a crowd. And it's a great way to use leftover bread from holiday dinners.
Eggnog French Toast
A creamy holiday breakfast and brunch dish with a unique flavor. It's quick to make and can be prepared as an overnight baked casserole.
Frosted Sugar Cookies
These simple vanilla sugar cookies have a buttercream frosting and are very simple to make. A wink to the popular Lofthouse cookies.
Baked Gingerbread Donuts
Spiced and covered by a crunchy sugar coating, they're baked, soft, easy to make and out of the oven in 30 minutes.
Cinnamon Muffins
These old-fashioned muffins with a crumb topping are ready in 45 minutes and freeze well so you can make them ahead.
Pumpkin Cran Muffins
Moist and easy to make, these pumpkin muffins are spiced and soft, with a tangy bite from the cranberries. They keep well and can be frozen.
Cran Orange Scones
They are sweet with a nice tart bite from the cranberries and orange zest. They can be ready to eat in an hour and freeze well before baking.
Cinnamon Monkey Bread
This is a simple bread dough coated in cinnamon sugar that caramelizes as it bakes and is drizzled with a finger-licking glaze. An extraordinary sweet bread for holiday mornings.
Apple Cider Donuts
Soft, baked donuts coated in warm cinnamon sugar. Easy, old-fashioned, and pretty easy to make.
Cinnamon Scones
These buttery, glazed scones are a sweet treat with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. They use simple ingredients and freeze well.
Chocolate Rolls
If regular homemade cinnamon rolls were married to semisweet chocolate, you'd get these gooey and over-the-top pastries with chocolate in the filling and topping.
Panettone Bread Pudding
This is a simple bread pudding with panettone and other pantry staples. A wonderful vintage recipe that can be frozen!
Pulla Bread
This yeast bread is laced with cardamom and has a wonderful soft texture. It's by far, one of the best sweet doughs I ever made.
Cranberry Coffee Cake
This cake has the tartness of cranberries with the moist crumb of a classic sour cream coffee cake, topped with an orange glaze.
Gingerbread Loaf
If you love that unique gingerbread flavor, this is a recipe you can't miss. The crumb is moist and tight but soft, the glaze adds another layer of sweetness, and the mix of spices is perfect.
Gingersnap Cookies
Soft but crunchy cookies, with that hint of burnt sweetness that makes them irresistible. Roll them in sugar to create a wonderful crackly surface.
Cranberry Orange Cake
Moist and old-fashioned orange pound cake with cranberries baked in a bundt pan and finished with a pink glaze.
Gingerbread Cookies
Sweet and spiced holiday ginger cookies with a simple icing that make wonderful gifts. The dough can be made ahead and baked thin and crisp or thick and chewy.
Cinnamon Bundt Cake
A simple, moist cake with a cinnamon sugar swirl that tastes like a cinnamon roll. The cinnamon glaze makes it moister and sweeter.
Tree Chocolate Cupcakes
They have a chocolate cake base that can be homemade or from a cake mix, and a waffle cone decorated with buttercream.
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