Easter Morning Casseroles & Crunchy Coated Bacon!

Can you believe it's almost Easter? Time to follow Mr. Bunny's trail, hunt for eggs and devour our weight in chocolate eggs, jelly beans and peeps!

Growing up, we often went out for Easter brunch, but we haven't done that in years. I have recently found some great breakfast casseroles that can be made ahead of time, so you can have most of the messy part out of the way on Easter morning.

We had these on Christmas morning at our house it they were all a big hit!

Praline French Toast
from King Arthur Flour
I've added my notes in purple

(Printable recipe)

Glaze

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey, maple syrup or corn syrup (I used Mrs. Butterworth Syrup)
  

Bread

• French or Italian bread sliced 1/2" thick, enough to cover the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan (I used a loaf of rustic french bread)
  

Custard

• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream, half and half, milk, or fat-free half and half (I used heavy whipping cream)
  
• 5 large eggs, or 1 1/4 cups egg substitute
• 1/2 teaspoon flavor: pralines & cream, eggnog, vanilla-butternut, Amaretto, or your choice; OR 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I just used my Mexican Vanilla)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Glaze

• 4 ounces butter
• 7 1/2 ounces brown sugar
• 1 3/8 ounces maple syrup or corn syrup, or 1 1/2 ounces honey

Bread

• French or Italian bread sliced 1/2" thick, enough to cover the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan

Custard

• 12 ounces whipping cream, half and half, milk, or fat-free half and half
• 5 large eggs, or 10 ounces egg substitute
• 1/2 teaspoon flavor: pralines & cream, eggnog, vanilla-butternut, Amaretto, or your choice; OR 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

• 3 3/4 ounces brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan or shallow 2-quart casserole.

2) To make the glaze: Melt the butter in a saucepan, and stir in the brown sugar and syrup. Bring the mixture to a simmer, cooking until the sugar melts.Pour the glaze into the prepared pan, spreading it to the corners.

3) Lay the slices of bread in the pan, atop the glaze.

4) To make the custard, whisk together the cream, half and half, or milk, eggs or egg substitute, the flavor, and the salt. Pour it over the bread in the pan, pressing the bread down into the custard.

5) Cover the pan, and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 24 hours.

6) When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F.

7) Make the topping by stirring together the brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Sprinkle it evenly over the bread.

8) Bake the French toast for 40 to 45 minutes, until it's bubbly and the top is very lightly browned.

9) Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Serve individual slices of bread, turning it over on the plate so the syrupy bottom is on top.

Yield: 9 to 12 servings.

Weekend Brunch Casserole
from a member on Fishing For Deals
(printable recipe)

I'm not sure if you can make this ahead of time - but if you brown the sausage the day before, it would take no time to throw it all together.

1 pound Bob Evans Original Recipe Sausage Roll
2-½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used a mix of cheeses, mozzarella, cheddar, colby)
1 (8 oz) can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

• Preheat Oven to 425
• Crumble and cook sausage in skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain.
• Line bottom of greased 9"x13" baking dish with crescent roll dough, firmly pressing perforations to seal.
  
• Sprinkle with sausage and cheese.
  
• Whisk, eggs, milk, salt and pepper in bowl until blended and pour over sausage.
• Bake 15 mins. or until set.
  
• Let stand 5 mins. before cutting and serving
  
• Refrigerate leftovers
  

Don't forget the bacon.......everything is better with bacon right?

Well, if you like bacon, you will LOVE bacon cooked this way! It's easy too!!

Crunchy Coated Bacon
(printable recipe)

• Line a large cookie sheet with edge with parchment paper or tin foil
  
• preheat oven to 350°
  
• coat thick sliced bacon in flour
• lay on cookie sheet (do not overlap)
  
• bake for 30 mins.
  

*Be very careful removing the pan from the oven.

The bacon holds it shape, with very little curling and is SOOO good with the crispy crunchy coating the flour gives it!! - You'll never want to fry bacon again!

I hope you get to celebrate with friends & family and enjoy the day on Sunday!


I'm sharing these recipes at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Ultimate Recipe Swap Foodie Friday recipe exchanges, and Kimba's DIY Day, and Strut Your Stuff , Bake at 350