Make-Forward Challah Breakfast Casserole Recipe

A giant, golden loaf of challah is great. The Jewish bread—a staple for Shabbat and holidays—is enriched with eggs and oil, and its plush crumb makes it notably delicious for consuming by itself or turning into French toast. As a child, I watched my mom make challah from scratch; she’d fastidiously braid the dough, then set it aside to proof sooner than baking. I eagerly tore into the loaves after they’d been merely out of the oven, relishing each chunk of the tender, freshly baked bread. Though I nonetheless love challah and eat it typically, I not typically bake it at residence. To satiate my challah cravings, I often buy big loaves on a whim, which leaves me with larger than enough bread to eat for weeks.

Some people might wrap up the extra bread and stash it of their freezer, or flip the loaf into breadcrumbs, French toast, or croutons. I, nonetheless, wish to present my challah proper right into a custardy breakfast casserole for my household and buddies. Made with just some fridge and pantry staples, this straightforward dish—which is packed filled with dried fruit and topped with a simple streusel—takes all of quarter-hour to prep sooner than you pop it into the fridge to sit in a single day. For that objective, it’s my go-to breakfast for holidays and specific occasions once I’ve a great deal of people to feed, however it is easy enough to make any time you have gotten challah—whether or not or not leftover or purchased just for this bake. Proper right here’s how one can make it, plus some concepts for getting it good.

4 Options for Making a Tender Challah Breakfast Casserole

Don’t concern about drying the bread. Many French toast, casserole, and bread pudding recipes title for stale or dry bread, nevertheless in my testing, I found little distinction between the casserole made with latest bread and the one prepared with older bread. Using drier bread is also useful for French toast, as latest bread can disintegrate merely after soaking. Nonetheless that doesn’t matter proper right here, since there’s no dipping and frying involved.  So use irrespective of bread you have gotten accessible, whether or not or not that’s latest or stale.

Attain in your favorite dried fruit. For a contact of sweetness and a pop of shade, I incorporate dried fruit into my casserole. I wish to make use of apricots, cherries, golden raisins, and cranberries, nevertheless it is best to use irrespective of dried fruit you have gotten accessible or customise the mixture to create the flavour profile you want. Sometimes, I make a hamantaschen-inspired casserole by using prunes and poppy seeds or give it Rosh Hashanah vibes with latest chopped apples. For a post-Pesach weekend brunch, I’ll swap the almond extract for an extra teaspoon of cinnamon and toss in walnuts and apples for a style that’s reminiscent of charoset.

Soak it in a single day. As soon as I first started making this challah breakfast casserole, I par-baked it the night time time sooner than, then popped it into the oven to finish baking the morning I wanted to serve it. It was my go-to methodology, until my testing revealed that an in a single day soak resulted in a softer casserole with a custardy texture. It may be tempting to skip the in a single day soak, however it truly is worth taking the time to let the bread sit throughout the custard for a younger, delicious casserole with no dry spots.

Excessive it with a streusel. For additional crunch, I prime my challah breakfast casserole with a simple streusel of flour, brown sugar, and butter. Though I wish to make the streusel topping in a meals processor, you possibly can too make it by hand by tossing the dry substances with butter until it’s a crumbly mixture. The topping brings a satisfying crunch and easily enough sweetness, making it pointless to serve the casserole with a sauce or syrup.

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