Cranberry Apple Christmas Breakfast Casserole
If you are looking for a make-ahead breakfast casserole for Christmas morning, look no further. This Cranberry Apple Christmas Casserole will be a huge hit with the whole family and it can be assembled the day before. It’s made with vanilla Greek yogurt, fresh cranberries, sourdough bread, eggs and it’s topped with a crunchy nut streusel topping.
Table of contents
Why We Love This Christmas Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Last year, I shared my sausage apple breakfast strata with cheddar, and you all loved it so much, I knew I would have to share a sweet counterpart this holiday season. I originally made it with just cinnamon and apples but the recipe seemed a little… well, not worthy of Christmas morning, if you know what I mean. It was good- and easy- but not celebration worthy.
So I added in some fresh cranberries for a seasonal burst of cheer, and a crunchy and sweet streusel topping with oats and nuts and the whole casserole was transformed. Just Like That!
I love the fact that the casserole is assembled the day before, so that on Christmas morning, all you have to do it pop it in the oven. I even made the streusel the day before, and kept that in a separate container. Once the casserole is heated through, remove the foil, add on the topping and brown it a bit.
I used Vanilla Greek Yogurt in the custard like this Banana Maple Walnut Bread Pudding, and I love the tart note it adds to the custard.
It has the texture of bread pudding, dense and moist with a crunchy top. The streusel topping has the flavors of my Cranberry Apple Crumb Pie. And we poured maple syrup over it, so it’s also like a french toast casserole too. It’s like the best of all three things mashed-up into a Celebration-worthy Christmas Breakfast Casserole!
More Christmas Morning Recipes To Consider
Our Healthy French Toast Casserole is another make-ahead option to consider for a festive brunch.
Maple Candied Bacon Sweet and Salty and oh so addictive!
Our Apple Gingerbread Pancakes are festive and fun and taste of the season.
For a less indulgent treat try our paleo-friendly Clean Eating Pancakes made without any grains!
We love our egg bakes around here. We have a Chard and Egg Bake plus this Broccoli Egg Bake and also a Spinach Egg Bake. Take your pick!
French Bistro Brunch Salad is unexpected but delightful!
Cranberry Almond Quick Bread is a classic with an almond twist. Also our Cranberry Orange Muffins with Greek Yogurt are a great bake good to make for Christmas.
For more ideas check out our Breakfast and Brunch recipes.
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
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cranberry apple christmas breakfast casserole
- Total Time: 9 hours
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Make-ahead Cranberry Apple Christmas Breakfast Casserole. Make it the day before and refrigerate overnight. It has a crunchy nut streusel topping and is made with vanilla Greek yogurt.
Ingredients
Casserole
- 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, divided
- 3 large firm sweet tart apples, such as honey crisp, Mutsu or gala peeled and diced
- 2/3 cup whole cranberries
- 8 large eggs
- 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup plus more for serving if desired
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 6 cups stale sourdough bread cubes, (no crusts) about 12 ounces
Streusel Topping
- 1/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons maple sugar or brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Make Casserole: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add apples and cook, stirring until the apples are starting to brown and become tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in cranberries.
- Butter a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish with the remaining butter.
- Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Add yogurt, milk, maple syrup and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Add bread and the apple mixture and stir with a silicone spatula until combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and refrigerate up to 24 hours.
- Make Streusel Topping: Stir whole-wheat flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Drizzle 3 tablespoons melted butter over the oat mixture, tossing with a fork. Sit until the crumbs are evenly moist. Add nuts and stir to completely combine. Refrigerate separately.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove casserole and topping from the refrigerator.
- Bake casserole, covered, until heated through and steaming, 35 to 40 minutes. The topping may still be cold and stuck together in large clumps- break up any large pieces if necessary. Remove casserole from the oven. Remove foil and sprinkle the top with the streusel topping. Continue baking until the topping is golden and the casserole is puffed, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Allow casserole to cool 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve. Warm additional maple syrup and serve with the breakfast bake if desired.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: breakfast
- Method: Stove Top/Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 casserole
- Calories: 383
- Fat: 16
- Carbohydrates: 46
- Fiber: 4
- Protein: 15
Hi: I’m planning to make this for Christmas morning and have a question — how do you go about getting the stale sourdough cubes? Do you buy a loaf of sourdough, remove the crust, cut into cubes a few day prior and let get stale? Thanks!
Hi Debbie. I just used a loaf of sliced bread that had an expiration date coming up. The slices seemed pretty firm and a little dried out. If yours is fresh you could cut it into cubes and leave them on a baking sheet for 6 to 12 hours to stale them.
I made this for Christmas morning breakfast, and everyone loved it. This recipe is sooo good, I’m making it again today!! 🙂
Thank you Chris. I appreciate your taking the time to come back and rate and review. That means a lot.
This looks delicious! What do you think about freezing it a few days in advance? Thanks!
I was wondering the same
This will be so perfect for breakfast on Christmas morning! Looks delicious! I’ll use my favorite gluten free sourdough for this beauty!
We made this last year with some leftover cranberries that we had! It was the perfect way to use them up! So delicious!
I made this last year and everyone loved it. Will be having it again this holiday season! Thank you for the lovely recipe.
This looks amazing! I am pinning this for Christmas morning!
I just made this with blueberries instead of cranberries and it was AMAZING! Thank you for a delicious recipe!
Katie,
Can I use dried cranberries if cranberries are not available in the supermarket? Also what is the difference between whole wheat cake flour and regular whole wheat flour?
You sure can. The Casserole will be sweeter. Use 1/2 cup dri d cranberries. Whole wheat pastry flour is finely milled lower protein wheat. For this recipe regular whole wheat would be just fine. As would white whole wheat flour.
What a beautiful Christmas breakfast treat! I’m sure this will quickly become a family tradition!
It just may Mindy! Thanks so much for coming by today. Hope you and yours have a happy holiday season.
Loving the sound of apple and cranberry combo! One of my festive favourites! Looks delicious, perfect Christmas breakfast!
Cranberries are also a favorite of mine. Glad you like them too Anna. Have a fantastic holiday.
I am so big on breakfast casseroles! This one looks absolutely delicious! Such a creative idea.
Thanks Brandi. Happy holidays to you.
I can’t think of a better treat for Christmas morning! There’s nothing quite like a delicious homemade casserole to fuel all of the holiday festivities. Yum!
There will be lots of festivities for sure! I hope it keeps snowing so we can get the kiddos outside to play in the snow this year.
My family loves savory bread puddings for breakfast… and I am sure they would love this sweet version too! Great combination of cranberries and apples!
I love savory bread pudding as well. They’re so comforting. Thanks so much for coming by today and happy holidays Meredith.