Whatever your food plans, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t breakfast in style at Christmas – from the big day itself to all the other, slow-paced holiday mornings. Whether you’re looking to prep something special from scratch or simply gather delicious goodies for a lazy grazing morning, these pros have got you covered.
Siobhán Lawless, The Foods of Athenry, Co Galway
As a family, we absolutely love a big celebratory breakfast. We’d rather go out for a nice treat of a breakfast than for go out for dinner, so we make an effort with an indulgent breakfast at Christmas. I love a two or three-course breakfast. It’s like being away on holidays.
For us it starts with having your bread or oats, and then some fruit – it doesn’t even have to be cooked, although a simple fruit compote gently simmered with some orange juice, cinnamon and maple syrup is gorgeous.
You don’t want to be the fool in a flap while everyone else is lazing and lingering, so anything like that, which you can prep in advance, is great. Keep the compote in the fridge the night before, ready to layer into glasses with Greek-style yoghurt and crunchy granola. Or it’s great with overnight oats or oat pancakes.
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I multitask well but I get other people involved too. We have three grandchildren under three and we want their parents to enjoy their time. My son is epic at pancakes, so he’ll make a big pile of them to cut into fingers and serve with peanut butter and honey or syrup and then the little ones will sit and munch away happily.
You can easily make them healthier with a few simple additions. If you have a strong food processor, add a bag of spinach into the batter for green pancakes. It’ll whip down fully and it doesn’t taste like vegetables. Or throw a banana into the mix, or oat flour, which you can make by whizzing porridge oats in a good food processor.
I’d always have bread in the freezer, ready to defrost. For an indulgent breakfast treat, I love a slice of fried soda bread (just spray with a little oil or spread with butter and then two minutes in the pan – and it’s so much better than just toast) and then top with eggs and mushrooms, with truffle oil, and maybe tomatoes roasted with balsamic.
If you have people coming with dietary requirements – allergies, intolerances or coeliac disease – either make sure everything is free-from or prepare theirs first to avoid cross-contamination. Cook off the gluten-free sausages and pop them in the oven under tin foil, and then they’re done and safe. I wouldn’t even put gluten-free bread on the bread board – I keep it in a separate bag to pop directly on the table. And we make sure to have plenty of alternative milks – oat and nut milks – and buy in some good coffee.
We’ll have 18 people at the breakfast table this Christmas. When we sit around the table, we feel that this is what makes it worthwhile: this is what we work for through the year.
Niall O’Sullivan, head chef at Killruddery, Co Wicklow
We’re not the biggest breakfast people at home during the working week, so any day that I’m off I love to have a big breakfast. We all like to eat different things in my family – our son has coeliac disease and our daughter is a bit of a veggie – so we tend to have a sort of breakfast picnic, with everything on the table for people to help themselves.
For me there has to be some good sourdough and free-range eggs – we get North Wicklow free range eggs from Killruddery farm shop but there are great eggs available all around the country now – and then proper bacon and black pudding. I love any kind of spice with egg, so we’ll put lots of condiments on the table – Katie Sanderson’s peanut rayu is a favourite or Inferno hot sauces. Ireland has lots of producers of great condiments now and they can be so delicious with eggs.
Sometimes we like to do baked eggs shakshuka, which are a nice one to make at home and pretty straightforward. Just put some onion, garlic, spice and tomato in an overproof dish and crack in a couple of eggs and bake it – it’s very easy to adapt and to incorporate different things, such as a peanut rayu or a pistachio or hazelnut dukkah.
Or if you want to go even more brunchy on Christmas morning, another nice idea is to make a simple potato rosti and top it with some smoked mackerel and a poached egg. Rostis are very easy to make, just with some onion and grated potato.
We invested in a good waffle press for our 15-year-old son Tadhg and he makes his own gluten-free waffles with a simple batter of milk, egg, gluten-free flour and gluten-free baking powder. The waffle press makes all the difference and, basically, the squares allow you to pour in lots more sweetness. They’re delicious with bacon and either maple syrup or Olly’s Honey which we sell at the farm shop from hives on the farm.
Birgitta Curtin, Burren Smokehouse, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare
Our family love to have a very chill Christmas morning with some Swedish baked treats, before something brunchy with bubbles a little later.
I always go down first, before 8am, to set all the fires and put candles everywhere. The rest of the family then come down to the lit candles, with no electric lights on. We’ll open the presents and have coffee with Swedish lusse bulle (sweet saffron yeast-leavened buns) and pepparkakor (a mild butter-based gingerbread). These are very traditional in Sweden, where I grew up, and I make them myself in late November and freeze them so I can just defrost and reheat them for Christmas morning.
For brunch, we love blinis topped with salmon and served with Champagne or a good Cava, something with richness and depth. I make buckwheat blinis, which aren’t as heavy as rye or as sweet as wheatflour blinis, with a yeast-based recipe so it’s slightly fermented and has good body and bubbles. I’ll top it with Goatsbridge trout caviar, which is very pretty and not too pricey, and of course a little dill, which I can’t do without – I’m a true Swede.
I also love serving smoked salmon on thin crisp breads, which are easy to find in health-food stores, or even toasted brown bread or pumpernickel, a heavy rye bread – either way you want something crispy with a bit of texture. Mix up a very simple sour-sweet dressing of two parts each of yoghurt and crème fraîche to one part mayo, seasoned with as much chopped herbs as you like – a mix of anything green such as dill, parsley and chives.
A simple alternative is to serve potato bread or boxty, topped either with folded slices of cold-smoked salmon or spoonfuls of a hot smoked salmon spread (see below).
Three Christmas breakfast recipes
Burren Hot Smoked Salmon spread on potato bread
This is a lovely, simple idea for a light breakfast for Christmas morning, which can be pre-prepared and then just cooked in the pan at the last minute. Cut the potato bread into whatever size squares or shapes that you like, either to enjoy with a glass of bubbles or buck’s fizz while opening the presents, or as part of a sit-down breakfast.
Ingredients:
(Serves 6)
For the potato bread:
500g potatoes 30g butter, chopped into small pieces
180g plain flour
a good pinch of salt 1 tsp rapeseed oil
1/2 tsp butter
For the salmon spread:
180g Burren Smokehouse hot smoked organic salmon
125g cream cheese
60ml fresh cream
juice of 1⁄2 lemon 1 tsp of chopped dill
salt and pepper
to garnish
dill fronds
wedges of lemon
Method:
To prepare the potato bread, peel and dice the potatoes into large pieces. Bring to the boil in a large pot of cold water and cook until tender. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle but still very warm. Mash the potatoes and transfer to a large bowl.
Add the butter and mix well. Add salt and two thirds of the flour, and mix well again. Keep adding more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and roll out to 5mm in thickness. Cut into squares, circles or any other shape – star-shaped cookie cutters could be fun for Christmas. (If preparing in advance, these could be placed on a tray lined with greaseproof paper, covered with cling film and refrigerated until ready to cook. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to return to room temperature.)
To prepare the salmon spread, flake the salmon into a large bowl using your fingers or two forks. Add cream cheese, cream, lemon juice and dill, and mix until combined. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. Scoop into a smaller serving bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight for the flavours to infuse.
When ready to serve, heat the rapeseed oil and butter in a large heavy-based pan over a medium heat, and cook the potato pieces until golden, turning occasionally. Spoon salmon spread on to the potato bread pieces and garnish with fronds of dill; serve with wedges of lemon on the side.
Breakfast muffins
These festive muffins gather all your favourite wholesome breakfast ingredients and combine them in a bun, topped with a cream cheese icing (it’s Christmas after all) and finished off with granola for extra colour and crunch.
This is an easy recipe to make gluten free, by swapping out the wheat-based self-raising flour for a gluten-free self-raising flour blend, and using gluten-free oats.
Ingredients:
(Makes about 20 medium-sized muffins or 12 large ones)
250g self-raising flour (wheat-based or a gluten-free self-raising blend)
1 level tsp bread soda (approx 6g)
1 tsp cinnamon (approx 5g)
120g brown sugar (reduce if you like, or use a maple syrup instead)
100g porridge oats (standard or gluten free)
100g sultanas (optional)
50g sunflower seeds (optional)
50g chopped pecans (optional)
2 medium bananas, mashed (approx 200g)
1 medium carrot, grated (approx 130g)
4 eggs, beaten
180g rapeseed oil
150g natural yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
for the topping (optional)
100g soft butter or plant-based spread
200g icing sugar
100g cream cheese
Foods of Athenry granola, for topping
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place muffin liners in a muffin tin.
To mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl, first sieve in the flour and bread soda, then add the spice, sugar and oats, and whatever fruit, nuts and seeds you’re using, and mix well.
In a second large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix with a spoon until well combined.
Spoon mix into the muffin liners, filling about three quarters high. (If you’re skipping the cream cheese icing, you can sprinkle the top of the muffin with extra oats or seeds before baking to give a nice finish.)
Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire tray.
To make the cream cheese frosting, beat the soft butter or plant-based spread together with sieved icing sugar. Add the cream cheese and beat well until blended.
Spread the icing on to the top of the muffins; and top the icing of each muffin with a spoonful of your favourite granola mix.
Tip: If using a plant-based yoghurt in baking, do add a squeeze of lemon juice as plant-based are not always as acidic as milk-based yoghurts.
Layered granola pots with spiced winter compote
These breakfast pots look gorgeous in any kind of glass coffee cups, martini glasses, water glasses or even small jam jars, so long as you can see the layers.
You can use whatever combination of fruit you like, and if time is tight you can use mixed frozen berries straight from the freezer – but plums are particularly delicious so try to include some if you can.
Ingredients:
Granola of choice (we use The Foods of Athenry’s gluten-free and vegan Nutty Crunch Granola)
Yoghurt of choice (natural Greek-style yoghurt holds it shape well, or use a plant-based yoghurt as a dairy-free and vegan option)
For the fruit compote:
1kg mixed fruit (eg plums, peaches, pears, apples and berries all work well)
100ml orange juice (freshly squeezed or a quality store-bought juice)
50g sugar or maple syrup, to taste (you can add more or less sweetener dependant on the fruit and personal taste)
1 tsp cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
½ tsp vanilla extract
Splash of Cointreau (optional)
Method:
Core and chop your fruits as required. If you’re using fresh berries, reserve a few for decorations.
In a large heavy-based saucepan, combine the orange juice, sweetener, cinnamon and vanilla. Bring to the boil, stirring gently to melt the sugar.
Reduce the heat and add the Cointreau, if using, together with the prepped fruit. Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until fruits are softened but still holding their shape. Set aside to cool. This can be made a few days ahead and stored in the fridge.
To assemble, use a slotted spoon to remove the fruit from the compote and place a spoonful of fruit into each glass or jar. Top with a layer of yoghurt and granola and then repeat with another round. Decorate with some extra berries, if using, and serve.
Tip: Any leftover compote can be stored in the fridge for a few days and eaten with porridge, warmed on pancakes or in a fruit crumble. And don’t waste any of the delicious spicy fruit juices; anything leftover can be added to your mulled wine, or to your glass of prosecco for a spiced Bellini twist.
Three Christmas breakfast hampers
Killruddery Breakfast hamper, €39
Featuring McCabes Irish Breakfast Tea and Brabazon blend of coffee, Olly’s Farm Honey, Killruddery Orchard apple juice, Killruddery garden jam and Lady Meath’s marmalade
The Burren Breakfast Basket, €54
Featuring a selection of Burren Smokehouse products (Classic Burren Cold Smoked Irish Organic Salmon; Burren Hot Smoked Irish Organic Salmon with Honey, Lemon and Pepper) and curated products from other Burren Food Trail members (Burren Gold Gouda with Garlic and Nettle from Aillwee Caves; Brown Soda Bread mix from Doolin Pantry; Granola from Slieve Elva B&B; Burren Whiskey Marmalade from Burren Fine Wine and Food)
Erin’s Gluten-Free Breakfast Box, €65
Featuring Mahers Artisan Coffee Roasters Pure Ground Coffee, Lily’s Teashop bright and tasty breakfast leaf tea, Ballyhoura Apple Farm pure Irish apple juice, The Foods of Athenry gluten-free cookies, Just Live a Little gluten-free granola, and Mileeven pure organic raw and unblended honey.
