Last Sunday we hosted our families for brunch after Hadley was Christened at church. Our families are large and so there was a crowd, plus we were feeding a wide variety of ages — from Hadley to her great-grandparents. I wanted a menu that would be low key and easy to fix but would also provide everyone with something that they would like. Enter what I believe to be the perfect brunch menu. It received rave reviews from everyone and it was fairly easy to prepare.
Drinks
We served orange juice and grapefruit juice as well as ice water. If your family has a lot of coffee or tea drinkers those would be good options as well.
Brunch
Our menu included some ready-mades like Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and Cranberry Walnut bread from the local Gluten Free Bakery as well as a few varieties of muffins that Mom made for me. In addition to those we supplemented with some homemade recipes.
– Vanilla Almond Granola from Sally’s Baking Addiction – I made two recipes of this and, I think, because I made two recipes at once I didn’t have enough liquid ingredients to make mine clump. Or maybe it couldn’t bake perfectly correctly? But even though might was more of itty bitty granola, it still tasted great. I set out of a bowl of greek yogurt and little cups and spoons and our guests made themselves little yogurt parfaits so that they could at least feel like some of the brunch was healthy!
– Bacon and Cheddar Quiche from How To This and That – I’ve used other recipes for quiche but this one was very yummy. I, again, prepped it the night before and actually cooked it on Saturday as well before reheating in the oven on Sunday when we got home from church. It was finished by the end of brunch so I thought that was a good sign.
– Bacon, Cheddar, and Scallion Scones from Fifteen Spatulas – Before I decided to add a quiche to the menu, I thought we needed something savory to balance out all of the sweet so I made these scones. They weren’t incredibly easy to make but they tasted great, especially right out of the oven. I made these on Saturday and re-heated them on Sunday (covered with foil) which I think made them even drier than they were originally, but scones are dry so I think I made them correctly.
– Cream Cheese Filled Banana Bread from Averie Cooks – Family members reading this might wonder where this was because they didn’t see it at my house on Sunday but that was because I got a little distracted with all my pre-event cooking. I accidentally set the oven to 450 instead of 350 which resulted in a very, very done outer layer but a perfect inner layer. I couldn’t serve it like that so Jason and I just taste-tested the inside for dessert on Saturday night. Let me tell you, it was fantastic. I’m waiting on some banana’s to ripen right now so that I can make it again. It was fantastic!
– Cinnamon Roll Skillet Cake from Chelsea’s Messy Apron – This recipe was the trickiest because it needed to be cooked once we got home from church. But unless you’ve got a late service and are in a hurry to eat, it’s perfect. I prepped the whole recipe the night before and sat it in the fridge overnight and popped it in the oven as soon as we got home. I cooked it on 400 degrees to shorten the cooking time and it turned out perfectly. Jason and I might have eaten the leftovers for dessert on Sunday night.
Dessert
And, lest you think we didn’t have enough sweets already, we topped the meal off with a vanilla cake with vanilla icing. Hadley was very jealous of the cake and we tried to reassure her that in two short months it would be her turn to indulge!
I’d love to hear your favorite brunch foods or recipes! Is there something that I’m missing? If so, let me know in the comments!
