70 Make-Ahead Brunch Recipes Worth Waking Up For

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Cranberry vanilla morning buns on cooling rack with one bun torn off to the side.

Credit: Photo: Joe Lingeman | Food Stylist: Cyd McDowell

I love brunch, you love brunch — I think we’re all on board for a good weekend brunch, yes? The one problem with brunch, however, is figuring out how to make it without having to get up at the crack of dawn to start cooking.

That’s why we’re bringing you a roundup of all our favorite make-ahead brunch recipes, both sweet and savory, for whatever plans you may have come the weekend.

Make-Ahead Egg Casseroles

Not only are breakfast casseroles and quiches ideal for serving a crowd, but they also have big make-ahead brunch potential and welcome just about any type of meat, vegetables, or cheese you have handy.

Easy Breakfast Casserole

An easy-assembly, crowd-feeding breakfast casserole loaded with the works: cheddar cheese, diced ham, bell pepper, shredded potatoes, and eggs.

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Eggs Benedict Casserole

A trouble-free egg custard ties together this casserole-style eggs benedict packed with toasted English muffins, Canadian bacon, and creamy hollandaise sauce.

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Diner Breakfast Egg Bake

Inspired by a classic breakfast combo of tender potatoes, savory sausage, and eggs, this casserole is a crowd-pleasing, throw-it-together dish you should make year-round.

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Overnight Merguez and Mushroom Strata

At its most basic, strata is stale bread, egg custard, and cheese. After that, it’s pretty much a choose-your-own adventure. This version has a harissa-spiced custard, merguez sausage, and mushrooms.

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Make-Ahead Sweet Breakfast Casseroles

If your crowd skews toward the sweet side, you’re going to want to keep these easy casseroles on your radar, since they’re even better when made ahead of time. These casseroles can all be prepped the day before then stashed in the fridge, so all that’s left to do is pop it in the oven in the morning.

French Toast Casserole

This easy, make-ahead breakfast bake is a crowdpleaser every time. It boasts all the classic cinnamon and vanilla French toast flavors, wrapped up into a family-style casserole.

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Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

These soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls are packed with gingerbread flavor, thanks to molasses and warm spices in the dough and a velvety maple cream cheese glaze.

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Overnight French Toast

Prep the night before and once you wake up and bake, be rewarded by thickly sliced brioche bread soaked in luscious custard and topped with a crunchy, spice-kissed streusel topping.

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Baked Goods

Most yeasted breads, like our morning buns and cinnamon rolls, can be made right up to the point when you shape the bread, at which point you can refrigerate overnight and finish the recipe the next day. When you need something that can be prepped and baked totally in advance, coffee cake, muffins, and scones are always a good idea.

Banana Bread

The key to moist, cake-like bread is overripe bananas – the blacker and spottier the peels, the better.

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Giant Lemon Roll

This single, giant lemon roll cake has soft, pillowy dough and a lemony-brown sugar swirl that you can pull apart layer by layer.

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Blueberry Muffins

These blueberry muffins are not only easy to make (they require just one bowl) but they’re also perfect in nearly every way: they’re not too sweet, boast a tender crumb, and are bursting with blueberries in each and every bite.

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Blueberry Banana Bread

This blueberry-studded banana bread is tender, moist, and uncomplicated to bake. Best of all, it’s as delicious fresh out of the oven as it is later re-warmed in butter.

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Cranberry Orange Scones

These tender and buttery scones – chock-full of juicy cranberries and zippy orange – will be the baked good you’ll want to make all fall and winter long.

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Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins have a hearty dose of rolled oats, but you’d never know eating them because they’re super plush and tender witth blueberries for some sweetness.

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Zucchini Banana Bread

Come summer when the market is bursting with Zucchini, there is absolutely nothing better than a loaf of ultra-tender, lightly spiced Zucchini Banana Bread.

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Pumpkin Banana Bread

Ripe, speckled bananas and earthy pumpkin give each spiced slice of this fall quick bread a moist texture and natural sweetness.

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Apple Muffins

These tender muffins are studded with chunks of fresh apple and showered with plenty of cinnamon-sugar.

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