You might be looking at this and thinking… I love eggs benedict, but why not just make an actual eggs benedict? But hear me out on why it should be done in casserole form. I’ve got reasons.
1. It’s make-ahead. So you get to do all the work the night before and in the morning all you have to do is just pop it in the oven while you’re still bleary-eyed from lack of coffee.
2. It makes it super easy to feed a crowd in the morning. (And feed them something super yummy!)
3. We here at 12 Tomatoes love anything in casserole form. Isn’t that reason enough?
This has all the flavor you know and love from eggs benedict, but it’s super easy to throw together. (Including the hollandaise. More on that in a bit.) It’s just a matter of layering cubed English muffins and Canadian bacon in a baking dish…
… and pouring a mixture of eggs and milk (and a little bit of seasoning too) over them and letting it sit until the bread has absorbed all of that goodness. That can happen overnight, or if you happen to be a morning person, you can just let it hang out for a few hours in the fridge before you want to bake it for brunch. When it bakes, the top gets golden brown and crisp…
… while the inside gets soft and fluffy and deliciously eggy. The nooks in English muffins are especially good at capturing any extra flavor, so the paprika and onion and garlic powder in the custard mixture runs throughout every bite.
Last but certainly not least, you whip up a quick hollandaise while this bakes in the morning. I know hollandaise can be an intimidating thing, but I’m giving you a fool-proof blender method below that takes no more than five minutes to make. It’s as buttery and beautiful as you could want it to be, but it’s totally no stress.
Eggs Benedict Breakfast Casserole
20 minutes active, up to 24 hours inactive to prepare serves 6-8
Ingredients
- 6 English muffins, split in half and cut into cubes
- 12 oz Canadian bacon, chopped
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- For the Hollandaise sauce:
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted but still warm
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
Preparation
- Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Spread half of the Canadian bacon along the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with English muffin pieces, and then remaining Canadian bacon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and salt and pepper. Pour mixture evenly over baking dish. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- In morning, remove baking dish from fridge and let come to room temperature (about 20 minutes). When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375°F.
- Bake casserole, still covered with foil, for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes.
- During last minutes of baking, prepare the Hollandaise sauce:
- Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt to your blender and blend at medium-high speed until lightened in color, about 30 seconds.
- Lower the blender speed and slowly drizzle in melted butter. Continue blending until all butter is incorporated.
- Adjust lemon juice and salt as necessary, drizzle over casserole, and enjoy!