Breakfast on December 25th is a difficult meal, stuck somewhere between the sumptuous Christmas Eve dinner and the royal Christmas Day lunch a few hours later. To unwrap the gifts, you need energy, though. And with our (both light and incredibly indulgent) 11 ideas for Christmas breakfast, you won't have any difficulty in facing the hardships of this festive day.
5 deliciously indulgent ideas
For Christmas, every dessert counts. And even if this isn’t exactly a saying, you really shouldn’t worry about your waistline during this holiday. It’s a time to indulge! Great Christmas breakfast classics in Italy are the dinner leftovers from the night before – we’re talking panettone and pandoro. But if you need an extra dose of sweetness to make you feel good about your mother-in-law, panforte is for you. The kids – even the adults who are kids on the inside – will love holiday cookies (like gingerbread) with hot chocolate for Christmas breakfast.
A delicious and light Christmas breakfast in 3 recipes
Then again, some people prefer a light breakfast in anticipation of the big Christmas lunch that’s coming in only a few hours. We’ve got some options for you, too! In Italy, we often serve pineapple for the holidays, which is delicious served at the end of a meal since it’s exotic and considered an ally for digestion and detox. If there are a few slices left, eat it in a fruit salad with almonds, another popular Christmas food. An alternative for a fruit-based breakfast is a fruit salad with mandarins – a citrus fruit symbolic of Christmastime festivities – and walnuts or for a third suggestion that children will love, make a kiwi Christmas tree! Simply peel them, cut them in half and then into slices, placing them on a triangular shaped plate to mimic the shape of a Christmas tree. Decorate it with some raspberries or currants to simulate the ornaments for a super-Christmasy breakfast!
3 more ideas for a breakfast that simply tastes like Christmas
If Christmas were an aroma, it would be spicy like cinnamon. So you pretty much have to make something with a hint of cinnamon in it for the holidays! Make the smell of Christmas float through the house with a delicious smoothie made from milk, yogurt, a ripe banana, a dash of honey, a pinch of ginger and lots of cinnamon. Then, you could also make a delicious granola combined with yogurt, honey and cinnamon. Or a quick mini-strudel with simple puff pastry stuffed with diced apples, pine nuts, raisins and cinnamon. Simply close the dough over the fruit ingredients and bake in the oven until golden-brown. Cinnamon gelato, a typical South Tyrolean dessert, might not be served for breakfast, but you could make your own version with ricotta cheese sweetened with honey and whipped cream.