Egg Nog Breakfast Bread

Every Christmas for as long as I can remember, my family always had something a little extra special for breakfast. It was one of those things you always remember. You wake up early, open gifts, have cup of cocoa or coffee and then have a warm and delicious breakfast. This year, we did things different - we had breakfast before all the other fun stuff. It was rather nice because after opening gifts and relaxing, who wants to make breakfast. 

One of the other blogs I follow closely posted a recipe for egg nog waffles. Yum, right? They were so good. We served them with parmesan and chive eggs as well as the totally and fabulous chicken breakfast sausage from Trader Joes. Those sausages are great - there are 130 calories for three links and they taste even better than regular breakfast sausage. At least I think so. If you like them, swoop them up while you can and put them in your freezer. I don't see them all the time and when they are out, they go like hot cakes.

Okay, back to what we are here for. Egg nog bread. There is just something out the flavor of egg nog that wins me over. Maybe it's the nutmeg. Since I can't have real egg nog (hello lactose intolerance), I always buy Silk soy egg nog. It tastes just the same and doesn't give me all that tummy trouble. I went to the store to get some to make this fantastic bread and of course they were all out! Since I knew I would not be drinking this, I decided to buy the organic low fat version. You can you use soy, the real deal or any kind of egg nog that you store has.

Since I knew my family would be having something eggnoggy and special for Christmas breakfast, I wanted to make something for Ryan and his mom (she was in town for the holidays - hiiii Kris!) to nibble on when they woke up in the morning. Plus, this was the perfect time to try out a new holiday recipe and switch it up from the plain old banana bread.  Even better, this one has an egg nog glaze that you pour over the top as it's cooling. Who doesn't love a gooey glaze? I know I do.

ingredients - wheaties do not go in the batter :)

dry ingredients

wet ingredients

whip that batter!

before going in the oven

pow sugar + vanilla + egg nog for glaze

cooling and glaze dripping

Egg Nog Breakfast Bread (slighty adapted from http://www.recipegirl.com)

 
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup eggnog

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash nutmeg
2 to 3 teaspoons eggnog

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, eggnog, melted butter, and vanilla. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy).

4. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes. Check for done-ness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the loaf -- it should come out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.

5. For the icing, combine sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg. Stir in enough eggnog to reach drizzling consistency. Drizzle cooled loaf with icing. Grate a little bit of fresh nutmeg over the icing, then let icing set completely before wrapping loaf.

Like I said, I did not try this bread, but Ryan said he ate two pieces on Christmas morning. Couldn't have been that bad, right? Also, if you want to use up your extra holiday egg nog and freeze this bread for another time, follow all the steps, but do not glaze the bread. Once you make and defrost the loaf, then glaze the bread.