serves 6
The Ingredients
cooking spray
4 cups toasted bread cubes (approximately 8 slices; I used gluten-free bread)
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
¼ cup butter, melted
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup raisins
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
2 cups half-and-half
The Directions
Use a 2-quart slow cooker. Spray your stoneware insert well with cooking spray. Put the toasted bread cubes into your cooker and add the diced apples. Toss the bread and apples with the melted butter. Dump in the pecans, raisins, and brown sugar, and sprinkle in the pumpkin pie spice. Stir gingerly to distribute the ingredients evenly. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and half-and-half, and pour evenly over the top of the assembled ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Your pudding is done when it has browned on top and pulled away from the sides. The center should be set and not super jiggly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream as a dessert or plain for breakfast.
The Verdict
In a perfect world, little fairies would assemble this in the middle of the night so I could eat it every morning. I’d like them to set up the coffeepot, too. This makes six hearty grown-up–sized portions. This is plenty of food for one full week of kid breakfasts. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator, and reheat in the microwave with a touch of milk.
serves 4
The Ingredients
2 cups certified gluten-free rolled oats
4 cups milk
½ cup raisins
¼ cup chopped walnuts or almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
The Directions
Use a 2-quart slow cooker. Combine the oats and milk in your slow cooker, and stir in the raisins, nuts, cinnamon, and sugar. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours, on high for 1 to 2 hours, or until the desired consistency is reached. I like my oats to still have some chewiness to them.
The Verdict
Every time I eat oatmeal, I think I really should eat it more often. This is filling and hearty, and won’t leave you hungry an hour later. Oatmeal comes out nice and creamy in the slow cooker—I love it prepared this way.
serves 8
The Ingredients
1 (30-ounce) bag frozen hash brown potatoes
6 eggs
4 large turkey sausages, diced (mild or spicy, your choice)
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes and chiles (Rotel)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese
salsa, sour cream, or sliced avocado for serving (optional)
The Directions
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Put the frozen hash browns into your slow cooker. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sausages, milk, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and cheese. Pour this mixture evenly on top of the potatoes. Cover your cooker and cook on low for 7 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Serve with salsa, sour cream, or sliced avocado, if you’d like.
The Verdict
This is a wonderful recipe to serve to out-of-town guests. I like to assemble everything the night before and plug in the slow cooker right before going to bed. I also load up the coffeepot, so if my guests wake up bright and early, they can serve themselves without fuss. I’ve left this casserole on warm successfully for an additional 4 hours.
serves 10 to 12
The Ingredients
12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 cups toasted (or stale) bread cubes (I used bread made from a gluten-free bread mix)
cooking spray
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a 4-cheese Mexican blend)
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
8 eggs
1½ cups milk (I used fat-free cow’s, but any would work just fine)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
The Directions
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Cook the bacon to the desired crispiness and toast the bread. Set these aside. Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray and set that aside, too.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the shredded cheese, mushrooms, eggs, milk, salt, and pepper.
Put the bread cubes into the bottom of your sprayed slow cooker, and pour the egg mixture evenly over the entire thing. Place the bacon pieces on top.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until the eggs have set, or on high for about 3 to 4 hours. When the eggs have completely set, and your casserole has begun to brown on top and pull away from the sides, take the lid off the cooker and let the steam and moisture evaporate for about 15 minutes before serving.
The Verdict
This is a wonderful breakfast casserole—it has pretty much everything you can imagine in it, and I was very close to calling it “kitchen sink breakfast casserole,” but the girls thought that was kind of weird. So, it’s THE ULTIMATE. Everyone in our house loved this casserole, and my grandma ate the leftovers and reported that they were fantastic.
This would be a welcome addition to a brunch or to serve to overnight guests.
