The Best Eggs Benedict Breakfast Casserole.

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Eggs Benedict is a staple around the Letkeman household. We probably eat some variety of it once a month: classic, smoked salmon, French toast. Basically, any excuse to consume hollandaise sauce. The issue with a classic eggs benny, especially when making it from scratch, is there are always 10 minutes of complete chaos when everything is finishing cooking and you're trying not to burn anything.

That's where this casserole comes in. It's super easy and hands-off, perfect if you're in the mood for a relaxing morning, enjoying a book and finishing your coffee while it's actually still warm. And really, what mom doesn't just dream of that?

I've experimented with making this breakfast casserole by making it the morning of as well as the night before and storing it in the fridge, and I must say that there is no real difference in how it cooks. But, I would advise leaving the cooked bacon out and quickly mixing it in before baking in the morning otherwise it goes soggy.

Originally I made this recipe with artisan-style bread, left out for a day to let it get a little stale (stale bread is dryer so it absorbs the egg mixture better). It was very tasty but I wanted it to be as close to a true eggs benedict as possible. So I switched it up and used English muffins, sourdough of course. These are typically a dryer bread, so I used a pack that was brand new from the store the day before and the casserole turned out wonderfully.

When I'm just cooking for my family, I use my 8x8 inch pan. The only one I have is an aluminum one. The casserole cooks nicely in it, but it cooks a little quicker than it would in a thicker glass pan so I'm able to pare down the cook time slightly. Typically, it takes about 40 minutes total in my aluminum pan and a full hour in my 9x13 inch glass pan.

The casserole will do two rounds in the oven of equal time, the first covered with foil and the second uncovered. Near the end of the second stint, I start my hollandaise sauce. I like to make my hollandaise sauce as close to serving time as possible to avoid the film it gets on top and so it still has that creamy runny texture.

My favourite hollandaise sauce is browned butter, but really whatever you fancy will work on this casserole! Epicure makes a buttermilk hollandaise sauce mix that is scrumptious as well, and if you're short on time it's a great solution.

You'll know the casserole is done cooking when the eggs are cooked through and don't look slimy. When it's done and out of the oven, serve immediately topped with hollandaise sauce, a sprinkle of paprika, and some chives. Oh and of course, enjoy.

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