Savory Christmas Bread

We love homemade bread but since we both work full-time, our weeknight repertoire consists of cornbread, biscuits, Focaccia, and beer batter bread.  Of course, these are all delicious but we really wanted to add something new to our rotation.  It occurred to me that most of the quick bread recipes are sweet – like zucchini, pumpkin, and banana.  So, I turned to my King Arthur Flour Cookbook and was happily surprised to find a recipe for Savory Christmas Bread.  You can find a similar version here.  The recipe is identical, it’s the shaping method that’s different – we shaped our bread into oblong loaves by hand instead of placing it in a pan.  This recipe lends itself to all kinds of mix-ins and it’s so easy that we’re sure to make it again & again.  It’s delicious fresh from the oven with butter.

But, this morning, we cut thick slices, used a juice glass to cut a hole in the middle, and fried it up in butter to make Egg in a Hole which is a super-easy hot breakfast.  You just heat a skillet over medium heat, melt 3 Tablespoons of butter, then place the pieces of bread in the skillet and crack the eggs into the center of the hole.  Sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper, then cook until the egg sets on the bottom, Flip it over with a spatula and salt and pepper the other side, cooking until the egg yolk is the way you like it.  You can also fry the center circles in butter.  This bread is particularly delicious this way because the melted cheese creates a crispy crust and it’s really flavorful with the eggs.

Enjoy!