A Sweet & Cozy Easter Brunch

I've been having a happily full life lately - lots of yoga teaching, and also a trip down to Austin TX for some yoga learning (and tacos!). I'm working on a post about my Texan adventures and eats, it's coming soon! I hurried home and suddenly it was Easter morning! This year we had a very sweet and tiny gathering -- just us two, my parents, and my youngest nephew. It was a rainy day here, which made the whole thing quiet and cozy and mellow.

Easter Brunch

I am a fan of brunch at all times and under any circumstances! I love the pace and the decadence of it. I love the sweeties and the savories. I love the carbs and veggies and fruit all together. And I love the leisure of the company and the chatting. Our sweet little Easter brunch was no exception - we talked and laughed and remembered and looked at pictures from our Texas trip and it was all very sweet. 

if i ever got a tattoo...

Bagels!

Along the lines of keeping it easy and low-key, instead of fussing over some big casserole -- I just ran down the street to The Bagelry. We are lucky to have a spot in our community with really good bagels, and one of their locations is right near our house. Plus, bagels are always a hit with pretty much everyone -- so it was a good way to go. I got 2 sesame bagels, 2 onion bagels, 1 poppyseed bagel and 1 jalepeno bagel. All good choices!

Spreads and Fixin's

For a proper bagel bar experience, you gotta have lots of choices of different spreads. I put out two different peanut butters (I prefer the organic PB from Trader Joe's, but Musty & my nephew prefer Jif, ha ha!), grape jelly, Kite Hill cream cheese, and hummus. There were also some non-vegan options which shall not be discussed or photographed on these hallowed pages! 

I also put out fresh watercress, fresh dill, sliced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and red onions. I really like a few veggies on my bagel - they balance the super carb-athon of the bagel experience. Plus the crunchy cuke and the moisture and acid of the tomatoes and the pungent onion all go together so nicely. 

eat your fruits and veggies!

We had a huge bowl of organic strawberries and a huge platter of pan-seared asparagus. Simple, and perfect. I am lucky to have a bestie and a dear yoga student who both grow amazing organic strawberries and who each gifted us some berries before Easter!! I even sent home strawberry party favors with my parents and my nephew. 

berry party favors

my nephew has always loved strawberries, it was so fun to share with him! 

Hot Cross Buns

I really love hot cross buns a lot, but I also really love being lazy. This year I was feeling a bit extra-lazy since I had just gotten home from my trip to Texas... and I had pretty much made up my mind not to make any HBCs this year. But here's the thing. My dad also really loves HBCs and every year, when he comes to Easter brunch at my house, he gets super jazzed about them. So, somewhere around 9pm on the night before Easter, I decided I just couldn't go without! I didn't want to disappoint my daddy!

I used this great recipe from King Arthur Flour's website for Easy Hot Cross Buns. In place of eggs, I used aquafaba - which worked really great. (about 7.5 Tbsp aquafaba in place of the 2 1/2 eggs). I mixed them up, let them do their 1st rise and about 20 minutes of their second rise, and then I put them in the fridge overnight. I really like this method, which I learned several years ago. In the morning, I was able to let them rise for about an hour while I preheated the oven and went out for the bagels... and they only take about 20 minutes to actually bake. So they were perfectly fresh when everyone showed up at our house. Ahhh, a freshly baked bread product really is something special. 

For years I made HBCs that were "good enough," but weren't really great. This recipe makes really wonderful buns - light, fluffy, and perfectly flavored with just the right hint of sweetness. Of course, as soon as we got ready to eat, my dad beelined straight to the HBCs! I was so glad that I had motivated and made them at the last minute. What was I thinking??