Jalapeño, Sausage & Egg Breakfast Braid

I love to find new breakfast recipes to try out!  I came across this recipe in Cooking Light and tested it out for a summer cabin trip a few years ago.  It’s easy, yet looks pretty impressive, and sounds like it too (breakfast braid sounds kind of fancy to me at least!).  This breakfast dish quickly became a favorite and is a go-to staple if I’m having company and I want to serve something for breakfast or brunch.

Servings:  8

Size:  1/8 of the breakfast braid

Points Plus: 6 pp

Level of Difficulty:  Medium

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time:  15 minutes

Rating: 5 stars – Excellent

Ingredient List:

1 can refrigerated pizza crust dough

Cooking spray

1 Tbsp. olive oil

¼ cup onion, chopped

4 oz. chicken sausage with jalapeños, chopped

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese

¼ cup jalapeño peppers, chopped and seeded

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°. Unroll the pizza dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Shape dough into a 15x10 inch rectangle.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and sausage; cook about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in the eggs, cook another 1-2 minutes or until the eggs set.  Remove from heat.  Sprinkle Monterey Jack cheese lengthwise down the center of the dough, leave about a 2 ½ inch boarder on each side.  Spoon the egg/sausage mixture evenly over the cheese.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of the egg mixture; top with jalapeño peppers.  Make 2 inch long diagonal cuts about 1 inch apart on both sides of the dough to within ½ inch of the filling.  Arrange the strips over the filling, alternating sides to make the appearance look like a braid.  Press the ends to seal.  Brush the top of the braid with egg white to ensure a nice browned crust.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into slices.

Tip:

To make the cuts in the pizza dough to form the braid, kitchen scissors work REALLY well!  Simply snip out even strips to make your braid.  The scissors will help the dough for tearing or getting stretched out so you end up with a nice looking braid to serve your company!

XOXO Megan