By Laurel Randolph From Serious Eats

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There are holidays, and then there are brunch holidays. Brunch holidays are all about lazing around in mid-morning sunlight, sipping refreshing drinks, eating great food, and definitely not thinking about anything else you have to do for the rest of the day.

Mother’s Day? Definitely a brunch holiday. It always lands on Sunday, often involves mimosas, and rolls around during great lounge-around-outside weather. In other words, it’s pretty much nature’s way (dare we say Mother Nature’s way?) of saying you should make the mom in your life one kick-ass brunch.

You can take the savory route with a classic eggs Benedict, bacon-cheese waffles, or lobster scrambled eggs. Or hit a sweet note with yogurt panna cotta, French toast, or homemade lime scones. But to go-all out, we’d recommend a full spread of…pretty much everything. We’ve got 9 recipes* to get you started.

Savory

Foolproof Eggs Benedict

[Photograph: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

Brunch doesn’t get more classic than eggs Benedict. This recipe is all about ease, combining our formulas for foolproof 2-minute hollandaise and foolproof poached eggs. Add a toasted, buttered English muffin and ham crisped in butter, and Mom is in for a real treat. If you want to speed things up, you can even make your poached eggs ahead of time and keep them in a bowl of warm water until it’s time to serve.

Ham and Cheddar Biscuits

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

Not much can top a plain buttered biscuit, except for, say…ham and cheese? There’s no mixer needed and only one dirty bowl. Making them flaky is easy: work the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers just until the butter chunks are the size of large almonds. When the biscuits are baked, the butter pieces melt and the resulting steam pushes the dough apart into tender layers.

Puff Pastry Breakfast Egg Tarts

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]
For a brunch tart moms are sure to love, make your own blitz puff pastry. It’s easier to pull off than traditional puff pastry and still produces tender buttery layers. It also makes a decadent base for melted cheese, gently cooked egg, and roasted tomatoes. Make sure you bake the puff pastry when in a semi-frozen state to get the most “lift” from the butter.

Dill Yorkshire Puddings With Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Cream

[Photograph: Sydney Oland]

Inspired by the classic British recipe, these mini Yorkshire puddings are seasoned with dill and garlic and cooked in a preheated muffin tin. Once baked, serve the Yorkshire puddings right away while they’re hot and puffed—they tend to deflate quickly as they sit, even over just a couple of minutes. Topped with smoked salmon and a fiery horseradish cream, they make for a fast, easy, and original brunch.

Eggs Sardou (New Orleans-Style Poached Eggs With Artichoke Hearts, Spinach, and Hollandaise)

[Photograph: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

For a different but no less decadent take on eggs Benedict, try this New Orleans classic. While the creamed spinach slowly simmers, you cook artichoke hearts in butter, prepare your hollandaise, and poach the eggs. Sound complicated? That’s why we’ve streamlined the whole process for maximum ease.

Get the recipe for Eggs Sardou (New Orleans-Style Poached Eggs With Artichoke Hearts, Spinach, and Hollandaise) »

Potato, Spinach, and Goat Cheese Quiche

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[Photograph: Sydney Oland]

If you need to make your main dish ahead of time, quiche is a great solution. It tastes as good, if not better, at room temperature and can be made up to a day in advance. In this version, potatoes add soft texture and heft, while spinach delivers green freshness, and goat cheese gives it a creamy tang.

Baked Eggs With Mushrooms, Cheddar, and Ham

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[Photograph: Lauren Rothman]

Tender, pork-infused mushrooms pair naturally with these baked eggs. A topping of grated cheddar cheese adds extra creaminess and savoriness to this ultimate brunch dish.

Quick and Easy Huevos Rancheros With Tomato-Chili Salsa

For a Southwestern brunch, give huevos rancheros a go. This rendition is topped with a spicy and smoky tomato-chili salsa. Canned chipotle chilies and dried ancho chilies toasted in the microwave add rich chili flavor and fiery heat to the simple salsa, and a splash of soy sauce adds umami depth. The whole dish is made in under 30 minutes, maximizing your quality mom time.

Bacon, Cheese, and Scallion Waffles

[Photograph: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

What could be better than a homemade waffle? How about a traditional waffle with lots of grated cheddar cheese, cooked bacon, and scallions added to the batter? The cheese oozes out of the edges a bit and gets crispy, while the bacon adds plenty of flavor. Douse it with maple syrup to get a whole sweet-and-savory thing going.

For another 10 dishes and to download the recipes go to: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/mothers-day-brunch-recipes.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+seriouseatsfeaturesvideos+%28Serious+Eats%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetche