A good breakfast is a must-have for me on Christmas morning. John and I decided we wanted to try something a little different this year, and after browsing some recipes on Pinterest, I decided to give this Overnight French Toast Casserole a try.
It sounded easy enough. I liked the fact that I could put it together the night before, and then just stick it in the oven when we woke up on Christmas morning. Also – how can you go wrong with the combination of brown sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon??
I was really hoping that this casserole would not turn out to be soggy in the middle, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. This Overnight French Toast Casserole was absolutely amazing. It was crunchy on the outside, and soft in the middle – but not soggy. I used Cinnamon Swirl bread instead of regular to give it a little more flavor. I also did not have any pecans on hand, so we went nut-free, but I bet it would be absolutely delicious with pecans.
A friend of mine mentioned that she’d like to try this recipe using Cinnamon Raisin bread. I’m not a fan of raisins baked into things, but if that’s something you’re interested in, then by all means try it! This recipe seems to be very versatile in that you can use whatever kind of bread you have on hand. I also switched it up a bit more by using almond milk instead of regular.
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter (1/2 cup) melted
- 1.5 loaves of Cinnamon Swirl bread
- 1.5 loaves of Cinnamon Swirl bread
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- Maple syrup
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Cut slices of Cinnamon Swirl bread in half.
- Melt butter and pour into the bottom of a 9x 13 baking dish. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla together in a separate bowl. Layer bottom of baking dish with half the bread slices. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mix over the bread.
- Layer second half of bread on top of brown sugar mix. Pour egg mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly. Sprinkle remaining brown sugar mix on top.
- Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, remove from the refrigerator and cover with a new piece of foil. Preheat oven to 350 and bake the casserole for 30 minutes.
- Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes until the French toast casserole is brown on top.
- Pour maple syrup on top of casserole. Place back in the oven and using your ovens broiler, broil for about 5-7 minutes to caramelize the top.
- Sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Serve warm. It goes great with a hot cup of coffee!
