Baked French Toast

Finally, the long awaited recipe for Baked French Toast.  I don't know if ya'll have noticed, but I loved baked french toast recipes.  And, honestly, this is one of the best I've tried! I mean, it's not enough that the french toast itself is so amazing, add the buttermilk syrup and MAN! IT'S AMAZING! If you ever want to make a breakfast to impress, but you don't want to get up super early and mess up several pots and pans, then this is the way to go for sure! Another great thing about this is you can use whatever berry you feel in the mood for! I've used raspberries and blueberries, both were great!  My friend Ryan...who am I kidding...everyone who matters calls him Morty ;), made this for my sister and I when we visited him and his family a while back.  I've made it twice since, which is not near enough haha.  Anyways, give it a try, let me know what you think, I know it won't disappoint. Please don't be intimidated by the long recipe, it's actually very simple and is very quick to make!

Take your french loaf, this one is wheat, but the one with the blueberries is white...

Tear or cut bread into cubes and evenly distribute in the pan. 

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  

Pour evenly over bread.  Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight.  

Mix all ingredients but the butter. (I use a cheese grater to shred the butter, but you can also just cut it into pieces.)  Add butter pieces and cut into the dry mixture, should resemble fine pebbles, store in baggy or air tight container in fridge.

When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove casserole from fridge (if you're using fruit, spread over the top now),,,

and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top.  Bake for 45 min - 1 hour and 15 minutes. 

Toward the end of baking, combine butter, sugar, buttermilk and cook to a boil.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and soda. It becomes frothy and looks and tastes amazing!

This was what it looked like with the raspberries after baking...

And this one with the blueberries...

Scoop out individual portions and drizzle with buttermilk syrup. Enjoy!

Baked French Toast

Ingredients

1 Loaf of French Bread, Wheat or White

8 Eggs

2 cups Whole Milk

1 cup Whipping Cream

1/4 c Brown Sugar

2 T Vanilla

1 1/2 t Cinnamon

Fresh or frozen berries (optional)

Grease 9x13 baking dish.  Tear or cut bread into cubes and evenly distribute in the pan. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  Pour evenly over bread.  Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight.  When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove casserole from fridge (if you're using fruit, spread over the top now) and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top (recipe below).  Bake for 45 min - 1 hour and 15 minutes. Bake less for a softer, more bread pudding texture, bake more for a firmer, less liquid texture.  (I baked for about 1 hour.) Scoop out individual portions and drizzle with buttermilk syrup. (recipe below) Enjoy!

Topping

1/2 c Flour

1/2 c Brown Sugar, packed

1 t Cinnamon

1/4 t Salt

1/4 t Nutmeg

1/2 c Butter, cold, cut or shredded into pieces 

Mix all ingredients but the butter. (I use a cheese grater to shred the butter, but you can also just cut it into pieces.)  Add butter pieces and cut into the dry mixture, should resemble fine pebbles, store in baggy or air tight container in fridge.  Follow the directions above for what to do next.

Buttermilk Syrup

1/2 c Butter

1/4 c Sugar

1/2 c Buttermilk

1 t Vanilla

1/2 t Baking Soda

Combine butter, sugar, buttermilk and cook to a boil.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and soda. It becomes frothy and looks and tastes amazing!

Recipe Source: From the Kitchen of Morty aka Ryan Mortensen