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I like to make French toast for dinner every couple of weeks. It’s a great way to use up old bread and the boys love anything they can put syrup on, especially for dinner! I’ve been looking for a good baked French toast recipe to try something new. This recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything is just right- not too sweet, not too “eggy” and so easy to make. And since it soaks all night, it’s the perfect breakfast for holiday mornings like Thanksgiving or Christmas!
Overnight French Toast Bake
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 loaf bread, thick slices (I used a day-old loaf of French bread)
- 8 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, measured and then chopped
- 1/8 tsp salt
- syrup and/or powdered sugar for topping
- In a small bowl, combine butter and brown sugar, then pour on the bottom of a 9×13″ pan
- Arrange bread slices in the pan, overlapping if necessary. Just don’t overlap too much, or the pieces won’t get evenly soaked.
- Combine milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl and pour evenly over bread slices.
- Sprinkle chopped nuts over bread
- Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4-12 hours (the longer the better)
- In the morning, take the casserole out of the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes while you are preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes. If the top starts to brown too much, cover loosely with foil. Cook long enough so the bottom of the pan is done, but don’t dry the casserole out completely.
- Remove and let cool slightly before serving with syrup or powdered sugar.
Doesn’t that just look golden and delicious? It was such a treat for a Saturday breakfast! I plan on making this for breakfast for Thanksgiving for sure! Have you ever tried baked French toast? It would be perfect for brunch, too! We also like to make breakfast burritos in the crockpot overnight. It’s so night to wake up to a hot breakfast ready to eat!
You might also like this breakfast sandwich. It’s our family tradition for breakfast on Christmas Day. SO SO SO good!
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Moira says
I don’t understand- why does the bread look raw with syrup on it in the photograph?
Nicole Burkholder says
It looks that way, but it’s just the white bread that’s absorbed all the toppings/sauce. It colors the bread. There’s actually nothing “on” the bread in the picture- it’s all “in” the bread instead. I’ll be the first to admit, the photos are pretty awful and could be redone. But it’s not raw 🙂
Nicky says
This looks delicious Nicole. French Toast is a great make ahead breakfast casserole for when family is over.
Christina @ Juggling Real Food and Real Life says
Looks delicious Nicole! We had baked French toat one Christmas and it didn’t go over too well. My mother-in-law and I were very disappointed when my family wasn’t thrilled with it. It was delicious so what was their problem? We finally figured out that they like tradition for the holidays. So……..the moral to that story. I need to make this for them this weekend. I bet they love it and perhaps after a few times it will be a new tradition.
Nicole Burkholder says
So what’s tradition for them for Chrsitmas breakfast?