Bethie's Baked French Toast

Submitted by Elmotoo

"Well.... it is my humble opinion that the baked french toast recipes that sit overnight are soggy & mushy. So I tried this. Then added some stuff. And crossed my fingers. The topping idea I hijacked from another recipe online then adjusted to my personal taste. I do hope you enjoy; my family swooned so I came running here to post. ;) I think you could add any dried fruit or even fresh fruit - apples, pears, bananas - cut up into bite sized pieces. I think adding orange zest to the topping might be yummy, too. Go ahead...make it your own!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1 loaf challah
• vegetable cooking spray
• 236.59 ml raisins
• 118.29 ml shredded coconut
• 10 large eggs
• 591.47 ml milk
• 118.29 ml cream
• 14.79 ml cinnamon
• 14.79 ml pure vanilla extract
• 14.79-29.58 ml sugar (or vanilla sugar!)
• 0.25 ml salt

• TOPPING

• 118.29 ml unsalted butter, softened
• 236.59 ml dark brown sugar
• 14.79 ml cinnamon
• 118.29 ml sliced almonds

• OTHER

• maple syrup

directions

1. The night before, thickly slice the bread & lay out on a cooling rack.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Spray a 9x13 pan well. Tear up the dried bread slices into bite sized pieces into the pan. Sprinkle with raisins & coconut.
4. In an 8c measuring bowl, whisk eggs. Add milk & cream (you can use whatever combination of dairy you want. I have skim milk in the fridge so I added some cream. If I had whole milk, I would have used that & skipped the cream). Add sugar, vanilla, cinnamon & whisk thoroughly. Carefully pour over the bread. With a spatula or your (clean) hands, carefully push down to make sure it's all wet. Let sit 15 minutes or so.

5. For the topping:

6. In a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar & cinnamon. I mushied it all up thoroughly with my hands. Spread on top of the french toast mixture. It doesn't spread very easily; I used my hands. Sprinkle almonds on top. I sprinkled almonds on only 1/2 because dd doesn't care for nuts. ;).
7. You may want to consider putting a cookie sheet under the baking dish in case there are any spills. Bake in preheated oven 50 minutes or until toasty on top & set. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Pour just a little warmed pure maple syrup on top.
8. Enjoy. :).

Reviews

[Sharon123]

Delicious casserole! I scaled the recipe down for two and ate it for two breakfasts! I used agave syrup instead of maple syrup and will be making this for a potluck soon. Thanks! Made for Australian Swap Feb. 2012.

 

[Baby Kato]

One of the best baked french toasts that I have tried on this site. So good, so much flavor, pretty sweet, absolutely delicious and easy to make. I did as suggested and added some orange zest to the mix, yummy. Loved all the flavors, coconut, raisins, cinnamon, orange zest and almonds. Next time I make this treat, I will omit the maple syrup, didn't need it, the topping is sweet enough. Thanks for sharing this wonderful gem that I will be proud to share with family and friends. Made for Aussie Swap.

 

[NurseJaney]

*Made for Australia/NZ Swap #82* Made 1/2 recipe for DH and me, and almost polished it off ! YUM ! Am thinking of baking 2 for day after Christmas, when everyone (10) still here ! Very flavorful and quick to set up. Challah is perfect choice, since it dries so well and absorbs all the liquid mixture. Thanks for posting !