Company French Toast Easy to Do-Ahead Holiday Breakfast

Having company and/or getting ready for a big day? I have found this is the perfect breakfast for a crowd when I want to spend time with my company rather than in the kitchen. My guests love it! There are many ways to dress it up too, if you are so inclined. Please add your 'dress up ideas' when commenting :)

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 12

Ingredients

• 8  tablespoons butter
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
• 1  teaspoon cinnamon
• 12  slices  bread
• 6  eggs
• 1⁄4 cup water
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Melt butter in a 9x12 glass casserole.
2. Add brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir, covering bottom of pan (add more butter or sugar if necessary for a thick sauce).
3. Place six slices of bread to cover bottom of pan.
4. Add any 'dress up' additions you may want onto the top of each slice of bread. Some ideas may be a dollop of cream cheese, jam, banana slices, caramel covered pecans, cooked bacon or sausage, etc. Feel free to leave out the extras - I usually don't add anything.
5. Top with remaining six slices of bread.
6. Slice each 'sandwich' diagonally. This creates beautiful, triangular servings.
7. Mix eggs, water, salt and pepper together in a bowl. You can also use milk instead of water. (At 9000ft elevation, I have found water works better when scrambling eggs. I don't know why that is.).
8. Pour egg mixture over bread slices and cover dish with foil.
9. Refrigerate overnight.
10. In the morning, put cold pan into cold oven and turn the heat to 350. Bake about 35 minutes until eggs are set.
11. To serve, loosen sides and separate each serving with spatula. Scoop each serving upside down onto plate. The brown sugar mixture becomes the top of the sandwich and runs down the sides.