Baked French Toast

Breakfast is definitely my favorite meal of the day. More than any other meal, I enjoy going out for breakfast the most. Sadly, breakfast food is often heavy, fatty, salty, too sweet or simply too many calories. I am not one to eat at Denny’s but for comparison sake a French Toast Slam has nearly 800 calories and 45 grams of fat! Want to try the cinnamon pancake meal? Try 970 calories and 49 grams of fat. Denny’s isn’t the only culprit. Restaurants that serve breakfast want their food to taste good and often that comes in the form of fat usually butter or bacon grease. Now don’t get me wrong, potatoes cooked in bacon grease are one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures, but everything in moderation is important. So, I have come up with a healthier version of one of my favorite diner foods, baked French toast. It’s a weekend treat that can be made Friday night and just thrown in the oven Saturday morning. Serve with some strawberries and nitrate free (preferably organic) bacon and you got yourself a delicious breakfast treat.

Baked French Toast

Serves 4-6 

 

8 ounces of wheat bread or challah, preferably stale, cut into 2" cubes.

6 whole eggs

3 tbsp light brown sugar

1 cup of 2% milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp cinnamon

Topping:

2 tbsp brown sugar

¼ tsp cinnamon

For serving:

Maple syrup

Powdered sugar

Fresh fruit of your choice

The night before:

Prepare 9x9 baking dish by spraying it with non-stick spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, crack the eggs. Beat the eggs with a whisk until fluffy. Toss in the brown sugar and whisk again until the mixture lightens in color and the eggs seem to fall off the whisk like a ribbon. Mix in the milk, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Toss in the bread and mix to combine. Put the entire bread mixture into the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (If you don’t want to wait, try to give it at least 4 hours, but believe me your patience will be rewarded.)

In the morning:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon for topping in a small bowl.

Take the French toast out of the fridge, uncover and sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over the top evenly.

Place uncovered in the center rack of the oven for about 40-45 min or until the top is golden and the egg mixture is set. Raw eggs are yucky.

Let cool ten minutes before spooning out onto plates. Serve with fresh fruit, nitrate free bacon, maple syrup and powdered sugar, if you’d like. J

This would make an awesome dinner too! Assemble in the morning and pop in the oven for dinner. Yum.