Hate making French toast but love eating it? We've got you covered.
I have a confession: I really hate making French toast. My family, however, loves eating it. There's just something about frying endless pieces of soggy, eggy bread that seriously kills me. So when Trink asked me for a breakfast recipe, I offered at least a half-dozen and guess what they asked for? Yeah. I was thrilled. But then I thought about how I could make easier on myself (and you!) and here we are...French toast bake. You can even prepare it the night before and pop it in the oven in the morning to bake. No standing at the stove for 400 years. That feels like a win to me.
A loaf of Challah bread (or any stale-ish bread you have hanging around)
8 eggs
2 ½ cups milk
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
½ cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
½ cup cold butter
Cut bread into chunks about 1-in. pieces and layer in a greased baking dish (9 x 13 works well). In a medium bowl, mix eggs, milk, sugars and vanilla. Pour over the bread cubes. Give it a toss. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and place in the fridge overnight (or for at least a couple of hours to let the bread soak up the egg mixture).
In a small bowl, mix the flour, remaining brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes and add into the flour mixture. Give it a mix, working the mixture into the butter with a fork. I find it easier to do this in a medium or large zip-top bag so I can squeeze the back to combine the the mixture. Place the bowl or bag in the fridge overnight as well.
In the morning, preheat your oven to 350 F. Give your eggy bread a quick toss to reincorporate, so the egg isn’t sitting on the bottom of your dish. Sprinkle the butter and flour mixture overtop.
Bake for 45 min to an hour. When it is golden and bubbling, take it out and let cool for at least 10 min. Serve as is, or add a drizzle of syrup overtop. (No, don’t serve as is. Drizzle syrup overtop for sure.)
And that’s it. A delicious and super easy breakfast that will please any French toast lover with much less effort.
Post image: Brooke Lark/Unsplash