Think outside the box when it comes to serving kid friendly meatless meals during Lent. Overnight French toast casserole takes a different spin on the ordinary meatless dinner, and at the same time French toast casserole is kid-friendly.
Western New York shoppers can find all the ingredients for this recipe at local retailers:
- Lexington Co-op (807 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo 886-COOP)
- Budwey’s Markets (see website for location nearest you)
- Tops Markets (see website for location nearest you)
- Wegmans (see website for location nearest you)
You can use any combination of bread that you like, and this recipe for French toast casserole works well with day old white bread, crusty Italian, Vienna or French bread. French toast casserole is especially good made with cinnamon raisin bread.
You can serve French toast casserole with whipped cream, maple syrup, honey, blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries, sliced peaches, chopped walnuts or chopped pecans.
To complete the meal, serve French toast casserole with fruit and yogurt topped with granola. Having breakfast for dinner is always a nice change of pass for your family.
Overnight French toast casserole
- Ingredients for French toast casserole:
- 1 large loaf crusty French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (approximately 10 cups)
- 12 large eggs
- 3 cups milk
- 4 teaspoons granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or nutmeg + 3 teaspoons granulated white sugar, well blended
- Overnight French toast casserole topping:
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon or nutmeg
Directions for French toast casserole:
- Place bread cubes in a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon/sugar mixture and toss to distribute evenly.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt until well blended and frothy.
- Pour over egg mixture over bread in baking dish. Gently toss to coat; make sure each bread cube is soaked with egg mixture.
- Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking and dot the top of the French toast casserole with butter.
- Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the top.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 45 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
- Let stand 5 minutes. Cut into squares to serve. Top with maple syrup, honey and/or fruit
- Yield: 8 to 9 squares
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