French Toast Casserole
By kmorganmoss • Aug 11th, 2008 • Category: Bread, Eggs & Cheese •
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Hot of the press………well actually hot out of the oven is more like as we just ate this for a late breakfast. We devoured without a second thought. The French Toast Casserole was so good, I had all I could do to stop myself from having seconds. The only reason that we resisted temptation is that in about 5 hours we will be dining on Coca Cola Baby Back Ribs, Butter Beans, and Creamy Grits with corn and collards or a Corn Souffle, depending who wins out. Need I say more?
Though I am not a French Toast eater whatsoever, this has all changed as of today. French Toast Casserole now tops my all time favorite breakfast carb-pancakes. You are going to adore me after you have made this dish, especially since it is easy to make and can be made up-12 hours ahead of time.
You literally just slap it together. No need to bother to much with it. Hint-great for company. We could not wait the 12 hours to go for the full soak, since I did not have the smarts to make this the night before.
We watched the clock and when three hours were up, in the oven it went. The kitchen was filled with the aromana of cinnamon and toasted pecans. I decided to give my Bourbon Vanilla a try for the first time. No taste of the bourbon in cooking and I must say it gave a milder vanilla taste that added to the recipe rather than overpowing as vanilla can sometimes. I am now a homemade vanilla convert.
I halved the recipe and you could easily halve it again, but why would you want to do that as it just means less to eat. A good dollop of sweet butter which I allowed to melt, then just a touch or two of maple syrup.
This recipe came from my now new favorite cookbook- Bon Appetit, Y’All: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking
French Toast Casserole
Virginia Willis, BON APPETIT,Y’ALL
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 loaf brioche or challah bread, sliced into 1 1/2 inch slices
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Confectioners’ sugar for accompanimen
Pure Maple Syrup
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Combine the melted butter and sugar in the bottom of a baking dish.
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Make a nice even layer of the mixture to cover the entire area.
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Arrange the bread slices on top, squeezing them in place.
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Whisk the eggs, add all the remaining ingredients except the pecans.
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Pour over the bread, letting it soak in.
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Top with pecans and cover with plastic wrap. (The casserole will not look real moist, don’t worry I promise it will be so when you eat it)
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Keep refrigerated for at least 3 hours or up to 12 hours.
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Set out at room temperature for 20 minutes before popping into a hot oven set to 350 degrees.
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Bake until lightly browned and set, 35 to 40 minutes.
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Remove and slightly cook if you can wait a few minutes.
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Serve hot or warm with sorghum, cane or maple syrup.
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Serves 8
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kmorganmoss is the aspiring writer, photographer & passionate cook of ayankeeinasouthernkitchen.com; she is currently blogging and hopes to find her calling.
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Wow! Thanks for the kind words! I am so glad you like my cookbook! I love the French Toast Casserole. It is great for company. I like to make it around the holidays when there are lots of friends and family around. It’s what I affectionately refer to as a “dump and stir”. Not a whole lot of effort, and a really wonderful breakfast. Thanks again! Keep me posted on how you like my other recipes! Best, VA
Oh. My. Goodness. Definitely going into the must-make category. Yum!
I can’t wait to try this when I visit for Christmas!
Amazing…I think I fell in love…I can not wait for the weekend!!!
I know when I show this to my husband he’s gonna beg me to make this! Almost like a massive cinnamon bun!
Holy cow. I am in heaven. I am a French Toast addict. In fact, I was making it for dinner this week. But now that I’ve seen this little treasure, I think I’ll have it for dinner and this lovely dish for breakfast!
I’m generally not a fan of French toast, but this reads more like a bread pudding. It’s going on my “for future study” list.
First let’s the address the issue of you are nit a french toast eater? What? Really? WHY?
And I must say this dish is just beautiful and I would love to start my day with something like this every day! It’s just beautiful!
OMG, that’s something I LOVE! Really delicious looking! Yummy!
Cheers,
Rosa
First the donuts and now this - my waist is expanding just looking at it! Mmm the pecans are a lovely addition. Yum. Great photo’s too!
That looks so good! I would not be able to stop myself from having seconds.
i can’t even tell you how good this looks to me,I can taste it now with smothered in butter!
WOW - this looks so amazing - I will pass this one along to my Hubby as he is the breakfast star in the family!!!
Wow - just reading this is making me drool. I’ve made a similar dish before with French bread, but it looks like brioche works even better.
What a great item for brunch! I love it!
I love you already and I haven’t even made these! Just reading about it makes me swoon.
Well, being of the tribe of people with no self-control, I would have had seconds and thirds. Oh, dinner be damned!
i already adore you, kim, but this takes it to a whole new level. any vehicle for maple syrup is a winner in my book. speaking of books, that sounds like an awesome cookbook–nice find!
i am a french toast person and this version looks brilliant! (havent heard of a french toast casserole before)
Wow,
I’m so glad I found your blog! I’ve just added you to my blog list so I can visit here often!! Beautiful mouthwatering recipes and photos!
That looks seriosly good! I would have had second and thirds! Long live the carbs!
I have been loving everything French toast lately, and this looks like it would really hit the spot!
wow…i need a cigarette after looking at those gorgeous pictures of that decadent french toast (can you even call this breakfast?)!!!! If you’re going to carbo load, this is definitely the way to go!
BTW, you have a terrific blog!
Honestly, could this look any better? I can’t wait to try it!
This looks so delicious and would be a perfect weekend comfort breakfast!
And may I add my mouth is watering!!!
Oh. my. god. I think I’ve repeated that to myself about 15 times reading this and looking and the pictures. I think I might have died and gone to heaven. B-fast is my favorite meal, mostly because it’s the perfect meal/excuse for a huge carb fest. This is SO going on my “to make” list. I think the next time we have friends over for dinner, I’m going to do the whole “breakfast for dinner” thing just so I can make THIS!
Thank you. I think.
p.s. found you via foodgawker
That looks great.. way better than any french toast I’ve ever seen!
I would love it to have with my breakfast…thanks for sharing that delicious recipe.
i’m going to faint with hunger.
oh my. that’s looks divine!
Kim, this dish is mouthwatering! I made some version of this dessert before and couldn’t stop eating until it was all gone. I used honey but I bet it’s even better with maple syrup. Wonderful recipe; thank you for sharing.
I love french toast and this looks like a delicious casserole. By far the best comfort food going if you ask me. (I have a recipe for a creme brulee french toast casserole. I’ll have to post it some day.)
I think this looks great! I agree with Devon, lets have it for Christmas! Levi asked me “Did MiMi make this?” He misses your cooking. You spoiled him.
What size casserole dish would you recommend?
We call this Bread and Butter pudding where I come from ; )
Bread pudding?
This site is awesome… as a fellow Southerner and thinking (?) about starting a blog, I have been devouring this site often. My daughters gave me this cookbook for Mother’s Day and I have loved every recipe that I have tried. It is one of those rare ones where you do not have to change the recipes in order to have a great result. Thank you for sharing your successes.
That looks amazing! What a great way to start the morning!
Oh how yummy! I can’t wait to try out this version of French toast!
Looking at that made me hungry. YUM!
This looks really, really tasty.
Add me to the list of can’t wait to try. Too bad the weekend is over!!
The pictures are almost edible!
[...] Off: French Toast Casserole Posted on August 26, 2008 by peoplestclair All I can say about this recipe is [...]
OMG my mouth’s watering!
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Now you went and did it. The French Toast Casserole looks absolutely scrumptious.
[...] So I said “come to my house for breakfast, it’ll be great.” So I made this French Toast Casserole. I also cut some strawberries and blueberries with some sugar. Put on top. Oh god. So. Good. I had [...]
This looks absolutely fabulous! I will bookmark it and try it this weekend!
Wow~ looks yummy~ yummy!~
‘ll try it as soon as possible when buy a new oven. T-T
Kmorganmoss, you are AWESOME!
I just found you through StumbleUpon.
Yeah Stumble!
Wow, this looks good! It REALLY REALLY sucks being diabetic.
This sounds remarkably similar to the old English favourite ‘bread and butter pudding’ except that we don’t use pecans but we do use raisins
I agree with Frances - something else you could try is to spread marmalade on the bread which gives it a great zing.
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Great recipe.
Will try it this weekend for guests.
One slight edit though
“Remove and slightly cook if you can wait a few minutes”
I imagine “cook” should be “cool”
This looks amazing! You should submit this to our casserole contest!
This looks delicious!Since I am dieting, I would need to use a low-carb bread like Ezekiel, but I am sure that would be great!
[...] overall, I thought it turned out yummy! For the french toast part, I used this recipe and for the praline topping, I used this recipe. Overall, I think I used like 4 sticks of butter, 2 [...]