Make Ahead Oven-Baked French Toast

We like having breakfast for dinner at our house. Especially my 7 year old daughter. Every couple of weeks I ask the rest of the family to think of a couple meals that would like to eat so I can work them into my menu and grocery shopping plan. And EVERY time, my daughter says, “Pancakes”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love pancakes, but I also love to mix it up a little. So this time, she and I compromised with this Oven-Baked French Toast. For her, it’s still a breakfast food that you can eat with syrup on it, but for me it’s different enough than pancakes, and WAY easier.

I made it up this morning before 9 am, and will probably put it in the oven today between 5:00 and 5:30pm. This is great, because it’s Wednesday: piano lesson night. So when we get home dinner will just be waiting for me to pop it in the oven!

Ok, about the recipe….the most important part (to me) of this recipe is the bread. I mean, that is the main ingredient to French Toast. Without the bread you just have…well, scrambled eggs, I guess…sugary ones. Anyhow, where I live in Alabama, we don’t have “top-notch” grocery stores with gourmet bakeries and deli’s. Let me put it this way, in the other 3 states I have lived in, Wal-Mart was my least favorite store. Here, it is my favorite store. Where am I going with this? Well, I have found that Wal-Mart actually HAS a decent bakery. Really. They make lots of delicious breads that cost a lot less than what I used to pay for them at a “fancier” grocery store. For this recipe, I like the large, soft French Bread loaf (not the hard crusty baguette), which at Wal-Mart costs $1.00 for a 16oz. loaf. I think that is a great deal! And a lot of times, it is still warm when you buy it. Bottom line: if you haven’t checked out the Wal-Mart bakery, do it…I think you may be surprised. I know I was.

Along with this French Toast, I plan to serve bacon. We LOVE bacon! Crispy bacon. I buy the Center Cut bacon because it says it has 25% less fat, but seriously, who are kidding here, it’s bacon. I do not like cooking bacon on the stove-top, though, because of it’s mess-factor. So, I cook it in the microwave. I do this using a 9x13 or 10x15 glass (Pyrex) dish. Line the bottom the dish with 2 layers of paper towels. Put as many slices of bacon on top the paper towel, that will fit, without over lapping them (or they will be stuck together when they are done cooking). Put one layer of paper towel on the top and put the dish in the microwave. MAKE SURE you find the setting on your microwave to “Turn Off” the turntable, if your microwave has one. You don’t want it to try spinning this dish around. Set the microwave for 4 mins – 5 mins on High. I always say less time is better, you can add more time at the end to get it to the crispy-ness you want. Once you do it a few times, you’ll know how long to cook it. Once it is done, carefully remove your dish from the microwave. It will be very hot. Carefully move the bacon to a plate to cool, and take the grease filled paper towels and put them in the trash!!! Yes, it’s that easy.

I also like to serve some fruit with our “breakfast” dinners. Tonight, it will be some frozen mixed berries that I am thawing out now. That way they can be eaten by themselves, or used as toppings for the French Toast!


Oven-Baked French Toast - adapted from Pampered Chef

1 loaf (8 oz) French Bread
6 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
Ground cinnamon
Powdered sugar

Coat 9x13 dish with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil. Cut bread into 1” thick slices, placed in single layer in dish. Beat the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt with a whisk; pour over break. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Sprinkle bread with cinnamon. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy!


If you have never had the Pampered Chef Korintje Cinnamon, you really need to try it! It has a richer taste than the store brand cinnamon that I use for most things. It's pricey, so I save it for special things that have cinnamon as one of the important ingredients! Check it out...
http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=13845&catId=12&parentCatId=12&outletSubCat=&viewAllOutlet=


Two last things….1) I double this recipe for my family of four. One batch is not enough, two will leave us some leftovers. 2) I just realized I was typing the recipe, that I forgot to spray my dishes with non-stick cooking spray before I put everything in. UGH. Oh well, I tried….and isn’t that what it’s all about anyway!?
Happy Cooking!