Ahhhh….Baked Overnight French Toast! Those that have made this dish before know that it is sliced breakfast heaven. It is especially heavenly over the holidays; it is the perfect breakfast/brunch dish when feeding a crowd on Christmas morning. It just requires whisking together a few ingredients for the custard and letting the bread of your choice soak up all the liquid. Through the night, while visions of sugar plums dance through your head, the dish morphs into a breakfast wonder. When you wake, you can just toss it in the oven, and the dish adds something special to your morning of holiday merriment. The whole production of creating the Overnight French Toast is quite hands-off, and the final dish is always fabulous, resulting in a mind-boggling effort-to-reward-ratio.
FULL DISCLOSURE! This recipe is not made from slices of gingerbread that are soaked overnight in a custard bath and baked in the morning. Though that sounds amazing, it is a bit over-the-top (even for holiday indulgence).
So, we took a normal loaf of bread and spiked the milk and egg mixture with a generous amount of spices and molasses that infused this French Toast Bake with the Christmas-y taste and aroma of gingerbread.
During the infancy of our blog, we shared a recipe for Eggnog Overnight French Toast, which is also a great Christmas morning dish. We recommend both… why choose between the two?? Kyle makes a pan of each on Christmas morning – the more the merrier, they say. Plus, there will be plenty of leftovers to last throughout the week.
Buttermilk is Kyle’s preferred dairy when making this dish. Its acidic bite helps to balance out the sweetness of the French Toast. Of course, you can certainly use regular milk, depending what you have on hand – finding buttermilk is not always easy, not every store carries it.
One of the best parts of this dish (if one has to choose) is the maple-brown sugar-butter glaze on top. It gets crispy and crackly, providing a contrast in both flavor and texture to the soft and rich, heavily spiced custard toast beneath it.
The good news for those that need to eat gluten-free – it is super easy to have this breakfast delight prepared for your specific needs (whew – I definitely need this!). You can use a gluten-free french baguette or gluten-free sandwich bread, just cut the slices diagonally.
This dish will spice up your holiday breakfast tenfold. The experience of the French Toast aroma wafting through the house Christmas morning will only be second to the happiness and satisfaction on the faces of your loved ones as they enjoy their holiday treat.
- 12 ¾-inch thick slices of French bread (gluten-free or otherwise), from about a 1-pound loaf
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk (whole milk or half and half also work, depending on your desired level of richness)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tsp. Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- pinch salt
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- Arrange bread slices in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, mix eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, salt and molasses, and whisk until well blended. Pour over bread slices.
- In a small bowl, stir together the dark brown sugar, butter, and maple syrup until evenly combined. Smear over the bread slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, then increase heat to 400°F. Bake for another 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven, and let stand 15 minutes before serving.
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