Overnight Blueberry French Toast

What holiday weekend would be complete without an indulgent breakfast or two? Or, in my case, four. By the time my husband and I got done working our way through the half dozen donuts from the Amish market (best donuts ever!) and the cinnamon buns we bought on impulse because they were in the day old section it was already Saturday and the loaf of bread I'd bought to make French toast had aged quite a bit. No worries, since the recipe I was planning to use would only be improved by the aging process. I wanted to make a French toast casserole I could prepare the night before and bake first thing in the morning, so the extra dryness of the bread only helped with the overnight soaking process.

I used a recipe for overnight blueberry French toast from Real Mom Kitchen as my jumping off point but made quite a few changes from the original recipe. For one, I omitted the blueberry syrup since I'm a traditionalist and prefer maple syrup instead. I also reduced the amount of cream cheese to four ounces since the entire package seemed to be an excessive amount. I like to save on calories and fat wherever I can and still got plenty of little bites of cream cheese in each serving. In addition, I couldn't bear to empty out the entire carton of eggs as the recipe called for 12 so I checked out some similar recipes online and based on those only used eight. I added a tiny bit more liquid to compensate but honestly couldn't tell anything was missing or wrong with the finished product as a result of that change. To enhance the flavor I added some vanilla extract and a dash of King Arthur Flour's unique citrus and vanilla flavoring, Fiori di Sicilia. Finally, because it was Thanksgiving weekend, I threw in some cranberries along with the blueberries for good measure and topped the entire thing with a dusting of cinnamon.

The dish does have to bake for an hour so it was good to be able to get all of the prep work done the night before. The end result was a perfectly baked dish with slightly crispy bites on top and moist bites from the middle. I had no problems with sogginess, as some French toast casserole recipes sometimes suffer from. The amount of fruit called for is perfect and those small bits of cream cheese are a clever addition. What I'm happiest with were my flavor additions as I really think they made the dish something special. I'll admit that I even had some for dessert later in the day because I couldn't stop craving it.

Overnight Blueberry French Toast
Recipe adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

12 slices bread, cut into cubes (I used a 16 oz. loaf of French bread, Texas toast also works well)
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
8 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups milk (I used 1 1/4 cups skim milk and 1 cup cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more if desired)

Arrange 1/2 of the bread cubes in a greased 9 x 13 pan.
Sprinkle cream cheese cubes, blueberries, and cranberries evenly over the bread cubes.
Top with remaining bread cubes.
Mix together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and Fiori di Sicilia.
Pour over bread cubes, sprinkle cinnamon on top, and cover pan with foil. Let chill in refrigerator overnight.
Bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until fluffy and golden. Serve with maple syrup. Serves 8.

French Toast Loaf

As soon as I saw Gingerbread Bagels post about her French Toast Loaf I put it at the top of my baking list. I was so eager to make it that I planned to make it that very weekend. But that was almost two weeks ago. What took me so long, you may ask? It seems that Texas Toast is a valuable commodity only sold in select stores. It took me over a week of hunting to track some down in my area after trips to four different grocery stores. Who knew fulfilling my lust for sugar and butter could be so difficult?

This masterpiece is a combination of all of the things that make French toast good: fluffy bread, cinnamon, oodles of sugar, and more butter than I care to mention all tied together with an eggy base. Aside from tracking down the necessary ingredients it was a piece of cake to make. Just follow the directions to layer everything in a loaf pan and the next day you'll have breakfast waiting to go in the oven.

My only complaint is that mine didn't turn out as cohesive as hers. The filling bubbled out everywhere and was almost a little too runny. I might try it with less butter next time to help prevent that and to cut back on the calorie punch at the end. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I only got four servings out of this. What can I say? Those two weeks of anticipation gave me more time to build up my hunger. That and I still had strawberries left on my plate after I finished the thin slice I'd first carved out for myself so I simply had to go back for seconds. If you do the math you'll realize that means I ate about half a stick of butter with each portion. Ouch! Try to not hold that against me.

It's also a little tricky pouring the batter between each layer after you've taken the time to press them all down as much as possible. She says the reason for not doing this as you go along is so the bread can be as compact as possible, but I had trouble doing it without tearing a lot of my bread. Might be the reason for my slightly crumbly final product. I'm also not entirely sure I evenly distributed the batter in the process. Still, the idea is wonderful and the result is a tasty breakfast dish that you can proudly share with your family. And, let's face it, considering how much butter there is in this you're better off sharing it.

French Toast Loaf
Recipe from Gingerbread Bagels


12 pieces Texas Toast or a thick sliced bread (stale/day old bread)

9 ounces light brown sugar (a little over 1 cup packed)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 ounces unsalted butter, thinly sliced

Batter
10 ounces heavy whipping cream
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix together the brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Set aside.

Whisk together the heavy whipping cream, eggs, vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. One it’s whisked together, pour it back into a measuring cup.

Take a loaf pan and liberally coat it with non stick spray.

Place 3 slices of bread on the bottom of the loaf pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of the brown sugar cinnamon mixture on top. Put 1/3 of the butter slices on top of the brown sugar cinnamon mixture.

Put 3 more slices on top and press them down really firmly. Sprinkle another 1/3 of the brown sugar cinnamon mixture on top of the bread. Add 1/3 more butter slices on top.

Place another 3 slices on bread on top. You’ll need to really smash it down. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar cinnamon mixture and add the remaining 1/3 butter slices on top.

Lift the bottom layer of bread slices and pour in some of the batter very slowly. Continue lifting the bottom layer of bread slices all the way around the loaf pan and slowly pouring in the batter. Allow it to soak into the bread. Do not rush this process.

Lift the next layer of bread slices and carefully pour in some of the batter. Lift that layer of bread slices all the way around the loaf pan and slowly pour in the batter. Let the batter soak into the bread for a couple of minutes.

Pour the batter on top of the bread and press it into the bread. Place the last layer of bread slices (3 slices of bread) on top. Pour the batter on top of those slices and slowly press the batter into the bread.

If you have any remaining batter, (which you probably will) carefully lift the bottom slices of bread and pour in the batter all the way around the loaf pan. Continue pouring in the batter where there are spaces that could be filled with batter.

Cover the loaf pan with parchment paper and foil. Place it on a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
Place the loaf in the refrigerator and let it to chill overnight.

The next day, remove the paper towels from the bottom of the baking sheet. Bake the loaf at 350 degrees for 1 hour and until the internal temperature of the loaf reaches 160 degrees. (keep the parchment paper and foil on)
Then remove the parchment paper and foil and bake the loaf for an additional 15 minutes. If butter seeps out of the loaf pan, don’t worry. This happens.

Let it cool for about 10 minutes. Then slide a knife around the edges and invert the loaf. Cut into slices and enjoy!

Crème Brûlée French Toast

Today was my husband's birthday and even though he's not a fan of celebrating holidays I couldn't let this one pass by without spoiling him a little. What better way for him to begin his day than with some amazing French toast?

I like that the recipe called for everything to be prepared the night before so all I had to do this morning was pop it in the oven. That is, after I used my magical crystal ball to predict when he might awaken so it could be ready at the right time. I managed to peg it almost perfectly so the delicious smell from his birthday surprise was already wafting through the house.

The best part is that this concoction already had a nice layer of sugary goodness so maple syrup was not required. Not that that stopped my husband from pouring some on his. I let him get away with it because it's his birthday.

Crème Brûlée French Toast
Recipe from About.com


1 loaf Challah or Brioche Bread, sliced into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
1/2 cup Butter, unsalted (1 stick)
1 cup Brown Sugar, packed
2 tablespoons Corn Syrup
5 large Eggs
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
3/4 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau (I left this out and substituted a dash of orange extract)

Butter a 9 by 13 baking dish.

In a small pot, melt the butter with the brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir together until the sugar is completely melted. Pour mixture into the baking dish.

Place the bread slices on top of the butter and sugar mixture in one even layer. Squeeze the edges slightly to make the bread fit.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla, salt, and 2 teaspoons of Grand Marnier. Pour this mixture over the bread. Tightly cover baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Let dish stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before placing in preheated oven at 350 degrees.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until french toast is golden and puffed.

Serve hot, sugared side up with diced strawberries and powdered sugar, if desired.

French Toast Cupcakes With Browned Butter Frosting

If I'm not mistaken, we've finally reached the end of the posts about my holiday baking. I'll admit that I went a little overboard, as I seem to do every year, but I get so excited to have a captive audience when my family visits that I want to spoil them. Now excuse me while I go into a sugar coma and, once recovered from that, spend the rest of my life working off these calories.

When my Spekulatius cupcake recipe made a paltry nine cupcakes I knew I had to scramble and come up with more cupcakes for my family. While a ratio of four people to nine cupcakes might seem fine to you, rest assured that in my family such a dire situation could result in bloodshed. I handed my little brother my trusty copy of 125 Best Cupcake Recipes and told him to pick one. My kitchen's pretty well stocked so when he landed on the French toast cupcakes I knew I already had everything on hand to whip up a batch.

I'd made these before and have always gotten positive reviews, so if you're looking for another universally popular flavor here's a good choice. The maple and cinnamon flavors shine through nicely. Topped with my new favorite, browned butter frosting, these were a hit with my family. My mom nicely decorated them for me using some festive sprinkles. She's enough like me that she went for the minimalist look with a few red balls and one tiny Christmas tree on each. So nice to have some help in the kitchen!

French Toast Cupcakes
Recipe from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted then cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp. maple extract
1/2 c. whole milk

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with 12 baking liners.
2) Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl.
3) In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, and eggs until combined; add maple extract.
4) Alternate between whisking in flour mixture and milk into your liquid mixture. Make 3 additions of flour and 2 of milk. Beat until smooth.
5) Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes, remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Browned Butter Frosting
Recipe adapted from The Sister's Cafe

1/3 cup unsalted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2+ Tb heavy cream

1) Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and watching closely, until butter just starts to turn golden (4 to 6 minutes). Butter will get foamy and bubble and you will see black flecks start to form toward the end. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
2) Beat butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until combined. Add vanilla and gradually add cream until frosting reaches the desired consistency. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.