Crumble

French Toast Casserole

Christmas morning can sometimes be a bit chaotic with hustle and bustle of gift giving, cleaning up of all the shreds of paper and ribbon, and then sometimes the mad dash to clean the house before relatives arrive for round two of Christmas. At least that’s how it is in our home. However, on Christmas morning I always want to sit down and have a nice breakfast with my crew, I just don’t always have the time to make a big Christmas worthy breakfast. However, I do have the time to throw a casserole in the oven. So here you have French Toast Casserole to save the morning!

Several years back I posted a recipe for Blueberry French Toast Casserole. Not to toot my own horn, but toot toot! It’s amazing if you haven’t given it a try. What I love about french toast casserole is you can prep the dish the day before, throw it in the oven in the morning, and boom! Just like that you have a hot and delicious breakfast with almost no work. This recipe has all that delicious cinnamon goodness baked into a sweet bread pudding with a crispy streusel topping. It is so tasty!

So if you are looking for a quick and easy breakfast that you can make in advance, then this is the recipe for you.

French Toast Casserole

INGREDIENTS
12 slices sourdough bread (or a sourdough loaf), cut into 1” cubes
10 eggs
2 c milk
1/2 c heavy cream
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 c sugar
1 c brown sugar, divided
1/2 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c cold butter, cut into small pieces

STEPS

Cut the loaf of sourdough into cubes and distribute them in a greased 9” x 13” pan.
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, and vanilla.
Whisk in a 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and all the granulated sugar to the egg mixture
Pour the egg mixture over the bread.
Using your fingers or the back of a spatula gently press all of the bread pieces down into the egg mixture.
Cover the baking dish with foil and place in the fridge 8 hours or overnight.
For the streusel topping, in a medium bowl, mix together the other 1/2 cup of brown sugar, flour, cinnamon.
Add the cut-up butter to the topping mix and using a large fork or pastry cutter mix it all together until it is a nice crumbly consistency.
Store the streusel in a Ziploc bag in the fridge until ready to bake.
When ready to bake, remove the casserole dish and streusel from the fridge and allow it to sit on the counter for about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350º.
Sprinkle the streusel topping over the french toast.
Cover the dish back up with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil and continue baking until the top is a nice golden brown and the egg mixture is set, about an additional 15–20.
Remove from oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
Cut and serve with a pat of butter and some warm syrup.

Recipe—Strawberry Cream Crumb Bars

It’s summertime and I have strawberries on my mind! I could eat strawberry anything but these Strawberry Cream Crumb Bars are really something else. Growing up I loved loved LOVED those strawberry shortcake frozen dessert bars that have the crumbly shortbread coating on the outside. Anyone else ever have those? This simple recipe is those embodied in a dessert bar. Crumbly buttery cookie exterior with a sweet and creamy center. These are a perfect summer treat that everyone will love!

Note: These are delicious with any flavor of pie filling so feel free to use your favorite! These cut great with a pizza cutter when cooled.

INGREDIENTS
1 c brown sugar
3 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c butter, melted
1 c sour cream
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c strawberry pie filling

STEPS

Preheat oven to 375º.
Line a 9” x 13” baking dish with foil and spray with some nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Drizzle the melted butter over the dry ingredients and stir to combine. (The dough should be crumbly.)
Set aside 1 1/2 cups of the crumbly dough for the topping and press the remaining dough edge to edge into the bottom of the foil lined baking dish.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until evenly combined.
Spread the cream filling over the crust.
Place dollops of the strawberry pie filling over the cream.
Using a spoon, gently swirl the pie filling and the cream together making sure not to over mix.
Sprinkle the remaining dough crumbs over the top evenly.
Bake for 25–30 minutes or until the tops begin to brown and the center is set.
Allow the bars to cool completely in the baking dish.
Once the bars have cooled, lift the bars by the foil out of the baking dish, transfer to a cutting board, and cut into squares.
Store the bars in the fridge until ready to serve.