Maple Syrup

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.

I know many people think that sweet potatoes are a fall dish but why should we limit ourselves to only eating the sweet root vegetable during the cooler months? I am still getting sweet potatoes almost every other week in my produce box and have had fun getting creative with them. The other day at the grocery store I saw some turkey breast tenderloins on sale and I decided to cook a mock Thanksgiving dinner. A Thanksgiving feast once a year is not nearly enough! These potatoes are sweet, tangy, and even had a little hint of spice. They will really get your taste buds going. I’m so glad I made these because they were the perfect side dish for our citrus grilled turkey tenderloins.

Note: I used Hannah sweet potatoes but this recipe works with any type of sweet potato. That is why these are lighter in color than the typical orange sweet potato you may be used to seeing.

INGREDIENTS
4 large sweet potatoes, sliced into 3/4” medallions
1/2 c fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/3 c maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch of cayenne
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c dried cranberries
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar

STEPS

Preheat oven to 400º.
Place the sweet potatoes in a large bowl and add the orange juice, zest, syrup, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, cayenne, salt, and cranberries. Toss to coat evenly.
Transfer the sweet potatoes along with all the juices to a baking dish.
Slice the butter and place the pats over the top of the sweet potatoes.
Sprinkle with the brown sugar.
Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes lift the foil and using a baster or a large spoon, pour some of the liquid from the baking dish over the top of the potatoes.
Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
Remove the foil and turn on the broiler for 3 minutes to caramelize the top.