Fruited Baked French Toast

Even though I already have several recipes  for  baked french toast here on the blog, I just had to include this one too. It is a little out of the ordinary because it includes fruit(s), and I had never encountered a recipe like it before.  Thanks to my daughter, who we visited over the Christmas holidays, we had this for breakfast on Christmas morning.  Everyone agreed it was just delicious.  Some of us liked it with a little (read, a lot of) maple syrup on it, others thought it was just right without any added sweetener on it.  What I particularly liked was the “tang” from the berries that you get in every bite.  And the cinnamon crumb topping on it is an added bonus.  This is definitely a recipe you will want to save and make again and again whether it be for guests or a special weekend breakfast.

As I’ve said before, this type of breakfast casserole is perfect for a late breakfast or brunch when you are entertaining, because you can make as much or as little as you need.  Slice up the bread the evening before and soak it overnight in the egg/milk mixture.  Then in the morning, make up the crumb mixture, sprinkle on the berries and the crumb topping and bake until golden brown.  Pretty simple to make really, and awesomely good.  This one just became my new favorite recipe for baked french toast.

FRUITED BAKED FRENCH TOAST

Yield:    8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 small loaf day-old French bread (8-9 oz.)
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2  1/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries ( We used mixed berries, and cut the larger pieces in half.)

Directions:

1.  Grease 13″ x 9″ baking dish.  Slice the bread diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices. Pack them tightly into the baking dish.

Cut up bread and fit tightly into the baking dish.

2.  In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla.  Whisk in the milk until well blended.  Pour this mixture over the bread in the baking dish, turning over the slices to saturate well.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

3.  Heat oven to 375*F.  In a small bowl combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Measure out topping ingredients.

Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs….

Cutting in the butter.

4.  Turn bread slices over in the baking dish.  Scatter berries over the bread and sprinkle with the crumb mixture.  Bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Sprinkle fruit, then crumbs over the bread/egg mixture.

Browning up in the oven.

5.  Before serving, cut into squares and serve with syrup.

This is so delicious. 😀

SOURCE:   Unknown.