Baked French Toast

I'm addicted to breakfast foods.  I have brinner (breakfast for dinner) almost every week.  My favorite breakfast foods can be prepared ahead of time, allowing for an extra fifteen minutes of sleep.  This baked French toast is a perfect example. See my post on overnight oats for another make-ahead breakfast dish.

Baked French toast is made very similarly to traditional pan-fried French toast.  The first step is the essential difference: cutting up the bread into cubes. Arrange the bread cubes in a pre-sprayed pan (or two). I cut up four pieces of bread, which yielded two generous servings.

 

Then, mix up the batter, just as you would for any French toast recipe: eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg. I included a banana in this batch as well for extra flavor.

 Next, pour the batter over the bread and gently mix until all of the bread is moist.

 

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about twenty minutes, or until the mixture has set up.

 

Voila! As you can see, I baked my French toast in two individual dishes.  The individual dishes were super convenient to take to work.  Once microwaved for 30-45 seconds, the French toast is delicious with syrup, or even on its own. 

The inspiration for this recipe came from another blog: http://jeanetteshealthyliving.com/2012/03/strawberry-banana-french-toast-casserole-recipe-secret-recipe-club.html.  I did not have any strawberries on hand when I made this recipe, so I omitted them.  I am also not a big fan of strawberry-banana combinations, but I'm sure this would be delicious with any type of fruit!