Christmas is almost upon us and we know you are about to have a full house.The guests are about to be rolling in if they haven’t already. We also know you’ll have loads of other things to spend your time worrying about, so why make breakfast one of them?? We have 2 fab breakfast recipes from our new book that are just the thing to simplify your holiday breakfast life and deliciously at that. Here is one of our faves, Jessie’s French Toast Bake. If you have a dairy issue like Jilly does, simply substitute So Delicious’s Coconut Milk Creamer in any flavor you prefer for the milk and cream. For the butter sub either a vegan/dairy free butter sub or coconut oil, keeping in mind a little goes a long way w/ coconut oil! So 1/3 cup might be plenty. We prefer the brand Skinny Coconut Oil….yum!
The beauty of this is it can be made a day ahead of time or prepped and cooked straight away. We like to let it sit overnight, which gives the bread a chance to soak up all the yummy egg mixture. Either way works and tastes fantastic! Enjoy and Happy Holidays, J & J x
*Can be made Dairy Free
Makes 8 to 10 Servings
INGREDIENTS:
FRENCH TOAST
16 ounces gluten-free French-style bread or baguette (we like Schar brand or Against the Grain), sliced into 1/2-inch-thick slices (see note)
8 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
TOPPING
1 cup gluten-free flour blend (we like Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix)
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Maple syrup (optional)
Confectioners’ sugar (optional)
STEPS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F if you are planning to make and bake the French toast immediately.
2. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Layer the sliced bread evenly in the pan. We needed two rows when we tested this recipe.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon together. Once homogeneous, pour the mixture evenly over the top of the bread slices in the baking dish.
4. If you are making the French toast to be baked later, cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. If baking immediately, proceed to step 6.
5. If you premade the French toast and are now ready to bake it, remove it from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 350°F.
6. Now it is time to make your crumble topping. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until evenly distributed.
7. Using a fork, mash in the softened butter until small crumbles form. Depending on the type of flour blend you use, you may have to add a bit more flour to get even crumbles and that is okay!
8. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top of the French toast.
9. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your preferred texture; 45 minutes will result in a softer texture, while a 1-hour cook time will yield a firmer texture. Remove from oven.
10. Cover with syrup or confectioners’ sugar (or both), if desired, and enjoy!