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It’s hard to believe I’d never had overnight french toast before last Christmas. With a house full of children and pets mornings are brimming with chaos – the kind where no one has matching socks and a trumpet is missing right before band rehearsal and my toddler fed the guinea pigs all of our apples and everyone’s starving and breakfast winds up being coffee and cereal or whatever the kids grab from the pantry as they try to flag down the bus that is passing our house because no one is ever outside on time. In other words, a hot breakfast is hard to come by in this house.
When it comes to holidays I really feel like we have to start the day off with a perfect family breakfast, which usually means trying to juggle excited kids, get everyone dressed and allow myself enough time to disappear into the kitchen to cook. Last Christmas my grandmother spent a few days with us, and upon her arrival cleared space in my refrigerator for a large tray of overnight french toast. She somehow, in a very wise and grandmotherly way, knew that Christmas morning with a very brand-new newborn, three older brothers and a handful of adults who had been up much too late the night before was going to need all the help it could get.
She popped the tray into the oven before our morning coffee had even finished brewing and for the first time I was able to pour a cup of coffee and sit in the living room with my family as a hot, decadent breakfast baked away. The house was quickly filled with the sweet smell of brown sugar and cinnamon, and when we sat down to breakfast we were not disappointed. This Overnight French Toast is fabulous! It’s perfectly sweet, decadent and sure to be devoured by your family, guests and anyone else lucky enough to pop in around breakfast time.
This Overnight French Toast has become a weekend staple in our house, a sort of breakfast casserole hero. It takes only five minutes to whip this up at night and I love being able to put it in the oven before everyone wakes up, and then enjoy a quiet cup of coffee on the back deck, waiting for everyone to wake up to the sweet smell of french toast.
I recently made an amazing discovery that improved our overnight french toast recipe. I’ve been using new Land O Lakes® Buttercream Style Half & Half in my coffee and I just love the indulgence of extra rich cream and milk – it makes my coffee perfectly creamy every single time. With the holidays drawing near I made sure to head to Walmart and stock up on it so that I can treat my guests to a really fantastic cup of coffee.
A few weeks ago, as I was preparing our favorite make-ahead breakfast on a Friday night, I reached for the container of Land O Lakes® Buttercream Style Half & Half to try in this recipe. The result was amazing – turning this already loved dish up a notch with just a little extra richness that had everyone coming back for seconds. I can’t wait to treat our holiday guests to an out-of-this-world breakfast this year!
The best thing about this recipe is just how simple it is. It won’t take long to assemble the night before, and when morning rolls around all you have to do is preheat your oven, stick your tray of french toast in and sit back as the house fills with the scent of brown sugar and cinnamon. The hardest part is waiting to eat it!
To assemble the french toast you’ll need:
- 9X13 Baking Pan
- 1 1/2 Cups Butter, melted
- 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 5 Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/4 Cups Land O Lakes® Buttercream Style Half & Half
- 12 Slices of Bread
First, melt your butter and pour it into the bottom of your baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Place six slices of bread in the bottom of the baking dish and sprinkle with half of the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture.
Place the next six slices of bread on top of this.
Whisk together the eggs, half and half and vanilla extract. Pour over the bread and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon and brown sugar mixture on top.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until morning.
In the morning, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake the overnight french toast covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more, or until the top is golden brown.
Remove and serve! The french toast is so decadent, warm and rich that you can eat it as is, or top it with syrup, fresh fruit, powdered sugar or fried apples for a really special treat!
This recipe feeds about six people, but you can easily double this for a crowd too. Want to switch it up? Some of my favorite variations are to use pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon or to sprinkle chopped walnuts or berries over the french toast casserole before baking! There are lots of ways to dress this up!
If you’re ready to take your breakfast and your coffee over the top check out Land O’Lakes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to find out more about the new Land O Lakes® Buttercream Style Half & Half and get ready for a seriously good holiday morning!
- 9X13 Baking Pan
- 1 1/2 Cups Butter, melted
- 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 5 Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/4 Cups Land O Lakes® Buttercream Style Half & Half
- 12 Slices of Bread
- First, melt your butter and pour it into the bottom of your baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Place six slices of bread in the bottom of the baking dish and sprinkle with half of the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture.
- Place the next six slices of bread on top of this.
- Whisk together the eggs, half and half and vanilla extract. Pour over the bread and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon and brown sugar mixture on top.
- Cover and refrigerate until morning.
- In the morning preheat your over to 350 degrees. Bake the overnight french toast covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more, or until the top is golden brown.
- Remove and serve! The french toast is so decadent, warm and rich that you can eat it as is, or top it with syrup, fresh fruit, powdered sugar or fried apples for a really special treat!
A deliciously sweet and simple breakfast – See how you can serve decadent french toast in no time at all!
I love French Toast, but have no patience for cooking it the traditional way. This recipe looks perfec for me! I can’t wait to try it! #Client