Brown Sugar Streusel Baked French Toast

I absolutely LOVE french toast. When I think of the weekends, one thing is always on my mind...a nice big breakfast of either waffles, pancakes, or french toast. And i'm sure you all agree with me!

My mom used to make(and still does) the BEST french toast, usually out of challah...the perfect bread to use for french toast, if you ask me. But she hasn't made some in a very long time.

I, of course was craving french toast this weekend, and just happened to find this recipe from one of my favorite sites, Baking Bites, for make-ahead, BAKED, french toast. BINGO!

It was perfect, the simplest thing to make...all you have to do is put it together the night before, refrigerate it, then when your ready to eat the next morning, pop it in the oven, and your done!

It came out SO good...the streusel topping adds such a great cinnamon-y flavor, and it smells amazing while it bakes! Another thing, Nicole says, is that it bakes up to be slightly crispy, which was a great contrast to the custardy and soft french toast.

I strongly recommend making this sometime, and it's a great dish to have on hand for breakfast or brunch, if you're having company over.

Brown Sugar Streusel Baked French Toast

From Nicole of Baking Bites

12 Slices White bread (approx)

2 cups milk

4 large eggs

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Streusel

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tblsp. all purpose flour

pinch salt

2 tblsp. butter, melted

Cut crusts off bread, and each piece into triangles. Arrange bread into 3 even layers, (the exact number of slices will vary, depending on the size of bread you start out with) in a lightly greased 8-inch baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, brown sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth. Pour over bread, press down to ensure all pieces are thoroughly soaked. Custard should just come to the top of the bread layer. If it covers it more deeply, add additional bread.

In a small bowl, make the streusel. Stir together brown sugar, flour and salt. Pour in butter, and stir with a fork until mixture has the consistency of wet sand. Sprinkle evenly over bread and custard.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. 

Preheat oven to 350F and bake for about 30-35 minutes, until french toast is a golden brown on top. Let the dish stand for a few minutes. The dish will be very soft and  souffle-like, but should not be too runny. The french toast will continue to set and soak up the custard as it cools. Slice and serve warm, with maple syrup.

Serves 6-8