French Toast Souffle

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I remember the first time I tried making an overnight breakfast casserole. It was a disaster.

I was hosting a bridal shower at my house.  It was on a Saturday morning, and breakfast/brunch items were on the menu.  Being the adventurous person that I am, I decided to try out a new recipe.  Don’t get me wrong – I often try out new recipes on guests, but 98% of the time, those guests are family members who are very forgiving if something doesn’t turn out.  Well, for this shower, I didn’t know the majority of the girls there.  Yet still, I thought it was a good idea to try out a new recipe.

Everything went together just fine.  I had figured out the timing, and put the casserole into the oven with plenty of time before we were supposed to eat – or at least I thought I did.  The guests started arriving.  All of the other food was ready.  The timer went off, and I went to check on the casserole, with hungry guests waiting.  It wasn’t done.  We did something to distract from the food, waiting for the casserole to be done.  And waited.  And waited.  Eventually, we let everyone eat – without the French toast casserole.  Eventually, I pulled the casserole out, where it was almost burnt on the edges, but still eggy and wet in the center.

I still don’t know exactly what went wrong with that casserole, but I’m glad it didn’t turn me away from overnight breakfast casseroles forever.  In fact, I’ve had a few really good ones since then.  And when I volunteered to make breakfast for our family retreat last weekend, I immediately thought of this overnight French toast casserole that I found on Pinterest.

I made this casserole, along with a savory French toast casserole (that unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of).  This was so easy to put together, and it was especially nice that I didn’t have to worry about anything on the morning of the breakfast, except for sticking it in the oven to bake.  It really doesn’t get much easier!  And this casserole, unlike the one I made all of those years ago, was ready to go in about an hour.  I used regular pancake syrup instead of real maple syrup (mostly because I’m cheap, but also because most of the people I was feeding like pancake syrup more than real maple syrup.)  I don’t think there is a single thing I would have changed about this recipe.  It was perfect as is!

French Toast Souffle

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

A baked casserole that is made the night before and has all of the flavors of French toast without all of the fuss!

Serves: 15-18

Ingredients

• 10 cups of 1-inch square pieces of white bread
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 8 large eggs
• 1½ cups milk
• ⅔ cup half-and-half
• 1¼ cups maple syrup, divided
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• powdered sugar, for serving

Instructions

The night before:

1. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place the cubed bread into the baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating in between additions. Add in the milk, half-and-half, ½ cup of the maple syrup and the vanilla and mix until smooth. Pour the mixture over the bread, pressing the bread down to make sure it is all soaked with the liquid. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning:

1. Remove the casserole from the refrigeraqtor and allow it to come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Bake, uncovered, for 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Pour the remaining ¾ cup of syrup over the casserole and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm.
3. ----------------------------
4. recipe from Tomatoes on the Vine

3.5.3226

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More overnight breakfast casseroles:

Overnight Sausage and Egg Casserole from Our Best Bites
Ham and Cheese Breakfast Souffle Casserole from FoodieCrush
Baked Pear Vanilla French Toast from Taste and Tell
Southwest Breakfast Casserole from The Nerd’s Wife
Apple Raisin French Toast Casserole from Taste and Tell