French Toast Forest Casserole Recipes

Steps:

• Grease a 9x12-inch baking dish.
• Stir 1 cup brown sugar and butter together in a saucepan over medium-low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves into butter, 2 to 4 minutes. Pour into prepared baking dish and spread a 1 1/2- to 2-inch layer of bread pieces over the top.
• Beat milk, eggs, and vanilla extract together in a bowl; pour milk mixture over bread into the baking dish and move bread as necessary to ensure all bread is absorbing liquid. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate, 8 hours to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Remove and discard plastic wrap from baking dish and sprinkle remaining brown sugar over the top of the bread mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
• For the casserole: Trim the ends from 1 loaf day-old brioche (about 1 pound) and cut into ten 1-inch thick slices. Cut each slice in half diagonally to make two triangles from each piece. (If the bread is fresh, dry it out a bit. Place the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.)
• Whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until well blended. Dip each triangle of bread in the custard, lightly coating each side. Shingle the pieces in the prepared pan, overlapping slightly.
• Pour any remaining custard over the bread slices. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and let rest 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature before baking. Remove the plastic wrap and bake until the casserole is golden and puffed and the custard is set, 45 to 50 minutes.
• For the topping: bring the butter, sugar and syrup to a boil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until the butter is melted and the mixture is begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, a pinch of salt, and the walnuts, stirring to coat. Turn off the heat and add the sliced bananas, stirring to coat evenly. Spoon the desired amount of the banana-syrup mixture over the casserole and serve any additional on the side.

Steps:

• Place bread cubes in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. , Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°. Dot with butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the top. , Cover and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with maple syrup if desired.

Steps:

• Cut out the tree shapes in the bread using a cookie cutter. You can also free-form the tree shape by hand if you do not have a cookie cutter.
• Grease your 8- or 9-inch cast iron pan (or any round baking dish).
• Line up the trees in the pan with a bit of an overlap, so they are standing up.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, jam, sugar and cinnamon until smooth and well-combined.
• Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Being sure to soak the tips of the trees as well as the bases.
• Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight. This is to ensure the mixture is soaked up by the bread.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm with fresh fruit, maple syrup and butter or your prefered toppings.