Ultimate French Toast Bake

              ***The Official French Toast of Heaven***

I made this French toast casserole for my sons birthday breakfast. I have been wanting to make this since...at least November. Maybe before then! I was supposed to make it for New Years Day breakfast, but that fell through....uh, this is a dish you are supposed to let sit over night! Just like most of you, I wasn't in cooking condition on New Years Eve. I was in, as my newly purchased t-shirt states, "Puro pinche pari" mode, which translates loosely to "Pure freakin party" mode. Besides that, I was gonna have to use a French bread loaf instead of Texas Toast, due to the fact that Texas Toast isn't found all that easy. FYI if you can't find Texas Toast, the French bread loaf will suffice and your dish will turn out equally as scrumptious. Well, that's what my brother told me. He beat me to the recipe! (Uh, yeah, weird to find out that he trolls around Pinterest and didn't let me know. He didn't add me....how rude! Lol, just kidding! It's okay because, well, boys cook too!) He did however verify my preconceived idea about this recipe being heavenly! I came to the conclusion, that this MUST be the Official French Toast of HEAVEN! Yes, God Himself must be eagerly lining up at the buffet line and waiting for a serving of this. He probably gets His calendar out and His red Sharpie marker and circles the days when this is on the menu. It's so good, I am sure He totally throws lightning bolts when it runs out! Oh, what? You think I am being blasphemous? Well, you have never been to heaven......so, I could totally be telling the truth! So before I over hype this dish, I shall move on to the recipe. (lol, it's a little late to concern myself with over hyping...lol) I got it on Pinterest from this girl Rach's blog. I think this is one of, if not thee most popular of her posts. Also, I don't see any new posts from her, which is a shame. :( When I started poking around her blog, I found out that she suffers from GI problems, as do I. Boo! On the plus side, she has a new prayer being said for her health coming from me.

Here go the ingredients:

1 loaf of Texas Toast
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 stick melted butter (you will also need a little to spread over last layer of Texas Toast.
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp powdered sugar plus extra for sprinkling
Cinnamon
Oh and you are gonna need a 9x13 baking dish.

Directions:
Place butter in microwave until it is melted, then add brown sugar and mix until well incorporated. pour this on the bottom of your 9x13 inch baking dish. Now grab your Texas Toast and place a single layer of bread over the brown sugar and butter mix. Rach's Blog cut hers into strips at some point, which is a great idea if you are serving it for a brunch or to children. Now, mix eggs, milk, vanilla and a tablespoon of powdered sugar till well incorporated. Now spoon half of this mixture on to the first layer of Texas Toast. Sprinkle this layer with enough cinnamon to make you happy and brown sugar. Just a dusting of brown sugar will do. Place another layer of Texas Toast and ladle the rest of the egg mix over the bread. Now spread a thin layer of butter over the Texas Toast and sprinkle with more brown sugar and cinnamon.

Here are the main players. I didn't take a picture of the extra brown sugar, butter or cinnamon.

 

Texas Toast.


                                                   Brown sugar and butter mix

                                                    Eggs, milk and vanilla...not yet incorporated.
                                             

                                      Brown sugar and butter mixture poured in casserole dish.

      Half of egg mixture poured over the first layer of Texas Toast. Then a sprinkling of cinnamon.

     Second layer of Texas Toast, rest of egg mixture, a sprinkling of white sugar (supposed to be brown, I ran out and didn't remember that I could make my own by just adding molasses to the white sugar) cinnamon and a some butter spread on top. NOW, cover and refrigerate over night. When you are ready to bake, place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake covered for 30 min. Then remove cover and bake for another 15 minutes.

This is what the finished product looked like. I served it as Rach recommended upside down, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. I didn't take a picture of it before I served it, which is why hers looks so different from mine.For aesthetic purposes I regret not cutting off the crust and cutting them down the middle. I am sure however, this had no effect on flavor! I am going to make this for my hubby on his b~day........shhh.....don't tell him. I will take another pic then, as this pic doesn't do the dish justice. I think I will add some homemade whipped cream and some fresh strawberries....yum!

 

Take #2~ Cut the edges off of bread and cut pieces in half

Photo of it straight outta the oven. I also used my Pampered Chef pan for this go around. I have to say that the bottom came out way darker and more flavorful. Oh and I made my own brown sugar by combining 1 cup of sugar and adding 3 tbsps of molasses.

Here it is served. I served one piece regular and the other I flipped over so you could see the rich color. I guess that had to do with using the molasses. Think upside down pineapple cake, without the pineapple and cherry.

See how delicious the dark sugar looks? Kinda caramelized and oh so yummy.

Just a lil dusting of powdered sugar for decoration and voila French Toast Casserole.