Turn your leftover bread into something great with this Baked French Toast Recipe!

I feel like stale bread has been given a bad name. Sure, when bread gets hard and dry it’s not delicious to make a sandwich with anymore, but in that state it can be turned into some wonderful things. Croutons, bread pudding, a breakfast strata, and baked French toast are a few of my faves.

Part of the reason I am sharing this recipe now is because I feel like in the summer there is a ton of bread waste at BBQs. Dinner rolls, hot dog/hamburg buns are always purchased in excess for outdoor entertaining, and I am here to tell you to keep the extras and make something great out of them! Once you are sure everyone is done eating, take your extra bread and dice it into quarters. Toss it in a large stainless mixing bowl and let it set uncovered overnight. In the morning, these stale bread cubes are going to become your breakfast delight!

These bread crumbs can be kept stale for several days up to weeks, so over the course of a few BBQs I will save my extra stale bread until I have enough to make some fantastic french toast out of it. I know you are thinking – days/weeks old bread? And yes, I am telling you weeks old stale bread. The trick is if you cube it and store uncovered in a dry place like a pantry it will not mold and simply will get hard/stale, which works fantastic for egg-drenched dishes like this one. Moist bread with egg soak = soggy. Stale bread soaked in eggs = perfect! 

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Here are the ingredients you need:

• 6 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• Approx 10 slices of dry, cubed bread (enough to generously fill a 9×13 baking dish)
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

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Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk your eggs in a medium bowl. While continuing to stir, add milk, heavy cream, 1/3 cup sugar, vanilla extract, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Toss your bread into the mixture and toss gently by hand until evenly coated.

Pour the mixture into your baking pan. Bread should evenly cover the entire pan bottom.

Sprinkle your chopped pecans and brown sugar over the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes until eggs have set. If you are worried about not having enough moisture you can bake covered with foil for the 1st 20 mins and uncovered for the remainder of the time.

I will let set for 5 minutes and serve while hot with real maple syrup and whipped cream!

X.O. – Abbey Co.

For baking, a glass Pyrex set like this of course is a must! I like a set like this with lids so you aren’t using plastic wrap or aluminum foil to cap it in the fridge.

Pyrex Easy Grab Glass Bakeware and Food Storage Set (8-Piece, BPA-free)

Abbey Co. Seattle is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. I am not sponsored by any of these products, but am bringing you info on how to purchase them because I LOVE THEM!!!