Baked Apple French Toast Casserole

This Recipe is Featured in Redbook's, Ten Casseroles You Must Try





From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a lovely casserole to keep in mind for a weekend breakfast or brunch. As breakfast casseroles go, this inexpensive treat is a snap to make, and it has the added advantage of being as kind to the hips as it is to the wallet. The first of our local apples come to market toward the end of August, and this version of French toast appears on my table very soon after that. It seems like a great way to mark the passing of summer and I like to serve it for breakfast at some point over the Labor Day weekend. There are many versions of this dish floating through cyberspace. I finally settled on this one because of its judicious use fats and sugar. While I prefer to serve the casserole with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, I do make syrup available for others at the table. I usually prepare the one outlined in this recipe, but if I'm rushed I'll serve maple syrup or use a commercial caramel sauce that I thin a bit for easy pouring. The times suggested in the recipe are variables based on personal taste and experience. I prefer the texture of a drier toast, so I bake mine for over an hour. If you prefer a texture more akin to bread pudding, reduce oven time accordingly. This is a nice breakfast dish and I think you'll find it a welcome addition to your table. Here's the recipe.

Baked Apple French Toast Casserole...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
French Toast
1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, torn into bite-size cubes
6 eggs
1-1/2 cups skim milk
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons white sugar, divided use
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 medium Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and cut in 1/2-inch dice
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Syrup
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup skim milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
1) Spray or grease bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
2) To make French toast: Scatter bread cubes in bottom of prepared pan. Place eggs, milk, 1/3 cup sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat to combine. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Mix cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl. Add apple cubes and toss to coat. Spread apples over bread cubes. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Thirty minutes before baking, remove casserole from refrigerator and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake casserole for 60 to 75 minutes, or until custard is set and golden brown. Serve casserole hot with warm syrup. Yield: 8 servings.
3) To make syrup: Combine white sugar, flour, and melted butter in a small saucepan. Stir in brown sugar, skim milk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Cook, stirring, until thick.

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Overnight Blueberry French Toast

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a nice casserole to serve when you have a crowd at the breakfast table and you'd like to start their day with a special meal. It is a cross between bread pudding and French toast and therein lies the cause of the descriptive restraint that is about to follow. It's neither one thing or the other, and the name is misleading. Made according to the original recipe directions, the casserole looks and tastes far more like bread pudding than French toast. While that's fine for some, it is off-putting to those who are expecting the real thing for their breakfast. Fortunately, I've found that cooking this casserole for an additional 20 to 25 minutes produces a dish that French toast lover's will enjoy. This is an old recipe that first appeared in Taste of Home magazine back in 1996, and that, coincidentally, was the year I first made it for my family. It's one of those recipes that refuses to go away and it keeps on rising from the dead, despite attempts to bury it. The dish requires some forethought, as it must be assembled the night before you want to serve it, but, on the flip side, it is really easy to make. I use a commercial prepared blueberry streusel bread as the base for the casserole and while I've left the full-fat ingredients in the recipe below, I actually use lower fat alternatives. If you are unable to find the blueberry bread a loaf of cinnamon bread can be used. This is a dish that's meant for special occasions, so I don't stress about the extra calories. The casserole is not overly sweet, but I do want to warn you that the syrup can be cloying if too much of it is used. If you are looking for a special family breakfast dish, you might enjoy this one. Here's how it is made.

Overnight Blueberry French Toast...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Patricia Walls and Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients:

Casserole

1 (1-pound) loaf day-old blueberry streusel bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1-1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, divided use
12 eggs
2 cups light cream or half-and-half
1/3 cup maple syrup

Sauce

1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:
1) Grease a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking dish with butter or cooking spray. Cover bottom of baking dish with half the cubed bread. Dot top of cubes with small, evenly placed pieces of cream cheese. Sprinkle with 1 cup of blueberries. Cover with remaining bread cubes.
2) In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and maple syrup and mix well. Pour over bread mixture. Sprinkle top of casserole with reserved1/4 cup blueberries. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.
3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 to 50 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown and center is set.
4) To make syrup: In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries; reduce heat. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until berries have burst. Stir in butter. Serve over French toast. Makes 1-3/4 cups sauce.
5) Cut casserole into desired number of portions. Transfer to plates for serving. Lightly drizzle each serving with a tablespoon of sauce. Pass remaining sauce at table. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

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