Oh my …. this Creme Brûlée Baked French Toast is seriously divine! I have a little disclaimer: this is not your everyday healthy and hearty breakfast, this is a decadent, indulgent breakfast that, I might add is totally worth the extra effort (and calories) for special occasions in your life! Seriously, my family LOVED this Creme Brûlée Baked French Toast and I know it will be requested for birthdays, Christmas, General Conference weekend, and any other special occasion we can think of!
Did I tell you that I am now an early morning seminary teacher?! Which means, I was asked to give of my time to lead a scripture study class for the high school students that go to my church. We meet every morning before the sun is even out, at 6 am! It has been such an incredible experience so far to see these awesome teenagers choose to get up so EARLY to begin their day in the word of God. They come rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, but with great attitudes! It is pretty inspiring and such a blessing for me to start my day off with them. Every Friday we have a breakfast, provided by the Mothers of the students. Last Friday was my turn (I have a son in the class too) and I decided to make this Creme Brûlée Baked French Toast. I had actually never made it before, but had wanted to try it for awhile. My cute seminary class became my taste testers for recipe development and they all agreed this recipe was a keeper! YUM!
I liked that I could do most of the work the night before and then pop it in the oven in the morning. The above picture is after the bread cubes had soaked in the fridge all night, then spread on a cookie sheet and topped with a butter and brown sugar mixture. The bread bakes and the topping caramelizes to create an incredible Creme Brûlée Baked French Toast! Top it off with some whipped cream and fresh berries and you will have the most wonderful breakfast for a special occasion!
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**I made a gluten free version too–see directions at the end of the recipe!
Other “Special Occasion” Breakfasts:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Waffles with Banana Cream
Perfectly Wonderful Cinnamon Rolls
Raspberry Cream Cheese Sweet Rolls
Creme Brûlée Baked French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 loaf of French bread, cubed in 1-2 inch pieces (dense thick bread works best!)
- 5 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoon vanilla or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Topping
- 1/2 cup butter (1 cube), melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
Garnish
- Whipped cream
- berries
- banana slices
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, half and half, salt, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, until combined (can even put in blender to combine if you want).
- Place bread cubes in a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour over the egg custard mixture. Stir carefully to combine without breaking up the bread.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
In the morning (or at least 4 hours later):
- Prepare a cookie sheet with a silicone nonstick liner or tinfoil sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a separate bowl mix the melted butter and brown sugar together.
- Then carefully arrange the soaked bread cubes on prepared cookie sheet in a single layer.
- Next drizzle the butter and brown sugar mixture over the bread cubes.
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. If the sugar hasn’t caramelized after 20 minutes, turn your oven onto broil for a minute to toast the top. Watch carefully though so you don’t burn it!
- Serve with whipped cream and fresh fruit. (We like Berries and bananas)
Gluten Free option:
- If you want to make this gluten free–use your favorite gluten free bread–but do not soak it! It will break down and become mushy. I made a small batch for my son in a separate pan–in the morning I used one egg and about a 1/4 milk and 2 Tablespoons half and half, a shake of cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. I stirred 3 gluten free bread slices into the egg mixture and layed them on a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil (sprayed with nonstick spray). Drizzled on some of the butter sugar mixture and baked like the recipe says. Worked GREAT!
Recipe Source: Adapted from Made It. Ate It. Loved It.
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