Overnight Gingerbread Baked French Toast with Streusel Topping

 

Overnight Gingerbread Baked French Toast with Streusel Topping

Overnight Gingerbread Baked French Toast with Streusel Topping is assembled the night before and baked off in the morning for a warm, aromatic, delicious breakfast that's special enough to celebrate the holidays or serve to company!

Ingredients

    1 pound egg bread (challah) or soft French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (approx. 8 cups)
    8 eggs
    1 3/4 cup whole milk
    1/2 cup pure maple syrup
    1/4 cup molasses
    2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
    1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
    1 teaspoon ground ginger
    1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
    1/4 teaspoon allspice
    1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
    1/8 teaspoon salt
    For the Streusel Topping:
    1/2 cup all-purpose flour
    1/4 cup brown sugar
    1/4 cup salted butter, cubed and chilled
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
    1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

    Generously butter (or coat with cooking spray) a 9- by 13-inch baking dish. Scatter bread cubes in the bottom of the dish. Set aside.
  
 In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt until well blended. Evenly pour over bread cubes, gently pressing down on any cubes that are sticking up so that all bread gets soaked with egg mixture.

   Prepare Streusel Topping by placing flour, sugar, butter, and spices in a food processor and pulse ingredients together until crumbly, like the texture of coarse sand. (Alternatively, you may use a fork or pastry cutter to cut together ingredients until crumbly.)

    Evenly sprinkle streusel crumbs over assembled French toast casserole. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, allow to come to room temperature while preheating the oven to 350°F. Bake for 45 minutest to 1 hour or until center is puffed and surface is golden brown. If bread is starting to brown too much before casserole is done, you may lay a sheet of foil over the top and bake for a few more minutes.

    Allow to cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving warm.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Note:

I use a stand mixer (KitchenAid) to make whisking the custard quick and easy.

Instead of refrigerating overnight, French toast casserole may be baked immediately in a preheated oven.

Baking time can be dependent on the type of bread you use, how dry it was, how long it soaks overnight, etc. Different people may prefer this type of recipe to be moister or drier.