Sunday Brunch

DTS is throwing a Sunday Brunch and I am on the committee to help out.  I wanted to find a good recipe that everyone would love and that would feed 30 to 40 people.  We decided to make scrambled eggs, bacon, have fresh fruit, and some sort of potato or hash-browns.  I decided that a french toast casserole would be the perfect addition to this meal.  It screams Sunday Brunch and it can be made a head of time.  It's perfect.  I put it together on Saturday and then Sunday morning, all I had to do was pop it in the oven.

I found the recipe over at the The Pioneer Woman.  I had heard about her site and one day I decided to seriously check it out.  I am officially obsessed.  I need to get my hands on one of her cookbooks as I love all of her recipes.  I modified the recipe a tad to make it a little lighter/use ingredients that I had on hand. Also, I had to feed a ton of people so I doubled the original recipe.  Now it's time to go feast! I just love brunch :)

Cinnamon Baked French Toast (inspired by The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:
For the french toast:
2 loaves french bread
16 eggs
4 cups milk (I used 1%)
1 cup half and half cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
4 tbsp vanilla
For the topping:
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Directions:
1. Grease a LARGE pan.  The original recipe uses a 9 by 13 inch pan and I just found a big pan in my kitchen.  Tear the loaves into chunks and place in the pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix eggs, milk, cream, sugar, spices, and vanilla.  Mix well and pour over the bread.  Cover tightly and store in fridge for a least a few hours, or overnight.
3. Mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a medium sized bowl.  Cut in butter until you have a coarse mixture.  It will look a little like wet sand.  Store in a sealed container in the fridge.
4. When you are ready to make the french toast, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sprinkle topping over the bread and place in oven for 45 minutes-1 hour.  The shorter time will give you a softer, more bread-pudding like consistency and the longer will give you a more crisp french toast.
Serve with fresh fruit, butter, and/or syrup!

Enjoy :)