The Perfect Sunday Morning Breakfast

To sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please CLICK HERE.

What makes this the perfect Sunday morning breakfast?

Well, you can make it on Saturday and stick in the refrigerator. Actually, you can make it three days ahead. On Sunday morning, you stick it in the oven and set the table. Simple.

But your family will love it! It is very, very scrumptious. It’s like a stuffed French toast only softer, almost like a bread pudding.

Serve it with syrup. If you really want to delight your family, serve it with buttermilk syrup. Buttermilk syrup is kind of a caramelly-butterscotch syrup—more caramel than butterscotch—that is absolutely delicious. It comes in the original flavor and others like coconut and banana.

Get Buttermilk Syrup mixes for $1.00 each, Reg. $4.49! Limit 3 Expires 3/22/2016 Use coupon code “bmilk4u”

Three Ways to Make Baked French Toast   

Melissa’s Overnight Baked French Toast. Melissa in our test kitchen got us started on baked French toast.  She had gone through a culinary program in New York and then graduated from BYU-Idaho’s culinary program.  We loved what she created.  (Alas, she is now teaching in Arizona.)

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
12 slices soft bread
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. Melt the butter in an 8 1/2 x 13-inch baking pan. Stir in the brown sugar and one teaspoon cinnamon. Layer the bread two slices deep in the pan..
2. Whisk the eggs, milk, and cinnamon together. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread. Sprinkle the 1/2    teaspoon cinnamon over the bread. Place the pan in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the bread is browned. Serve hot with syrup and butter.

Baked French Toast in Caramel Sauce.  This will get the kids up in the morning and make your morning extra special. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
8 slices white bread
5 large eggs
1 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla flavor
1 teaspoon butter rum flavor (or use a second teaspoon of vanilla)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. On the stovetop, melt the butter.  Add the corn syrup and brown sugar and continue heating until the sugar has melted and the mixture is smooth.  Spread the hot syrup in a 9 x13-inch pan.
2. Arrange the bread slices in a layer in the baking pan, squeezing the bread to make it fit.
3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, flavors, and salt together.
4. Pour the egg mixture over the bread.  Place the completed dish in the refrigerator overnight or up to three days.
5. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the eggs are set and the toast is a pale golden color.  Invert slices onto plates and serve hot.

Baked French Toast with Orange Sauce.  Use this to get your imagination revved up.  It’s made with a cream cheese and apricot filling and drizzled with an orange sauce.  You could replace the apricot with strawberry jam.  You could use blueberry jam and then drizzle it with lemon syrup.  (We have a great lemon sauce/syrup.) You could make a peanut butter and jelly filling and then compliment it with a syrup.  You get the idea.

Ingredients

6 ounces cream cheese
3 tablespoons apricot jam
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon orange zest
6 2-inch thick slices of French bread
4 large eggs
1 cup cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
butter for frying

For the orange sauce:

1 1/3 cups orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Generously grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan and set aside.
2. In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese, jam, nutmeg and one teaspoon orange zest.
3. Cut a pocket in each slice of bread by slicing two-thirds of the way through the bread.  Stuff filling into each pocket.  Place the sandwiched bread in the prepared baking pan.
4. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Pour the egg mixture over the bread, covering each piece.  Cover the pan with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
5. To make the orange sauce, in a small pan, stir together the orange juice, zest, sugar, and cornstarch.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick and bubbly.  Cook for an additional couple minutes to thicken.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.  Serve with the orange sauce.

About the Author

Dennis Weaver has burned food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He is the founder of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and the author of How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking available as an E-book or as a Kindle book on Amazon.

Dennis lives in Rigby, Idaho, with his wife, Merri Ann. They have five wonderful children and five beautiful granddaughters.