Sugar & Spice

Last weekend I opened my home to nine 9- and 10-year-old girls from my class. Knowing we would probably be up all night giggling, singing, dancing, make-upping, and other such silliness, I decided to put together a french toast casserole ahead of time for our morning-after breakfast. My sister had been raving about its simplicity, and I don't know many girls that turn their cute button noses up at french toast, so I figured it was worth a shot!

I really wanted to try Paula Deen's recipe, and there are several others floating around on ye olde internets, so play around and see what works best for you. I ended up doing the one from Mommy's Kitchen due to cost and ease, but I will probably experiment with different breads next time. Since one of our boy's has so many food allergies, I plan to try it with rice bread, almond milk, nuts, and pure maple syrup next time. Should be interesting!

It was definitely one of the easiest casseroles I've ever slapped together, and infinitely easier than actual french toast.  As far as preparation goes, I have to give this recipe an "A" for awesome sauce.

Since I'm all wound up in the Biggest Blogging Loser and a Fitness Challenge at my local Camp Gladiator, I wasn't able to taste this dish myself, but 9 out of 9 girls, 2 teenage boys, and 1 husband all give it two thumbs up.  In fact, I ended up making it a second time last weekend just for my family because they loved it so much!

Here's what you need:
1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
12 - slices Texas toast or any leftover bread
1 - cup brown sugar
1 - tsp cinnamon
1/4 - tsp nutmeg
1 - tsp vanilla extract
5 - eggs
1 1/2 - cups almond milk (regular milk would work, but one of the girls had an allergy)

• First, you'll melt the butter and pour it into a 9x13" pan.
• Cut each bread slice in thirds
•  Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg

Bread and brown sugar mixture ready to go!

• Layer the pan with bread strips, then sprinkle half of brown sugar mixture over bread

Already looking yummy!

• Layer remaining bread strips over the first
• Pour egg mixture over second layer

Make sure all bread is evenly soaked through.

•  Sprinkle remaining brown sugar mixture over top

• Cover with foil and place in fridge overnight. Easy!

• The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place new foil sheet over the casserole
• Bake for 30 minutes
• Remove foil, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes
• If you like, drizzle syrup over top of casserole and bake another 5-10 minutes

Fresh out of the oven and ready to eat!

Eat quickly -- it disappears fast!

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