Brunch... the much easier choice for Christmas

I haven't posted in a while.. life has been a little chaotic! I wanted to share a yummy french toast casserole I ended up serving on Christmas. This year, Jeff and I hosted since I didn't want to venture far being so close to my due date. :) We decided a brunch theme would be a nice change of pace, especially since Thanksgiving was a mere 3 weeks prior and the thought of turkey and ham was not exactly appealing to this preggo lady. :)

Everyone brought a quiche, fruit, or breakfast bread. I made yummy breakfast potatoes and the below casserole. It was super easy and I didn't have to do anything the night before. It was delicious. :) There weren't left overs!

The casserole is in the white pan

Ingredients:

4-5 cups of torn challah bread (or any thick sliced bread)
5 eggs
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup maple syrup
*optional - sprinkle some brown sugar over the top before you bake for a nice sweet crusty top!

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Grease 9x13 casserole dish.  Pour about 1/2 cup of syrup in the bottom of the casserole dish.  Layer torn bread on top of the syrup.  In a large bowl beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.  Pour egg mixture evenly over bread in casserole dish and press bread down to make sure it's completely soaked.  Drizzle remaining syrup over top of bread and custard.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until casserole is puffed up and golden brown on top.  Remove from oven and drizzle additional maple syrup on top and serve while hot.

Visit this link for the original post: http://everydaysisters.blogspot.com/2011/07/quick-easy-french-toast-casserole.html