Overnight French Toast Stick Casserole

We attended a Christmas brunch this past weekend and my husband requested I make French toast. I figured French toast sticks would be easiest for the brunch buffet. Thus, these lovelies were created!

Knowing there would be about 15 people there, I went to my friend Google to figure out how to make French toast for a crowd. I have been eating French toast for a couple decades now, but my world was significantly expanded in this Google search. French Toast Casserole?! I had never heard of such a thing! And I grew up with a lot of siblings so casseroles were part of our weekly diet. What a fantastic discovery!

Overnight French Toast Stick Casserole Recipe makes 12 large sticks

1 loaf of day old Cuban bread

6 large eggs

1.5C milk

1T brown sugar

1T vanilla extract

1/2t ground cinnamon

taken with my iPhone4s

Begin by just barely slicing off the loaf’s crust. If you use a smaller loaf of bread, you may need to use more than 1 loaf. Slice the bread into big, thick sticks about 3-4 inches long. Grease a 9×13 pan and lay the bread sticks inside.

Lightly sprinkle the brown sugar atop the pieces of bread. Whip together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour the milk mixture evenly over the bread. Cover the pan and refrigerate over night. In the morning, preheat oven to 350. This is what mine looked like in the morning – it has soaked up all the vanilla mixture goodness.

Bake the casserole for 40 minutes if you want French toast sticks that are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Bake for 60 minutes if you want the sticks crunchy all the way through. Simply run a knife through all the individual sticks so they are easily retrievable from the pan and serve warm.