Meatless Monday: Baked Caramel French Toast

Here's another breakfast recipe.  Of course in our house, dishes like this are made for dinner and then any leftovers are eaten for breakfast the next day.  The kids are huge breakfast eaters and breakfast for dinner is an almost guaranteed hit with them.  The kids really like french toast but for some reason I don't make it very often.  I should because french toast casseroles like this one are made ahead of time and are supposed to be refrigerated overnight.  These make for great busy weeknight dinners since you take it out, put it in the oven to cook, and you're done.  The prep has been done the night before.  Unfortunately, this wasn't one of our favorite french toast dishes.  For some reason this had a weird texture to it which we didn't like.  The flavors were okay....the kids love bananas and they loved the sweet homemade caramel sauce.  It was maybe too mushy.....not sure but we liked it but didn't LOVE it, which we normally do with breakfast for dinner type dishes.

Baked Caramel French Toast
recipe from All You, May 2012

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum, (optional - I did not use)
2 medium ripe bananas, sliced
1 loaf challah or white bread (about 20 oz.), cut or torn into 1/2-inch pieces
8 large eggs
2 cups half and half
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
 1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add brown sugar and rum, if desired; stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in bananas.

 2. Scatter half of bread in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Spoon caramel-banana mixture evenly over bread. Top with remaining bread. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Whisk in half and half, vanilla and salt. Pour over bread mixture, pressing down on bread to make sure it's all coated. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Let baking dish stand at room temperature while the oven preheats. Remove foil and bake until puffed and golden and a thin knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.