Apple Cinnamon CRUNCH French Toast Casserole
One of my favorite fall recipes, this French toast is packed with apples, cinnamon, pecans and a crispy crunching sugar topping. Serve it with ice cream for breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 very stale French baguette roughly chopped into 1x1 pieces
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Green Smith apple chopped
- 1 pink lady apple chopped
- 8 oz cream cheese chopped into cubes
- ½ cup pecans roughly crushed
- ½ cup demerara sugar for topping
Instructions
- Roughly chop the French bread into cubes. Chop the apples and cube up the cream cheese. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Arrange the bread, apples, crushed pecans and cream cheese in a casserole dish. Pour the milk mixture over the top of the bread, leaving some edges of the bread exposed. IMPORTANT: Bread must soak for at least 8-10 hours or longer (up to 48 hours) for best results.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Sprinkle on the demerara sugar from edge to edge. While the oven preheats, leave out the casserole dish to come to room temperature.
- Bake covered for 20 minutes then uncover and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes, until the casserole is cooked through and beginning to brown on top. Let rest for 10 minutes prior to cutting.
- Serve with a scoop of ice cream and whipped cream. Top with maple syrup and melted butter as desired. Enjoy!
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