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Community Corner

Overnight Apple Cinnamon French Toast

This is a sweet and delicious way to start your day. Make a morning meal special or to bring as a dish to share to your next brunch (and BONUS: your house will smell FANTASTIC as this cooks!)

Happy Saturday Ballston and Virginia Square!

And what a beautiful weekend it’s going to be! I just read something about 40s and 50s?! PINCH ME! I mean, it’s not tropical, but try to get out and enjoy it this weekend! Perhaps after you have this great breakfast tomorrow morning.

We’re exploring fun breakfast foods that feature cinnamon this month. Last weekend, we made a crunchy, healthy, and satisfying . This week, we’re going to make something...a little less healthy, but (in my opinion) a little more amazing.

Overnight Apple Cinnamon French Toast.

This recipe takes a traditional breakfast item (french toast) and gives it a delicious makeover. This warm, gooey, tasty, cinnamon filled baked french toast dish is fantastic! BONUS: you make it the night before, and then just pop it in the oven the next day! It’s really easy to make, and is sure to be a crowd pleaser (or...guys-want to make something nice for your lady on Valentine’s Day...this would be a GREAT surprise for breakfast! I’m just saying...).

Overnight Apple Cinnamon French Toast
Serves 15

Ingredients:
¾ cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 (21 oz) cans apple pie filling
20 slices white bread
6 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup maple syrup

Directions:

  1. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
  2. Spread the sugar mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the apple pie filling evenly over the sugar mixture. Layer the bread slices on top of the filling, pressing down as you go. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla. Slowly pour this mixture over the bread, making sure that it is completely absorbed. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
  3. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  4. Place covered pan into the oven and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 to 75 minutes. When done remove from oven and turn on broiler. Remove foil and drizzle maple syrup on top of the egg topping; broil for 2 minutes, or until the syrup begins to caramelize. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes, then cut into squares. Invert the pan onto a serving tray or baking sheet so the apple filling is on top. Serve hot.

Rate it!:
Rating: A+
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Under $12.00
Cost per Serving: $0.80/serving
Bad Breath Factor: Nadda. It’ll leave the sweet taste of apples and brown sugar in your mouth. And trust me, this is sooo good it’s worth the embarrassment of being seen licking your plate.

Suggestions:
1) People really won’t eat a lot of this, it’s very sweet. You don’t have to make a ton.
2) Watch it in the broiler-really, 2 minutes is plenty of time. You don’t want to turn the toast black.
3) The recipe calls for you to completely invert the pan onto a serving tray (think pineapple upside-down cake style). I disagree with this: Served warm, this delicious casserole will spread and spill out everywhere, unless you invert it into another, larger casserole dish. I personally would recommend using a spatula to get each piece out, then flipping it onto the plates as you serve it. That way, you don’t run the risk of a) spilling this everywhere when you try to invert the whole pan and b) having all the apples/cinnamon spread out all over the serving tray.
4) I’d consider using thicker toast. We used what we had in the house-Italian sandwich bread with sesame seeds. If I had to do it again I wouldn’t use bread with sesame seeds. It still tasted great, just a little strange.
5) Cut the bread in half before you press it in. This makes cutting it post-cooking much easier and creates much more manageable sized pieces.

This is officially my favorite breakfast dish now. I really REALLY love this!! I even had some leftovers for dessert tonight, and it just reminded me how amazing this recipe really is. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and give it a try-you won’t be disappointed.

Enjoy Ballston and Virginia Square!

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