Frugal Baked French Toast for Two
December 31, 2011 
3 Comments
If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have become quite alarmed by my pinning yesterday. In all, I have bookmarked something like one dozen different recipes for baked French toast.
Here’s what happened. I pulled one of those I-thought-I-pinned-that! numbers on a particularly yummy looking recipe. When I realized I hadn’t pinned it and may have lost the recipe forever, I decided to search all pins for “baked French toast.”
If you’re a Pinner, I probably don’t need to explain the rest. If you’re not a Pinner, you probably don’t care.
So this is the first of several cooking posts you’re going to see about baked French toast.
Today’s recipe is inspired by Kimberly Danger’s recipe at Mommy Savers. However, due to a number of “gross! it’s soggy” type comments, I changed things up a bit. I also scaled down the recipe. Because Dan and I have no business eating a calorie-laden breakfast that serves 8 freakin’ people. That’s why.
Frugal Baked French Toast for Two
- 1/2 to 3/4 loaf of French bread, cubed
- 4-oz. cream cheese, cut into small cubes
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
- Cinnamon sugar
Cut French bread into cubes and set out for a few hours or until it gets stale. Grease an 8×8 casserole dish. Spread half of the bread cubes into a single layer in the casserole dish. Top with cream cheese cubes. Add remaining bread cubes. In a separate mixing bowl or large measuring cup, combine the eggs, milk, melted butter, and maple syrup.
IMPORTANT: For the next step, you may not need all of the liquid. Pour liquid mixture over the top of the bread cubes and cream cheese, and—using a spoon or spatula to press down on the bread—make sure all cubes are well covered and there is a thin layer (about 1/4-inch) of the liquid coating the bottom of the casserole dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle the bread with cinnamon sugar just before baking. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve with warm maple syrup. Garnish with bacon.
Mmm…bacon.
Tips for Keeping the Soggy Away
- Don’t use plain white sandwich bread. It’s structural integrity will disappoint.
- Don’t forget to let the bread cubes get stale.
- Don’t just dump the liquid mixture over the bread willy-nilly. How much you need depends on how “thirsty” the bread is. I had about a 1/2 cup of the egg mixture left when I was finished, and I plan to adjust the recipe accordingly if I make it again.
- Don’t skip the whole “refrigerate 8 hours or overnight” thing. I mean it. The bread needs time to soak up all that egg-y goodness.
Our Opinions
Dan: Meh. I’m not sure about the cream cheese and it needs something.
Emily: Yum. Love the cream cheese, I just should have cut it up smaller before adding it. The crispy on top and chewy in the middle textures are lovely. I’d make it again if I didn’t have 11 more variations of baked French toast to try.
