Baked French Toast

This is a perfect recipe to use as a base and to change up as different fruits and flavors come into season. In the Spring, it’s Lemon/cardamom/blueberry, in the Summer raspberry/cream cheese, Fall brings pumpkin, and Winter incorporates hot chocolate.

Yield – 4

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or cooking spray
• 6 slices Italian bread, sliced into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cups raspberries
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• Powdered sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Grease four 8 ounce ramekins with butter or cooking spray and place on baking sheet
3. Whisk eggs, milk, vanilla and maple syrup until well combined
4. Stir in cubed bread until soaked with egg mixture
5. Fill each ramekin halfway with bread/egg mixture
6. Add a layer of raspberries and cream cheese, dividing evenly between each dish
7. Cover with remaining bread
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown
9. Dust with powdered sugar

It’s pretty impossible to mess it up once you have the base down. This can also be made in a 9×13 baking dish and can even be prepped the night before making it perfect for a holiday breakfast. When it’s prepped the night before, it ends up being very similar to a bread pudding!