Our Christmas Morning Tradition

First off – I am by no means a baker, and certainly not a food blogger. But – this post is like, half recipe and half mom hack. You make this the night before, let it sit in the fridge overnight, and put it in the oven when everyone wakes up! When they finish opening their presents… it’s ready! And mom doesn’t have to slave over the stove! It’s a Christmas Miracle.

We always host Christmas morning at our house which I LOVE. BUT, hosting sometimes means you miss out on the party while trying to entertain your guests, and who wants to miss Christmas morning?! This French Toast Casserole takes approximately 45minutes to bake, and requires no attention while its doing it’s thing!

So first, here’s the recipe…. I hate to scroll. 😉

I use 1- 1 1/2 loaves of Brioche or Challah bread, depending on the size of the loaf. I usually try to buy them fresh from the bakery, but the packaged brioche bread tends to come in slightly smaller loaves. Chop the bread into approx. 1in cubes and fill a 9×14 glass baking pan fully. (If you only have one loaf and the pan isn’t quite packed.. you may want to subtract an egg and a little milk).

In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and a few shakes of cinnamon. Then pour it over the top of the chopped bread, give it a toss so it is evently coated. Cover, and into the fridge overnight.

The crumble topping can also be made at night, and put into a plastic baggie or container in the fridge overnight, or you can whip it up while the oven is preheating in the morning (but for Christmas… do it all the night before!). I mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and then chop one stick of butter into small pieces (yupppp, the whole stick… DO IT.) Throw the chopped butter into the dry ingredients and mash&smash until you have crumble!

In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover your baking pan, give the bread a quick stir, evenly pour crumble over the top, and stick it in! Bake for 45min… the liquid should all be sopped up by the bread and the bread will rise.

Now… talk about toppings… this literally needs NOTHING else. lol It is super sweet, so I definitely wouldn’t mix in chocolate or anything like that. The kids use a tiny bit of syrup on theirs, but you don’t even need it. I like whipped cream on mine. 😉 I have mixed in blueberries and raspberries before… I just added them with a quick mix in the morning before it went in the over.

THAT’S IT! It is super yummy and super easy! If you give it a try, I want to hear about it!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

The Quicks!