Anyone made one of these baked french toast casserole things?

[Grenko]

My favourite breakfast is without question French toast or waffles. But I’m making Christmas brekkie for a crowd and would like to actually enjoy breakfast with everyone instead of standing at the cooker.

Ive seen a bunch of these baked french toast casserole type things. I guess it’s essentially bread and butter pudding with toppings. Ie bread with custard.

if you’ve made one can you tell me if it was enjoyable? And what recipe you used (if good).

Thanks in advance

Never heard of it but it looks fit 👌
And if it halves the labour then I'd say go for it 😉

I made one recently (lemon curd and blueberries) was bloody delicious!

What is the difference to bread and butter pudding?

I've made Nigella's cheese strata which is very similar but savoury

I've quite often done a savoury version - it's Nigella Express originally.

Layer the bread with sliced cheese & ham (or smoked turkey - we're in a Muslim country! - or fried mushrooms &/or thinly sliced tomatoes for a veggie version. You want sticky up edges of bread that'll crisp up, so tbh cheap sliced bread is great here.

Pour over beaten egg & milk - I don't do exact proportions but roughly 3 eggs to a pint, scale up or down depending on how many you're feeding - this is assuming a dozen or so slices of bread which will feed about 6.

Leave it all to steep in the fridge over night then shove in oven for half an hour in the morning.

It's really good! I imagine a sweet version with fruit would be excellent.

Very forgiving too - it just ends up more eggy or more crunchy depending on your bread to liquid proportion, but is great either way tbh.

Oh great. Did you use any recipe in particular or did you just make it up yourself? (If you don’t mind sharing)

Haven’t made but have eaten them. I don’t mind it, but much prefer actual eggy bread.

Oh amazing. Will give that a go. Was just going to stuff croissants with ham and cheese or whatever else and then bake. But what you’ve shared sounds much better. Thanks!

Did you find it too soggy? That’s my only concern

It’s this one here. Very simple but actually it used croissants not bread I’m sure you could adapt it though if you preferred brioche or bread

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/blueberry-lemon-croissant-bake

Yes. I like the crispy outside/soft inside when you make the slices separately. You don’t get as much of that.

They look bloody delicious, I but we have a pair of vegans along with the rest of our guests 😭

Looks good OP, I'm just sad my invite for Christmas morning round at yours must have got lost in the post 😔

Looks yummy and very festive! Enjoy your Christmas OP!

Thanks for the link :)

All the time. I recommend choosing one more akin to a bread pudding with the torn up stale bread. It holds up to the custardy egg mixture better.

Ive done a variety of breads. If I can get it, challah is the best, but it is hard to obtain in my area.

How is this not just bread and butter pudding?

Bread and butter pudding is a British dessert. This is an American* breakfast dish. Otherwise, not much.

*The name "French toast casserole" is a dead giveaway. A British version would have been called "eggy bread bake". Or just "bread and butter pudding for breakfast"!

This is just a little different than bread pudding. I make both and this is more egg forward. I typically make one that ends up with a syrup on the bottom.

@FartyAnimal there are vegan options available using almond, soy or oat milks. Flax eggs also work well here too.

Bread pudding is entirely different. This is similar to bread and butter pudding.

Bread pudding. Stodgy fruit cake.

Yes, I thought so (and bread pudding is a different thing again), but having bread and butter pudding for breakfast is surely fine without having to rename it.

It couldn't possibly be that the recipe sites were running out of ideas and desperate to look like they'd come with a brand new one, could it?

I made this using ham and cheese. Its much less soggy if you soak it for 30-60mins instead of overnight.