Baked Banana Walnut French Toast!

As much as I LOVE elaborate breakfasts on weekends, sometimes, relaxing in the morning with my cup of coffee in hand trumps slaving away in the kitchen to create such morning delights.

Yes, I have the necessary irons and griddles to make lovely waffles, pancakes, and french toast, but I can count the number of times I've used them on one hand alone!  This is sad, but true :-/  I wonder if I'm the only one whose small kitchen appliances are currently collecting dust?!

Many times I have said to myself: "If only there were an easier way to make something so delicious without all the A.M. prep work and messy cleanup."

Come to find out, there is!

Behold the Casserole... the amazing, time-saving creation that grew in popularity sometime in the 1980s and 1990s in America, but has been around for ages (for a reason!) :-)

This Baked Banana Walnut French Toast casserole is part my creation and part adaptation of several internet recipes I found (there are tons to choose from!).

Like regular French Toast, this version also uses a combination of milk, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla to pour over day-old bread.  The ratio of milk to eggs can vary.  The addition of maple syrup, nuts, and fruit makes this even more decadent.  The BEST part of this recipe is that you can prepare it a day ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator overnight until you are ready to bake it in the morning.

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Baked Banana Walnut French Toast 

Ingredients:

6 -8 slices of your preferred bread (I used whole wheat sandwich bread)
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1 banana, mashed
1/4 - 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts
butter - for coating the baking dish

Directions:

If you are not using day-old bread: cut bread into cubes, arrange on a sheet pan, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 5-10 minutes on each side until golden brown and crisp.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, banana, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, and walnuts.

Butter the inside of a covered casserole dish and arrange toasted bread cubes evenly in the bottom.

Pour the egg mixture over the bread and press down to soak each cube evenly.  Cover the dish and place the casserole in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning, take the casserole out of the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to baking.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake, covered for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the custard has set and the top is crispy.

Serve with extra maple syrup and powdered sugar if desired.

Serves 4

Enjoy!!!
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This turned out pretty tasty for my first attempt!  It was slightly sweet with a hint of banana flavor.  If I were to do it again, I might add another mashed banana to make it a bit more banana-y, or the entire 1/2 cup of maple syrup for more maple sweetness (this time around, I only used 1/4 cup of the maple syrup).  Overall, this was a great change of pace from our usual Sunday morning selections... eggs and toast, cereal, oatmeal, bagels, etc.  The versatility of this casserole is what I love the most, and I will definitely be making it again, and tweaking it along the way.

Baked French Toast... yet another one-dish-wonder to behold :-)

Librarian turned Foodie