Oven French Toast (small batch)

 

One of my favorite breakfasts, lunches or light suppers has to be French Toast. I have loved it ever since I first tasted it back when I was a girl.   

I had a friend whose mother always made French Toast for their dinner on Fridays. (They were catholic and didn't eat meat.)  I had never ever had it in my life, but it sounded so wonderful and exotic. She invited me over to lunch. (I think it was news to her mother!) 

  

It was love at first bite and was something I made often for my children when they were growing up. I especially enjoyed making them Oven French Toast because it meant I was not chained to the stove. 

I could often throw it together ahead of time, usually the night before, and then just bang the casserole into the oven in the morning when we were ready to eat.

 

Its something I hadn't really made for myself since I started living on my own.  For several reasons really. One most recipes make far too much for me to eat all on my own. 

I can handle one meal of leftovers, but not much more than that.  I have always found that French Toast Casseroles don't freeze that well, and I hate waste.

 

Two, its just not practical for me to have something like that sitting in my refrigerator taking up space when there is only me to feed.

I decided to see if I could downsize a recipe to fit only two or three people and also one that didn't need sitting over night to set up.  This baked French toast is not overnight French Toast. And yet it is every bit as tasty as one that is!

Its quick and easy to make and uses ingredients that most of us always have in our kitchens.  Its also delicious! 

It has all the richness and flavor of a full sized French Toast casserole without all of the faff and waiting around of the original one.  I am all for that!

Its light and fluffy on the inside, buttery and crisp on the outside, and lightly cinnamon sugar glazed.

 

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE OVEN FRENCH TOAST

Its simple really. I bet you have everything you need to make this delicious dish in your kitchen and refrigerator right now! 

• three thick slices of bread (1 inch thick. Brioche, French, Italian, Sour Dough or Challah)
• large free range eggs
• whole milk
• whipping or double cream (you can use undiluted evaporate milk in its place if that is all you have.)
• vanilla
• ground cinnamon
• nutmeg
• butter 
• granulated sugar (for the baked glaze)

 

HOW TO MAKE OVEN FRENCH TOAST

With no overnight chilling, Oven French Toast is not only time-worthy, but  very easy to make.  Its also a very tasty way to use up bread which has gone stale, breathing new, delicious life into it!

Today I used some thick sliced Italian bread for the recipe. I cut it in half so that I ended up with six half slices. This is not only easier to serve, but fit into my dish better and was visually better. 

 

Two smaller halves just look nicer sitting on the plate than one full slice would look.

Once you have done that butter a small baking dish. Mine is 7 inches square.  Be generous with the butter.  You don't want your toast to stick, and it will give a lovely flavor and crust to the finished dish.

 

 

Beat together your wet ingredients, the egg, egg yolk, milk and cream.  I do this in a small bowl that is large enough for me to be able to dip in each half slice of bread.

You will also need to beat in the vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cinnamon never goes in like you want it to. It tends to clump. That's okay.  Don't worry about it, it will all end up okay.

 

You will need to dip your slices of bread into this mixture, making sure you coat both sides, and working one slice/piece at a time.

Lay these into your buttered baking dish, overlapping them slightly in a visually appealing way. Just because you are only one or two, that doesn't mean you don't want your food to look good!

If you have any egg mixture left in the bowl when done, pour it over top of the bread slices in the baking dish.

 

Cover your dish tightly with aluminum foil and set it aside for half an hour.  Just go off and get on with something else.  You can also set your oven to pre-heating.

At the end of that time, pop your dish into the oven and let it bake for about half an hour.  You really won't know what's going on in the dish as its tightly covered, but trust me. If your oven temperature is right and you follow my precise timings all will be well.

 

At the end of that time, remove it from the oven. Take off the foil and discard it, or if you are thrifty like me, set it aside to use another time. It won't be dirty.

Melt your butter and whisk the granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp of sugar together.  Drizzle the melted butter evenly over top of the French toast and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

Return the French Toast to the oven and bake it for a further 15 minutes. At the end of that time it should be slightly golden brown and have a nice cinnamon sugar glaze happening.

This is French Toast perfection.  Trust me on this. Light and fluffy inside. Golden brown with crisp buttery edges on the outside.

 

Perfect for serving with crisp bacon or breakfast sausage, or (dare I say it?) both!

I've been buying the quick bacon. Its pretty much already cooked, you just need to warm it up in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. Easy peasy.

I wouldn't do that if I had a whole family to feed, but for just myself, its really quite practical.  Another thing I like to do is to fry up a whole package of regular bacon and freeze it into individual slices, ready to take out and use as and when.

Normally I would serve this with some fresh berries on the side and perhaps a dollop of nice thick plain Greek Yogurt. I had none of those on this day.

Instead I enjoyed it with the bacon and lashings of pure Maple Syrup.   It went down a real treat and I think it will with you as well!!

Oven French Toast (small batch)

Yield: 3

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 35 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 H & 19 M

Not too sweet and perfectly spiced, this delicious recipe is sized for the smaller family. Small families deserve to eat delicious things without any waste!

Ingredients

• 3 thick slices of day old bread (Brioche, Italian, Sour Dough, French, Challah)
• 1 large free range egg, plus 1 egg yolk (freeze the white for another use)
• 2 1/2 TBS whipping cream
• 1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• dash nutmeg

To Finish:

• 2 TBS butter melted
• 1 TBS granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• Icing sugar to dust (optional)

To serve:

• Bacon or breakfast sausage or both
• Maple syrup
• fresh berries or fruit
• Greek Yogurt

Instructions

1. Butter a 7-inch square baking dish and set aside.
2. Slice the bread in half so that you have two pieces from each slice (6 altogether).
3. Whisk the egg, egg yolk, milk, cream, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl. Dip each piece of bread into the mixture and then place into the buttered baking dish, overlapping them slightly. Pour any remaining egg mixture (if any) over top.
4. Cover with aluminum foil and set aside for half an hour.\
5. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4.
6. Bake the covered baking dish for 30 minutes. Uncover and drizzle the melted butter over top. Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon sugar.
7. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve with warm with your favorite accompaniments.

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