My Favorite Overnight Caramel French Toast

I have been meaning to post this recipe from some time now.  It is my go-to brunch item and is so easy and basically amazingly delicious.  Plus you do all the work the night before, so the morning of you just have to throw it in the oven.  You see the problem has always been that I forget to take a picture of the final product.  I normally pull it out of the oven right when guests start to arrive, so that it is piping hot and ready to be served immediately.  This weekend though, I made sure to take a picture as I was waiting for Thomas and Peter to arrive. They were bringing the sausage biscuits, and I whipped up this French toast along with a quick frittata, some black pepper maple bacon and of course mimosas.  Don't judge on the amount of food that was made, I felt that I deserved it after my long run of 16 miles the day before.

So this French toast it worth a full description of its own.  It is almost like breakfast bread pudding.  The bottom is gooey and has this awesome cinnamon caramel flavor, while the top is slightly more crunchy and cinnamony.  You can serve maple syrup along side of it, but you don't even really need to.  This is a scrap your plate with the fork, because what you really want to do it lick the plate recipe.  It is easy, simple and delicious; plus a definite crowd-pleaser.  Give it a try and enjoy!

I ran past the Capitol Building so I could check out the set up for the Inauguration.  Might as well check out the sites when I am running for 2+ hours.

Time for the caramel.

Combine the ingredients in a small sauce pan, and cook until bubbling.

And then what makes it French toast.  The milk, eggs, flour, vanilla extract, a little salt, and cinnamon.

Time for the bread.

Then just pour the milk mixture over the bread and let it sit in the refrigerator covered overnight.

Overnight Caramel French Toast: (recipe adapted from Cooking Light)
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
Cooking spray
1 French baguette, cut into 1 1/2 inch rounds. (cut as many as will fit in your pan)
2 1/2 cups skim milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1.  Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  In a small sauce pan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter.  Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until mixture is bubbly, stirring constantly. Pour mixture evenly into prepared baking dish.

2.  Arrange bread slices in a single layer over syrup in dish.

3.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, flour, vanilla extract, salt, eggs and cinnamon. Pour egg mixture over bread slices.  Sprinkle the top with just a little more cinnamon.   Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 50 minutes or until golden. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  If your guests haven't arrived after once the 50 minutes, decrease your oven temperature to 175 and keep warm.  Enjoy!