Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorite things! It feels like a change up in a normal routine and it’s nice to have something just a little sweet for dinner, that feels like a fantastic treat. French toast is one of those things that I love and often order out at those rare times we actually go out for breakfast, but it’s never something we make at home. We just don’t think about making it. But when I saw a french toast breakfast bake on a menu at a small cafe near our house I knew I had to make something similar.
This is great if you are feeding a crowd but even better if it’s just a few people, you could portion this out and have breakfast ready for the rest of the week. Hello major time saver! The key to any egg bake is to have bread that is a few days old. We don’t eat a ton of bread in our house but I had a loaf of 100% whole wheat with about 10 slices left that had been sitting around for a few days. That was perfect for this recipe. When bread isn’t as fresh it tastes great in a dish like this. The edges get crusty while the centers soak up the egg mixture.
While this recipe may use a few things you don’t always keep on hand I promise it’s worth it. We always have eggs around; but I needed to make sure we had bread, oranges and whole milk. And since we don’t usually eat navel oranges the cuties that are in season right now work just fine. No need to buy something you won’t use. The orange zest and juice add just the right hint of sweetness and give it fantastic flavor.
I served this steaming hot with a drizzle of maple syrup and a big mug of tea.
- 1 tsp butter
- 10 slices whole wheat bread, torn into bite sized piecees
- 5 large eggs
- Zest and juice of 2-3 Cuties
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 3 tbsp maple syrup (plus more for serving, if desired)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- Preheat oven to 350. Use the butter to grease a 9x9 baking dish.
- Place the torn bread into the baking dish and press down to ensure it all fits inside the dish.
- In a large bowl whisk together eggs, orange zest and juice, milk, 3 tbsp maple syrup, vanilla and pinch of salt.
- Pour egg mixture over torn bread, ensuring it is all covered.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
- Serve drizzled with maple syrup.
