Christmas Morning Breakfast Idea

    Every year I try to find a new recipe to make on Christmas morning. A recipe that comes    together with minimal effort, and where most of the work is done the night before. The last thing I want to be doing on Christmas morning is slaving over the stove. I would much rather be enjoying time with my family. Especially since most of the afternoon will be spent making Dinner.
    Earlier this month I came across this recipe for Overnight Eggnog French Toast and thought I would give it a try. I put everything together in about 15 minutes after Dinner. Then when I woke up the next morning I turned on the oven and grabbed the casserole dish and the streusel topping out of the fridge. While I was drinking my morning coffee, I sprinkled the streusel over the bread and then popped it into the oven. From here I had about 55 minutes to get showered and watch the news, which was a fairly good indicator that there will be plenty of time to open presents and enjoy Christmas morning.
    The original recipe called for quite a bit more sugar, so I cut that down. But if you have a sweet tooth feel free to adjust it to your taste.


Overnight Eggnog French Toast:

Overnight Eggnog French Toast with
Breakfast Sausage and Grapefruit.

Ingredients:
1 loaf stale French Bread, cut into cubes
6 large eggs
2 1/2 cups eggnog
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsps. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, cubed

Directions:
1) Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Add the bread cubes.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, eggnog, sugar, vanilla extract, and nutmeg.

3) Pour the mixture evenly over the bread. Cover pan with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for  overnight.

4) In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
5) Add butter pieces and cut into the dry mixture using a pastry blender or a fork. Combine until the mixture resembles sand with a few pea sized chunks. Cover and store mixture in the refrigerator until  morning.

6) When you wake up the next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove French toast from refrigerator.
7) Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the top. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the French toast is set and golden brown.

Into the oven...

Mmmm...baked and ready to eat.

*Serve with warm maple syrup. Recipe makes 8 servings.

You may also like:
Gingerbread Pancakes
Triple Berry Parfaits