French Toast Casseroles

I found some more French toast casseroles that I had copied from somewhere but wasn't able to find when I needed them and had to go searching for others. It's OK though because we found the blueberry French toast that my 18-month-old adores. Here are a couple fruit-less versions. So many options!

French Toast Casserole I

• 1 loaf Italian bread
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar divided
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or almond) extract
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 4 eggs
• 2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (some like more)
• 2 tablespoon melted butter
  

Cut bread into 1 inch cubes. Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.

Melt cream cheese in the microwave. Stir several times. This takes about 2 minutes. Stir half the sugar and all of the extract into the cream cheese.

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the bread cubes. It will not completely cover them. Sprinkle nuts over the cream cheese layer. Top with remaining bread cubes.

Beat together the remaining sugar, eggs, milk, cinnamon, and melted butter. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the bread cubes.

Refrigerate overnight to bake the next morning OR slide the pan into a two-gallon freezer bag and freeze.

Thaw completely to cook. When ready to bake - Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until browned. Let sit at room temp for 5 minutes before cutting. Top with syrup or fruit toppings.


French Toast Casserole II

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 10 slices day old French bread (3/4 inch thick)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg. Place bread in a well-greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Pour egg mixture over bread. Let soak for several minutes, turning bread once to coat. Freeze until firm. Package in airtight containers. To bake, place bread on a well-greased baking sheet. Dot with butter. Bake at 450ºF for 7 minutes; turn and bake 10-12 minutes longer or until golden brown. Serves 4-5.

Baked Apple French Toast

I came across this recipe when searching for a freezer-friendly French toast "casserole." We ultimately tried the blueberry recipe, but this one was a contender, too! From RecipeZaar.

Breakfast ideas

French toast, waffles and pancakes, made from scratch at home, can be frozen! They're just as fast to reheat in the morning as the prepackaged ones in the store. Only they cost less and are better for you!

Use your favorite recipe. You can even use a boxed mix for the pancakes and waffles (although it is almost as quick and cheaper to make up the mix yourself).

Make a double batch the next time you make one of these on the weekend. Put whatever is left in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze until solid. Once frozen, you can transfer to a gallon freezer bag for long-term storage.

Do not thaw these before reheating! Toaster, microwave, oven, or toaster oven all work fine for reheating.

Blueberry Freezer French Toast Casserole

We adapted this recipe from Recipe Zaar as an alternative to making individual pieces of French Toast for freezing. We didn't use the wheat germ the recipe called for. None of us ever use wheat germ (some of us hadn't even heard of it!), so I'm not sure what difference it would have made.

10 slices French bread, cut into quarters
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup frozen blueberries*
2 eggs
1 cup egg substitute (like eggbeaters)
1 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup frozen blueberries*

Spray-treat a baking dish.
Arrange half of the bread cubes in the dish and top with cream cheese cubes. (this gets messy -- just try to spread the lumps of cream cheese evenly around).
Sprinkle blueberries over the cream cheese and top with the remaining bread cubes.
Whisk together the eggs, egg substitute, milk, vanilla, spices and maple syrup. Pour over the bread cubes.

Cover and refrigerate overnight if serving the next day. If not, continue with freezing instructions.

Freezing Directions: Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and then cover tightly with aluminum foil. Freeze. Freeze cooled sauce separately in quart freezer bags.

To make the sauce (this can be made ahead and frozen or made just before serving): in a medium saucepan mix the sugar, cornstarch and water. (Do this before starting to heat the water -- make sure the cornstarch is completely dissolved before you start heating this!)
Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes.
Mix in the blueberries. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Cool before putting in freezer bags.

To cook, thaw overnight in refrigerator. Remove plastic wrap from casserole. Bake covered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover and continue baking 25-30 minutes until center is firm and surface is lightly browned. Warm sauce in microwave, stirring often. Serve casserole with warmed sauce.


Overall, it was good. I used a 9x13 glass baking pan for mine and next time I would use a smaller dish so that it's thicker. Mine was a little dried out and I'm not sure if that was due to pan size or baking too long or too hot or what.

*We have also made this substituting strawberries for the blueberries. The sauce needed to cook longer when using the strawberries.