Chef notes
Why spend precious time in the morning flipping individual slices of French toast on the griddle? This baked French toast casserole can be made ahead and requires very little hands-on work. Not to mention it tastes just as delicious and comforting as traditional French toast. This baked French toast is reminiscent of a custardy bread pudding. Thick slices of rich challah bread are soaked in a mixture of sweetened eggs, milk and heavy cream before being baked and drizzled with a saucy and boozy banana mixture.
One of the best parts of opting for a casserole-style French toast is that it can (and should!) be made ahead. Ideally, you want to assemble this dish the night before you plan to bake it. Allowing the bread to sit in the egg mixture overnight is what will ultimately give the French toast its soft, custard-like texture, so make sure each slice of challah is submerged in the liquid as it soaks.
The morning of, you can pop the French toast in the oven while you prepare the bananas foster sauce. Start by cooking thick slices of banana in butter until they are evenly caramelized. From there, toss the bananas in a sweet, sticky rum-infused caramel sauce. Whether you’re baking for a casual breakfast or hosting brunch, everyone will go crazy for the flambé moment when the rum goes up in flames. Don’t worry about a little fire — while the rum will catch fire quickly, it will die down just as fast.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1¼ cups heavy cream, divided
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- 6 large eggs
- 1 (1-pound) loaf challah bread, preferably stale, sliced into 1-inch-thick slices
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup dark spiced rum
- 3 medium ripe bananas, sliced on the bias, 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick
Preparation
1.Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter. Set aside.
2.In a large bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ginger powder, nutmeg and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Add 1 cup heavy cream, whole milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and eggs and whisk until combined.
3.Arrange the bread slices so they are slightly overlapping on the prepared baking dish. Pour the custard over all of the bread slices, pressing down the tops of the bread to make sure all slices are properly coated in the liquid mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4.When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Remove the French toast from the refrigerator while the oven preheats.
5.Uncover and bake in the middle rack of the oven until the tops are golden and the custard looks set, about 40 to 45 minutes, rotate halfway through. If the tops begin to burn, loosely cover with foil. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
6.While the French toast bakes, caramelize the bananas. In a medium skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Once bubbling, add bananas and cook 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until caramelized. Remove from pan.
7.In same skillet, combine 1 stick butter and 1 cup brown sugar over medium heat and whisk until the butter is melted. Pour in the rum and carefully light the rum on fire, the mixture will remain on fire for 20 to 40 seconds. Add in the remaining 1/4 cup heavy cream, remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Add in a pinch of salt and whisk to combine. Remove sauce from the heat until it's time to serve.
8.Add the caramelized bananas to the top of the French toast casserole, slice into servings and drizzle with sauce.
