Holiday Open House: French Toast Bake

As the holidays began approaching, my mind immediately begins to drift to food.  I love baking during the holidays and I love making special meals for my family that we don't normally have.  On a typical morning, breakfast consists of cereal, toast, or oatmeal.  We just don't have enough time in the morning to have a hot meal.  However, during the holidays we like to make an exception.  My mother-in-law introduce me to this yummy French Bread Bake recipe a few years back and it is definitely a keeper.  The beauty of this recipe is that you prepare it the night before.  So when you wake up in the morning, all you have to do is stick it in the oven and enjoy!

Ingredients

1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cut diagonally in 1 inch slices

 8 eggs

 2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream

 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 3/4 cup butter

 1 1/3 cups brown sugar

 3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions

Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange the slices of bread in the bottom. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread slices, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup; heat until bubbling. Pour over bread and egg mixture.

Bake in preheated oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes.

What special breakfast foods do you fix during the holiday season?  I love new recipes, so if you have them posted, leave a link! :)