Riddle of the Day: What is made from stale bread, soaked in a sweet and creamy eggy mixture, loaded with fruit, and is something that everybody loves for breakfast??

Ok, so I guess that could be a few breakfast items… but I’m talking about french toast, more specifically, baked french toast!

Whammy.

There can be quite a variety when it comes to flavor, but since I had these items on hand, I went with the Blueberry Peach Baked French Toast.

Double whammy.

I have been serving a delightful breakfast spread at church once a month, for our amazing volunteers, alongside a couple of awesome people, and I love the opportunity to come up with creative and tasty dishes. Well, this was one of them and, boy, was it a hit!

One of our new team members, Larry, cooks amazing food. For example, along with my Baked Blueberry & Peach French Toast, and the best Honey Nut Granola, he made honey butter, zucchini muffins, a homemade spicy chicken sausage, and not one, but TWO potato dishes, one with cheese and onion and the other layered with ratatouille! Imagine that! Literally, genius. He has a catering business, farmer’s market booth and also a blog with lots of scrumptious recipes.

Layer in the egg mixture, bread, egg mixture, bread, and egg mixture. Just like that. Cover and let soak up all the flavor in the fridge, overnight! When its ready to bake the next day, while the oven is preheating, don’t forget to sprinkle the top with sugar!!

Y to the UM. YUM. It didn’t even need extra syrup, to be honest. The peaches and blueberries provided enough sweetness.

This is the perfect holiday breakfast dish to feed the masses! And it is oh so patriotic with the plethora of blueberries!

Ingredients:

Butter, for greasing baking dish

8 eggs

1 cup milk

2 cups half n half

3/4 cup maple syrup

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1 loaf of stale bread*

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh peaches, pitted and diced.

cinnamon sugar mixture, for sprinkling (combine 2 Tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon)

*Little Yellow Note: brioche or challah work great. For easy serving, I used a French baguette and allowed it to toast up in the oven for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees F. It was easy to layer with smaller slices and easier to serve to the masses!

Directions:

Cut 1-inch slices of bread. If it is not already stale, either let slices sit out for a few hours or to speed it up, place slices in the oven on a baking sheet.

Meanwhile, make the egg mixture by beating the eggs, first, and then combining the half n half, milk, vanilla, syrup, cinnamon, salt.  Add the blueberries and peaches.

Pour about a third of the mixture in the greased baking dish. Then place down one layer of bread to cover the bottom. Pour another third of the egg mixture on top and add the rest of the bread to make a top layer. Pour the rest of the egg mixture over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and place evenly in the fridge overnight, or for a few hours if you get antsy.

In the morning, while preheating the oven to 350 degrees F, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the French toast and bake for 45-55 minutes. Serve warm with a drizzle of maple syrup, if preferred.

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Chrissy