Overnight French Toast with Panettone (or without)

Last year, I put in Snowy & Chinook's recipe for pancakes, from Snowy & Chinook.

This year, I'll give you my favourite breakfast recipe. This is my version of Overnight French Toast: French toast you make the night before and then bake in the oven in the morning. This is a very kid-friendly recipe, both preparing and eating.

We love this with panettone, but if you're making this for a big group it might be better to use plain bread. I find every gathering has at least 1 anti-raisin member.

We have this on Christmas morning and sometimes New Year's. It's nice for a big group. You can grill bacon in the oven at the same time: just arrange bacon over a rack or grill (a cooling rack is perfect) which is set on a rimmed cookie sheet. The bacon will be done at the same time as the French toast and then just plate it all and serve. It's the easiest big breakfast and good for extra-sleepy or busy mornings.

This is a pretty flexible recipe, so use or don't use extra ingredients as long as your ratio of eggs to liquid is close to the basic recipe, it will be fine.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients (panettone-style)

—butter
— 2 to 3 medium panettone or 1 big panettone, sliced to about 3/4 inch thick
— 8 eggs
— 2 cups milk
— 1/8 cup sugar, or more or less to your taste
— 1 tablespoon maple syrup
— 1 teaspoon vanilla
— 1/2 teaspoon salt


Ingredients (any-other-bread-style)

—butter
— 1 loaf challah, french bread, brioche or plain white bread, sliced to about 3/4 inch thick
— 8 eggs
— 1 and 3/4 cups milk
— juice of half an orange, or about 1/4 cup orange juice
— 1/8 cup sugar + 1 Tablespoon sugar, or more or less to your taste
— 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
— 2 teaspoons vanilla
— 1/2 teaspoon salt
— cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
— zest of 1/2 an orange or lemon
— 2 Tablespoons cognac (optional)


Preparation

Very generously spread butter over the bottom of a couple of baking pans with sides.

Arrange bread slices in the pan.

Beat all remaining ingredients in a large bowl and pour over top of bread. How much liquid you need depends on the bread, so don't pour it all on at once. Keep adding until there is enough to generously moisten the bread all over, but the bread shouldn't be swimming in the mixture. After a minute, turn over the bread to make sure it is all coated and soaked through. If there is any leftover liquid, pour it down the sink.

Cover with saran wrap and place in fridge. The next morning (or at least an hour later) place into an oven heated to 400 F. Bake 15-20 minutes per side, until each side is golden brown.

Serve with warm maple syrup or whatever topping you like.