GF French Toast Bake

One of the things that I think tastes the worst in the GF world is bread.  YUCK.  I recently went on a mission trip and the menu was PB&J for lunch, so I made sure I had a loaf of GF bread for myself.  It was awful as a two-piece-of-bread sandwich and only mildly tolerable as an open faced sandwich.  I choked it down on the mission trip, but couldn't bring myself to eat it here at home.

So I started thinking of how to improve on it.  French toast came to mind last night at about 11:45pm.  I decided to google a quick overnight French toast bake, with the idea that maybe if all the yummy gooeyness of the French toast-ness had time to soak in, you would hardly notice the bread itself.

I found this recipe  from The Girl Who Ate Everything and thought I'd give it a try, with a few LOT of changes, since it was spur of the moment and I didn't have everything on hand.

Verdict: YUM!  I haven't had French Toast in years, so I don't remember what my mom's used to taste like, but this was delicious.  And, most importantly, you couldn't tell it was GF bread.  The texture was great - not too soggy, not too GF tasting.  I think it could do with less nutmeg, but the hubs says he likes it. 

Ingredients

• GF sliced bread
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Canola oil (or butter - we didn't have any on hand so I subbed the oil)
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup soy milk (or regular milk - whatever you use)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Cinnamon and Nutmeg (or pumpkin pie spice - whatever floats your boat!)

Directions

1.  Pour the canola oil in the bottom of an 8x8 pan and use a pastry brush to coat the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle the brown sugar on the oil.
2. Put 4 slices of bread on top of the sugar.  I had some pretty big open spaces, so I used a fifth piece (torn up) to fill in the gaps.
3. In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk, and vanilla extract by whisking together.  Pour over the bread, making sure to coat evenly.  Sprinkle the cinnamon and nutmeg on top of the egg mixture.
4. Cover with foil and put the pan in the fridge overnight.  When you're ready for breakfast, pull the pan out of the fridge while the oven preheats to 350.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.

I think you could easily double this recipe and put it in a 9x13 pan to serve more.  You can use regular bread, too - someone mentioned challah and I bet that would be amazing!!

Serves 4
Calories: 370 per serving