Baked French Toast with Chocolate Chips

Blogging Marathon# 48: Week 2/ Day 3

Theme: Kid's Delight -- Holiday Specials

Dish: Baked French Toast

We all love French toast in our house. I have tried quite a few variations of French Toast recipes before, but this baked overnight French Toast recipe is something I tried recently with a friend for our Holiday brunch party.
We usually have pot lucks for most of our get-togethers and for the holiday brunch party I hosted, one of my friends suggested this Praline topped Overnight French toast by Paula Deen. She said she ate it at one of her friend's house and it was delicious. She sent the recipe over and we both made it together for the party. We actually put everything together the night before, which, by the way, only takes about 5 minutes and we spent the next 2 hours chatting :-) The next morning I baked it off in the oven, just before everyone came.

But that recipe has nuts that my picky 7 year old is not too happy with, so I skipped them and added some chocolate chips. I also used less eggs and sugar from the original recipe and it tasted great. Prepping overnight makes it so much easier in the morning, but it doesn't take too long to prep in the morning either. It needs to soak for a little bit, so plan accordingly.
I used wholewheat French bread for some added fiber and nutrition and the French toast tasted great, couldn't even tell that I used wholewheat bread.

Ingredients:
French/ Challah or any other Crusty Bread - 6 1" thick slices (I used wholewheat French Bread and it worked just fine)
Eggs - 3
Half-n-half - 1cup (substitute with milk, light cream or a combination of both)
Light Brown Sugar - ¼cup, packed
Maple Syrup - 2tbsp
Vanilla extract - 1tsp
Ground Cinnamon - 1tsp
Chocolate Chips - 3tbsp (optional)

Method:

• Lightly grease a 8"x8" baking pan with butter or cooking spray. Arrange the bread slices in the pan.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, half-n-half, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and ground cinnamon until well combined.
• Pour the custard evenly over the bread slices. Cover and set aside for at least 30minutes or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the bread and bake for 30~45 minutes or until the French toast is puffy and browned.
• Cool for 5 minutes before digging in. Serve with berries and more maple syrup, if desired.

Sending this over to Sandhya who is hosting this month's Kid's Delight event with the theme, 'Kid Friendly Holiday Specials'.
Let's check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 48.