Breakfast Bakes

I had half a loaf of french bread leftover from dinner one night. The next day I wanted to use up the bread, but as it was a day old and slightly stale, slicing it up and serving it alongside dinner wasn't an option. I had an intense craving for french toast, and while I was searching for recipes I found one that inspired a french toast bake. Read after the jump for the recipe for the french toast bake, as well as a savoury breakfast bake.

Rebekah's French Toast Bake

(recipe inspired by The Pioneer Woman)

serves 4

The recipe from The Pioneer Woman is completely indulgent. I would bet a million dollars that it is delicious, but I wanted to make something a little kinder to my waistline and this is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

half a loaf of french bread, preferably over a day old, cut into 1 inch chunks

2 cups of milk (I used skim)

3 eggs

1 vanilla bean (or 1 tbsp vanilla extract)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup oats

1 tsp cinnamon

To prepare:

1) preheat oven to 350 F

2) butter or oil (I used cooking spray) a shallow baking dish (I think mine is 8 x 8), and place the bread in it.

3) in a bowl whisk together the milk and eggs. If using extract add that too. If using a vanilla bean, cut the bean in half and scrape out all the little seeds and add the seeds to the mixture.

4) Pour the mix over the bread. Make sure all the bread chunks are coated in the milk/egg mix, any that are dry can be gently pressed into the mix.

5) In another bowl mix the sugar, oats and cinnamon. Evenly distribute the sugar mix over top the bread.

6) Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the top of the bake is golden and toasted.

This was so delicious. I can't wait to make it again, it will be a regular on my breakfast, or breakfast for dinner, table. Since the french toast bake was such a success, I took the same principle to make the following savoury breakfast bake.

Rebekah's Savoury Breakfast Bake

Ingredients:

half a french loaf, preferably over a day old, cut into 1 inch chunks

2 cups milk (I used skim)

3 eggs

pinch of salt and pepper

3 strips bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

half of a medium onion, diced

1/2 cup Special K

To prepare:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F

2) Butter or oil a shallow baking dish (mine was 8 x 8 I think), and place the bread in it

3) In a bowl mix the eggs, milk, salt and pepper

4) Brown the bacon in a small skillet until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and place on a paper towel. Drain most of the bacon fat from the skillet, and add the onion to the skillet. Saute the onion until soft, about 2 minutes.

5) Add the onions and bacon to the egg mixture. Pour the mixture over the bread, make sure each cube of bread is wet. Gently press any dry pieces into the mix.

6) Top with the Special K (or corn flakes). I put the topping on to give the bake a bit of a crunch.

7) Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the bread is crunchy.

The end result was good and tasty, but the french toast bake was a clear winner.

The options for the bake are numerous, using a base of stale bread cubes, and the egg and milk mix. Add diced bell peppers, onion, and ham to the mix and top the bake with Cheddar. Or add chopped tomatoes, onion, and garlic topped with mozzarella cheese (add fresh basil to it once it's out of the onion). The options are endless. (And it's a good way to mask the taste of gluten free bread, if that's what you eat)