Wake up on Christmas morning to the sweet smell of Overnight Eggnog French Toast Bake with Cranberry Maple Syrup. This is a family favorite during the holidays!

OVERNIGHT EGGNOG FRENCH TOAST BAKE WITH CRANBERRY MAPLE SYRUP

There is nothing better than waking up on Christmas morning to the smell of a fresh baked french toast casserole.  The warm spices of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves not only smell delicious they help create this festive holiday casserole paired with the eggnog and cranberry maple syrup.

Overnight Eggnog French Toast Bake with Cranberry Maple Syrup is made the night before and baked when you wake up. I love that you can prepare this dish in under 15 minutes, let it sit in the fridge overnight and then just pop it in the oven 50 minutes before you are ready to eat. It allows you to spend your holiday morning enjoying your family, listening to Christmas music and opening gifts. If you like french toast, then this is the dish for you!

Last year I shared this Overnight Coconut Cranberry French Toast Bake, which I made for my family on Christmas morning. It was a huge hit! I knew when The Ohio Poultry Association wanted to team up to create another holiday themed egg recipe, that I had to put yet another fun twist on french toast.

In my house our weekend breakfasts consist of one of three things: waffles, pancakes or french toast. Since we have more time on weekends to cook in the morning it is a fun activity to get the kids involved in too. Drew and Will love to help measure and mix the ingredients. With overnight french toast recipes since you are prepping the casserole the night before you can have them help you before bed time so they can wake up and eat all of their hard work.

This dish includes eggnog and 8 eggs so you are not only eating a delicious treat for breakfast but you are eating a dish that has high-quality protein to keep you fuller longer and energized all day.

The protein in eggs is the highest-quality protein found in any food. You will stay full for hours of holiday festivities and cut down on unnecessary snacking and overeating by starting your morning with a protein-rich egg breakfast.  And my home state of Ohio is the second-largest egg producing state in the nation, producing more than 8.7 billion eggs each year.  There’s a good chance the eggs you’re eating for holiday brunch are from Ohio egg farms!

You can feel good about serving this festive and delicious breakfast to your guests and family this holiday season!

Tip: Egg dishes should be cooked until an internal temperature of 160° Fahrenheit is reached to prevent foodborne illness.  Visit OhioEggs.com for more cooking and safety tips from Ohio’s egg farmers. 

Yield: 8

Overnight Eggnog French Toast Bake with Cranberry Maple Syrup

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Wake up on Christmas morning to the sweet smell of Overnight Eggnog French Toast Bake with Cranberry Maple Syrup. This is a family favorite during the holidays!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

For the Overnight Eggnog French Toast Bake:

• 1 (12-14 ounce) loaf french bread, sourdough bread, or challah {day old bread works best}
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 8 large eggs
• 2 and 1/2 cups eggnog
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves {optional}
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Streusel Topping:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 1/2 cup pecan halves
• Garnish with powdered sugar, extra pecans and dried cranberries

For the Cranberry Maple Syrup:

• 1 cup cranberry sauce {homemade or store-bought} *
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• *For a homemade cranberry sauce use 1 bag of fresh cranberries with 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Boil the water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cranberries and simmer on medium heat until the cranberries pop. Cool and pour into a mason jar for the syrup.

Instructions

1. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter or spray with nonstick spray. Slice then cut the bread into cubes, about 1 inch in size. Spread cubes into the prepared baking pan and top evenly with the dried cranberries. Set aside.
2. Whisk the eggs, eggnog, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves {optional}, brown sugar, and vanilla together until the sugar dissolves. Pour the liquid over the bread. Cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 4 hours but ideally overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the french toast bake pan from the refrigerator and take off the plastic wrap.
4. Prepare the struessel topping {this could be done the night before}. Whisk the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Using two forks cut in the butter. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the bread. Sprinkle pecans over the french toast bake.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown on top.
6. Serve warm with powdered sugar and extra pecans along with a drizzle of the cranberry maple syrup.

Notes

Leftovers can be saved in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I like my casserole to have a soft inside and a crispy outside so I tend to bake mine for 50-55 minutes. If you like it softer on the outside you will want to do closer to 45 minutes.

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Today’s post is sponsored by the Ohio Poultry Association. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. Thanks for supporting the brands and organizations that allow me to create new and delicious recipes.