Since the beginning of our marriage Tom and I have rotated the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with our families. Thankfully, we only have to travel to spend the night to be with my parents. Since having kids, we’ve changed the routine slightly so that we always stay at our own home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and then go to be with our extended family afterwards.
Several years ago, 10 to be exact as I look at the date on the cookbook, my great aunt and uncle from Boston also came for a visit to my parents’ house over Christmas. As a very thoughtful gift, my aunt gave me a cookbook. This particular cookbook was a multicultural collection of recipes from their community. I believe it was a fundraiser for a school and each recipe submitted by families or staff was a representation of their heritage.
The recipes are categorized by country and also food type. On most of the pages there’s a little snippet written by the submitter of the recipe telling why it was special to them.
Upon my first review of the cookbook, one recipe in particular caught my eye – Christmas Morning French Toast. It was a recipe submitted from someone from France. It ticked all the boxes for me: simple, make ahead, and delicious!
Since that Christmas 10 years ago, we’ve made this recipe almost every Christmas Eve and enjoyed it on Christmas morning. It’s a special treat and not the standard breakfast fare. What’s especially helpful is that we pop it in the oven right from the refrigerator and can focus on enjoying each other’s company on Christmas morning instead of rushing around trying to get breakfast ready amidst all the excitement.
Christmas Morning French Toast
1 French baguette
8 eggs
3 cups milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
¼ cup sugar
½ stick butter
Cinnamon sugar mixture
Grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish. Slice baguette thickly and arrange in dish. Beat together eggs, milk, vanilla, and sugar. Pour the mixture over bread. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon sugar on top. Dot each piece of bread with butter. Cover and refrigerate at least four hours.
To bake, uncover dish and place in a cold over. Turn oven to 350 degrees and bake 50-60 minutes until it is fluffy, puffy, and lightly browned. Cut and serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit.
