Hey there!  I’m taking a stab at a breakfast recipe this time, but honestly this would be a great dinner option as well.  My daughters eat a lot of cereal for breakfast before school, but they complain that it doesn’t always hold them over until lunch.  Getting them something more substantial might mean getting up earlier in the morning and cooking something.  Well, try as I might, that just didn’t work out either.  Enter the French Toast Bake.  The couple times I’ve made versions of these it has been for Christmas morning.  I’d put the whole thing together Christmas Eve, pop it in the oven while we opened gifts the next morning, and then sit down to a nice brunch about an hour later.  This is a quick and easy variation on that theme, one that you can cook the night before and just heat up quickly in the microwave before school (or work, of course.)

Bacon and Cheese French Toast Bake

Ingredients

• 12 slices “sandwich” bread (the smaller denser type bread, not a Wonder bread type)
• 8 slices bacon
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 14 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• Pepper, parsley, scallions, etc. as desired

Preparation

First things first:

1. Coat a 9 x 12″ glass baking dish with cooking spray or butter.
2. Cut the bread slices into quarters.
3. Fry the bacon until fully crisp and set aside.

In a very large bowl, beat the eggs with the milk until well combined.  Add any ground pepper, scallions, or herbs you like at this point.

Lay down half the bread to cover the baking dish.  Top with half of the cheese.  Crumble the bacon slices as you add them over the bread.

Lay down the remainder of the bread in another layer.  The baking dish should be chock full at this point – you don’t want too much empty space.

Pour the egg mixture into the dish.  As the eggs even out through the dish, push down the bread to make sure everything is soaked through, leaving no dry spots.  Add some more milk if necessary.  Let things sit for at least 20 minutes, or refrigerate up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 while the dish rests.  Just before baking, top the entire dish with other half of the shredded cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the eggs in the center are set.  The bread will rise in the dish a bit as it heats through.

Enjoy immediately, or let it cool before refrigerating for tomorrow’s breakfast!  We ate ours with some maple syrup.  Now it’s just a matter of spooning out a portion and reheating to get the kids off to school with a full belly.  Hope you give this a try and hope it helps you get a few more minutes of sleep in the morning, too!