French Toast Casserole

Woah Nelly!

I have been wanting to post this recipe for a while, but it's the kind of thing that can only be made once in a while because it's so rich... And sooooooo good.

Here is your grocery list.

For the French toast:

1 loaf of French bread (cubed)

1 box of yellow cake mix 

8 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

2 1/2 cups of milk

1 cup of heavy cream

For the crumb topping:

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

1/2 cup of flour

1/4 teaspoon of salt

For the caramel:

1 bag of caramel pieces (I'm lazy)

1 cup of chopped apples.

1 cup of pecans

Btw, you can put any topping that you want on it. You can even chop up the apples and mix it in with the bread crumbs and egg mixture and cook it all together. There is no hard and fast rule.

Start with your box of yellow cake mix in a large bowl.

Crack 8 eggs.

Mix well. I do this now because it's easier to add the other ingrdients later. It just mixes better.

Add 2 1/2 cups of milk and 1 cup of heavy cream and stir again. Next, add 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Mix it all together well.

Set your bowl aside and start cutting up your french bread loaf, placing the cubes in a greased baking dish.

Pour your batter over your bread cubes. Make sure all the pieces are covered. Cover with Saran Wrap and let it sit in the fridge over night

You can also chop up your apples and mix it in with your bread then pour your batter. I like to sprinkle the apples with cinnamon when I do it this way.

While your casserole is in the fridge you can make your crumble ahead of time too.

Take 1/2 a cup each of flour and brown sugar and a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cut up a stick of butter and cut it in to your sugar/flour combo.

It should end up looking like this...

The next morning, preheat your oven to 350°, take a cup of pecans and spread it out over your casserole. Sprinkle your crumble over the top. Smile, because you are almost done!

Bake for one hour!

For the caramel topping I just took a bag of caramel pieces, a cup or two of chopped apples and a cup or two of nuts and melt it all together. I did add a couple tablespoons of heavy cream to make it a little more carameley (yes I made that word up). Add a teaspoon of cinnamon and pour it on your plate of french toast goodness.