Christmas Morning French Toast Bake

I. Love. A. Tradition. And especially, THIS ONE! I make it every Christmas Morning – or sometimes will start it the night before. It’s simple to throw together, is absolutely magical and quite literally tastes like Christmas. Your loved ones might love you a little more after this one!

INGREDIENTS:

1 Italian loaf roughly torn into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 lb of breakfast sausage

2 1/2 cups of milk

6 eggs

5 tbsp of butter, divided into 1 tbsp + 4 tbsp

1/2 cup of sugar, divided into 1/4 cups

1/2 cup of maple syrup, divided into 1/4 cups

1/4 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Cook breakfast sausage and break apart into crumbles. Roughly tear apart Italian loaf into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Combine together in a bowl, using a wooden spoon.

Grease a 9×13 baking dish with 1 tbsp of butter and spoon in bread / sausage mixture. Set aside.

Whisk together 6 eggs, 2 1/2 cups of milk, 1/4 cup of maple syrup + sugar, and vanilla extra.

Pour milk mixture over bread, and press down using a wooden spoon to absorb.

Mix together the remaining butter, sugar, and maple syrup, then add almonds.

Scatter almond mixture over bread. *if making the night before, cover and refrigerate.*

Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes, until bread has browned and almonds are toasted. If you need to broil for a minute or two to get some color on the top, feel free to do that.

Enjoy!