Baked Banana French Toast

Breakfast to serve a crowd! Baked Banana French Toast with cinnamon, yum!  Warm and comforting with the perfect amount of sweetness for a balanced breakfast. 

Making French Toast for a Crowd

French toast is great, but how do you serve it for big family get togethers or mornings after slumber parties?  You don’t want to slave away in the kitchen or have half the batch get cold.  So bake it! Just slice up your loaf of bread, pour the egg mixture over it and pop it in the oven!  You can even add blueberries to the pan to mix it up!  Baked Banana French Toast will be your new favorite family breakfast.  I served mine with a strawberry syrup…yum.  But maple syrup goes really well with the bananas.

Best Type of Bread for Baked French Toast

There are a few ways to make Baked French Toast.  It all comes down to what type of bread you want to use and what you want the finished dish to look like.  You can use sliced bread and lay the slices into the pan or you can use a a loaf from the bakery and cut into into cubes.  These are the 3 important factors when deciding which bread to choose:

1. You want the ability to cube or slice the bread – so unsliced bread is best.
2. Sturdy.  Baked French toasts requires that the bread soaks in an egg and milk mixture to create the custardy final product. If the bread is thinly sliced or too squishy, it won’t have a good texture in the end.
3. Flavor.  A lot of the flavor comes from the seasonings mix-ins you use, but the bread should taste good too.

Favorite Bread Types for French Toast

• Brioche – a richer version of sandwich bread. It is a sturdy bread which allows it to hold its shape after soaking up the egg misture, and cooks into a finished dish with a crisped outside and a soft, creamy inside.
• Challah – This is an eggy bread that is somewhat similar to Brioche.  It can soak up custard without collapsing and browns nicely on the outside but leaves you with the creamy insides want with French Toast.
• French Bread – This is more of a wild-card choice.  This is a firm-crusted bread and has no problem soaking up custard and staying sturdy. Unlike brioche, challah, a baguette makes a French toast that is more chewy.  Let it soak extra long in the egg and milk mixture to make sure it’s thoroughly softened.

Love french toast? You NEED to try out Freezeable French Toast Sticks!

Tips to Make the Best Baked French Toast

You want to make sure all the bread get’s a good dose of the egg mixture. That’s why I prefer to cube my bread and stir it in the mixture as opposed to just pouring it over the slices.  I’ve done it both ways but when I stir the bread in, I always know it will be an even bake.  Peek at your bake about 20 minutes in.  If any parts seem to be browning to quickly, just cover the pan with some foil! This will allow your french toast to bake until it’s cooked all the way through but not let the top burn.

Enjoy our Baked Banana French Toast!

Baked Banana French Toast

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 12 1 piece

Ingredients

• 2 medium banana
• 7 large egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter, unsalted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 12 slice bread, whole wheat

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 inch pan.
• Place bananas in a large bowl and use a fork to mash well.
• Add eggs, milk, honey, melted butter, vanilla and cinnamon.  Whisk to combine.
• Cut the bread into cubes and add to the bowl; gently fold to coat. Spread evenly into your baking dish. Alternately, you can leave the bread in slices, lay in the pan, and pour the egg mixture over it.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until cooked through.
• Serve warm with fresh banana slices and maple syrup!

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