Raspberry Overnight french Toast Bake

For Christmas morning, I wanted to make something a little different this year.  We of course had our traditional Nutella rolls.  Why, because my husband couldn't imagine a holiday without them :) But I wanted to spend less time in the kitchen and more time around the family.

This ended up being a great addition to our Christmas morning brunch.  It's usually a drive by brunch, meaning we may not all eat at the same time that morning, depending on when their stomachs win out over the new toys.  So this was perfect.  I threw it in the oven while the kids were opening presents and it was ready for those who needed breakfast first thing, but still tasted great when you warmed it back up a bit.  I added raspberries to make it more festive (and let's be honest, I still have frozen raspberries coming out my ears from our fall harvest, which I am not complaining about!) and I think I would have added even more raspberries because I liked the burst of flavor the raspberries gave this.

But what I was thinking is that this would be a perfect Valentine's Day breakfast, festive and all!  It's very little work, and the morning of, just give yourself time to let it bake and look at that, mom/dad or wife/husband of the year.  You're welcome.  Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!  If you need other Festive ideas, here is a link to all my other Valentine's Day food.

Raspberry Overnight French Toast Bake
Printable Recipe
1 loaf of french bread, day old or stale
1 -1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
8 large eggs
2 1/4 cups milk*
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 TBSP vanilla extract

Streusel topping:
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour (spoon and level)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 TBSP butter, cold and cubed
Optional: extra raspberries, syrup, confectioners sugar for topping

Directions:
Grease a 9x13 pan with butter or spray with nonstick spray.  Slice then cut the bread into cubes, about 1 inch in size.  Spread cubes into prepared dish and top evenly with raspberries.
Whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla together until no brown sugar lumps remain.  Pour over the bread.  Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator over night.

*I used 1% milk, and had good results, but if you wanted a creamier custard type filling, then use a higher fat milk, like whole milk or even half and half.

recipe adapted from: here