Maple Apple Cinnamon French Toast Bake

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Looking for a French toast recipe that will allow you to sit on the couch sipping your cappuccino while it bakes away in the oven? Look no further. 

I think most of us can agree, French toast is delicious. I personally love it with tons of seasonal fruit and maple syrup. Since I created this recipe in the winter, I went with a cinnamon apple vibe. Feel free to play around with the fruit combo here and use anything you happen to have laying around in the fruit bowl. Also, this is a great way to use up fruit that is a wee bit past its prime.

Use donuts if you’re feeling wild.

It’s best to use stale/day-old bread for this recipe. The lack of moisture in the bread allows for more egg-mixture-soaking-power which results in a lovely custardy (but not mushy) texture. And the little pieces of bread that are poking out of the egg mixture get all crunchy and golden. The difference in textures is amazingly tasty. 

Any bread will work in this recipe. I have used crusty baguette and sourdough and they were both great. Now, if you are feeling wild, I highly suggest trying this recipe with day old pastries. I’ve made this recipe using plain day old donuts and oh mama, is it ever good. Plain or almond croissants would also be delicious, and I am drooling a bit just thinking about it right now.

Pro tip: To make this breakfast even faster, prepare everything the night before, cover your baking dish and place the French toast in the fridge to hang out overnight. In the morning, sprinkle your French toast bake with walnuts and raw sugar and bake. Easy peasy.

Print Recipe

Maple Apple Cinnamon French Toast Bake

We all know french toast is delicious but can sometimes be annoying to make because of the dipping and the flipping etc, etc. BUT when you chop everything up and throw it all in a baking dish, it takes pretty much all the work out of it and you can relax on the couch sipping your cappuccino while your french toast bakes away in the oven. Any day old bread or pastry works well here, just use up what you have in the kitchen. If you're not an apple fan, use 1/2 – 2/3 cup of your favourite fruit.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: American, French

Keyword: Apple Butter, Breakfast, brunch, Cinnamon, french toast, Maple, toast

Servings: 4

Calories: 310kcal

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ⅓ cup maple syrup
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 apple* sliced
• 3 cups day old bread
• ¼ cup walnuts chopped (optional)
• 2 tbsp raw sugar (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F and butter a 8×8" square baking pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon until combined.
• To the egg mixture, add the sliced apple and the bread and fold together using a spatula. Let the bread soak up the egg mixture for about 5 minutes.
• Pour mixture into your prepared baking pan and if desired (believe me, you desire it) sprinkle the top of the mixture with walnuts and raw sugar.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until french toast has soaked up all the egg mixture and is nicely golden.
• Serve immediately with a dusting of powdered sugar or maple syrup.

Notes

*Use a more tart apple here like Granny Smith. I leave the peel on because I like the added texture and also for health.