Crème Brule French Toast

In my mind, this melt-in-your-mouth French toast is the perfect bready dish for large or small Easter brunches. It’s perfect for several reasons—reasons I could discuss at length, but I won’t. I’ll be short and snappy listing only the top three reasons this is the perfect French toast:

1.) These little toasts are prepped the night before so they absorb as much cream as possible before they are cooked. It is so nice having at least one dish prepped the night before, making one less thing to worry about when cooking and assembling other foods.

2.) They’re baked in the very dish they are prepped in, which again, is wonderful. The less clean-up the better. Each toast turns out golden and toasted on one side, with the other side coated in thick, decadent caramel.

3.) It’s easy to cut the recipe in half for a small family celebration, or double for a large crowd. Everyone will think you worked so hard to get these little toasts made, but really they are easy and the prep time is minimal.

Crème Brule French Toast

"The Essential Mormon Cookbook," page 6
printable version of this recipe

½ cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1 loaf Texas toast Wonder bread (extra-thick white bread)

5 eggs

1 ½ cups half-and-half (I use fat-free)

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Coat a jelly roll pan (18x13x1) with cooking spray and set it aside.

Melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally. When mixture is smooth, pour it into prepared jelly roll pan, spreading to coat the bottom of the pan. Place 12 slices of bread on top in a single layer to cover the pan, making sure one surface on each slice of bread is touching the brown sugar mixture.

Mix eggs, half-and-half, salt and vanilla together; pour and cover each piece of bread. Cover and refrigerate over night. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until golden. If not serving immediately, turn each slice of bread over to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. It can be served with maple syrup. Enjoy!