I hope y'all had a lovely Christmas and got everything you wanted from Santa. These last few weeks of December are all about family, friends, loved ones and spending time together.
Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day and everyone is still rolling out of bed and stumbling to the kitchen for their coffee, it only makes sense to prepare breakfast for everyone.
The easiest way to do that is by making this Overnight Cranberry Lemon Eggnog French Toast. You prepare it the night before so all you have to do in the morning is warm up the oven, toss it in, bake it up, and serve. It will be done by the time your coffee is ready.
Some might even say Easy peasy! Oh yes I did! I just said that. But only because it's true!
This French toast is so delicious you don't even need to put anything else on it! Homemade Brioche bread, fresh cranberries, walnuts, and candied lemons sprinkled throughout, with eggnog poured over the top, and left to sit all night so all the goodness can soak in.
But if you insist, you can serve this with powdered sugar sprinkled over the top, with maple syrup, with simple cranberry syrup, or sugared cranberries like I have here.
What better way to gather everyone around the kitchen table in the morning than with this French Toast casserole?
Ok, having your own personal Italian barista with coffee bar would do it too, but I don't see too many people doing that.
And if you do, my bags are packed and I'm coming over!
Have I mentioned how much I love my morning coffee?
Not as much as I love this Overnight Cranberry Lemon Eggnog French Toast, of course!
Just leave the key under the doormat for me so I can let myself in.
Overnight Cranberry Lemon Eggnog French Toast
A skinny version of overnight French toast that is as delicious, if not better, than the heavy cream, butter laden French toasts out there.
Prep time: 10 minutesCook time: 40 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes (not counting overnight)
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Brioche bread, cut into 1" cubes
- 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup Paradise candied lemons
- 4 large eggs
- 2 and 3/4 cup Silk Nog
- 1/3 cup Splenda brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 Tablespoons butter, melted
Cooking Directions
- Using coconut oil or olive oil, grease an 8"x8" baking dish. If you prefer, you can also use margarine or butter.
- Layer the bottom of the dish with half of the bread cubes, filling in all gaps.
- Sprinkle cranberries, walnuts, and candied lemons over the bread.
- Layer with remaining bread cubes. Set aside.
- Prepare Nog mix by whisking together eggs, Nog, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Pour evenly over bread cubes.
- Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.
- In the morning, preheat oven to 375F degrees.
- Remove dish from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before baking.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until top is lightly browned and liquid is absorbed. You don't want a lot of liquid because then it will be drippy toast, but not too dry either. A little liquid is ok because it will absorb.
- After removing from oven, pour melted butter over the top and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve as is or you can top with maple syrup, sugared cranberries, candied lemons, cranberry syrup, or sprinkle with powdered sugar.
*Helpful Hints*
- Recipe for Brioche Bread can be found here ~ It Bakes Me Happy
- You can substitute brown sugar, butter, and real eggnog for this recipe too. I just thought I would lighten it up a bit without changing the flavors.
- Silk Nog is found by eggnog in your stores refrigerator section, usually by the coffee creamer.
Inspired by ~ Abby at Manilla Spoon
Thank you to Paradise Fruit Company for supplying the candied lemons for this recipe.
Disclaimer ~ I am not affiliated with Splenda or Silk, nor was I sponsored or paid by them to use their products for this recipe. I used their products to help lighten up this French toast recipe.
All content and images are property of Sweet and Spicy Monkey. Please do not reprint this content without my permission. If you wish to include this recipe on your site, please re-write in your own words and use your own photographs and link back to this post for original recipe.
