To celebrate Mother's Day, it's always smart to give mom the day off in the kitchen. This breakfast casserole is easy to make even for someone with limited cooking skills. If you can slice a baguette, slice some bananas and break a few eggs, you'd done most of the work preparing this banana stuffed French toast casserole. Plus, you can make most of it the night before, refrigerate it, and simply put it in the oven in the morning. When you serve it, add a few more freshly sliced bananas and some maple syrup along with a side of juice and fresh coffee or tea, and mom will relax, enjoy her special day and thank you for your thoughtfulness.
Banana Stuffed French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
1 Baguette, the ones I use are 19" long and about 10.5 ounces each
Cooking Spray
1/4 cu Breadcrumbs
2 lg Bananas, peeled and sliced
1/2 cu Light Brown Sugar
6 lg Eggs
1 1/2 cu Whole Milk
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 cu Pecan Pieces
Powdered Sugar (for garnish)
Additional Banana Slices (for garnish)
Maple Syrup
9" Springform Pan
Aluminium Foil
Plastic Wrap
Method
Slice the baguette into about 50 slices 1/4" thick. Set aside.
Spray the sides and bottom of the springform pan. Add breadcrumbs and swirl the pan to coat it with the breadcrumbs. Leave any remaining crumbs on the bottom of the pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a layer of baguette slices. Place the slices close together but not overlapping. Repeat with a second layer. Layer the banana slices on top of the second layer. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the bananas. Use the remaining baguette slices to create a top layer. This time, overlap the layers to form and outer ring and then overlap the remaining few in the center.
Put the eggs, milk cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl or container and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture over the contents of the springform pan. Cover with plastic and wrap and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, remove the pan from the refrigerator and let it rest for 30 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and press down the top row of baguette slices to moisten a bit if they appear a bit dry. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place a piece of aluminum foil over the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the aluminum and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the casserole is set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the casserole from the oven, sprinkle pecans on top, and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with additional bananas and maple syrup.
If you want to get extra fancey, slice two bananas and saute them in 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar until soft and then spoon the mixture over the cassserole before slicing.
If you have any questions or comments, please send me an email at wayne@waynesweekend.com or follow me on Facebook or Twitter.
