Gingerbread Pear French Toast Casserole
A delicious holiday morning casserole that is prepped the night before! All the delicious flavours of gingerbread with chopped pear for freshness, which compliments the spices well. Holiday breakfasts are so easy with this french toast casserole!
Servings 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French, Italian or whole wheat bread , cut into 1-inch pieces (day old bread works best)*
- 3 pears , cut into 1-inch chunks
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 6 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter , melted
- 3 tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Instructions
- In a large 8x10 casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray, spread out the bread and pear chunks so that there is a fairly even distribution of both.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, maple syrup, butter, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and ground cloves until thoroughly combined. Pour mixture over bread, trying to evenly coat and get all pieces covered.
- Cover casserole dish, and place in the fridge overnight.** (see note)
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°. Once the oven has preheated, cook french toast casserole for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes before cutting into and serving while still warm. Serve with maple syrup for topping if desired.
Notes
*Day old bread that is started to get a bit firm/crusty will work best so that the casserole doesn't get soggy. f you have a fresh loaf, you can dry your cubed up bread in a 325°F oven for about 15-20 minutes.
**You don't need to make this the night before, but it does give best results for the custard to be soaked into the bread and for a fluffier casserole. However, if you decide to prep in the morning instead, give it at least 20 minutes to let the bread absorb the custard mixture.