Baked French Toast Muffins

Breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day, except dessert of course, so it's fun to try new recipes. We rarely have french toast at home, but whenever we go out for breakfast it's something I usually order. This weekend we had family over to celebrate my mother-in-law's special birthday and I wanted to make something a little bit different as a treat. These french toast muffins didn't disappoint.

As a host, it is always nice to have dishes that can be prepared the night before so there is one less thing to worry about the day of your event. I mixed up the bread and filled the muffin tins the night before so that all I had to do in the morning was make the stresuel topping and put them in the oven. The tops had a sweet crunch while the french toast stayed nice and moist. I substituted Almond milk for a dairy allergy and no one noticed. Plus, you can enjoy the flavors of french toast without standing over a griddle all morning!

Baked French Toast Muffins
Source: Two Peas & Their Pod
Yields: 12

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread, cut or torn into 1/2 inch cubes (about 12 cups of bread)
2 1/2 cups milk
6 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Cinnamon Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.

2. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Add about 1 cup of bread cubes to each muffin cup. Carefully pour egg and milk mixture evenly over each muffin tin. You may need to press down on the bread cubes after you pour a little mixture and then pour more. Pour slowly or you will have a mess. Or you can combine everything in a large bowl and then fill the muffin cups. Cover the muffins with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight.

3. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. To make the cinnamon streusel, in a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix together with your hands, until you have a crumbly mixture. Remove the muffins from the refrigerator and sprinkle the muffins evenly with the streusel topping.

4. Bake for 25 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and serve with butter and maple syrup, if desired.