Baked Strawberry French Toast

Happy Father's Day 2020!!!

    My hubby LOVES French Toast.  I wanted to make him something special for breakfast today for Father's Day.  He really enjoys breakfast foods, but he often doesn't eat breakfast. Occasionally Emma will prepare pancakes or waffles for us for breakfast on the weekend, but today we needed something a little extra special for Father's Day.  What better and easier than a baked French Toast?  

    The Baked Strawberry French Toast was extremely easy to prepare, and we made it the night before, just having to heat it up this morning.  It doesn't take long to cook in the oven, but let's face it, who's really thrilled to be making a full breakfast first thing in the morning?  Who's looking for minimal effort?  I know I am!!

    This recipe calls for fresh strawberries.  If you can't find fresh strawberries and use frozen strawberries, you will want to thaw them first.  The excess liquid will make the bread that much more soggy.  Something that would have definitely put this delicious dish over the edge would be whipped cream.  Unfortunately I thought of it too late, meaning this morning, but it's a mental note for the next time we make this.  I'd also like to try a combination of berries too.  

    We did have bacon and sausage links with our breakfast this morning.  I was able to cook/heat everything in the oven, so again...very minimal effort this morning.  Good stuff!  Also, this is another dairy free recipe!

Ingredients:

• 16-18 slices of white bread, cut in half
• 2 lbs fresh strawberries, sliced and tops removed
• 8 eggs
• 2 c. oat milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.  
2. Line the dish with the pieces of bread, slightly overlapping the pieces.  
3. Spread the strawberries over the bread, tucking slices of strawberries in between the bread.  
4. In a medium size bowl, combine eggs, lemon zest, sugar, salt and milk.  (If you don't have oat milk, regular milk would work just fine.  Whisk until well combined.
5. Pour egg and milk mixture over the bread.  Be sure to press the bread into the mixture to soak up some of the excess.  Set dish to rest for 15-20 minutes before putting it into the oven.
6. Put the baking dish in the oven.  This will need to bake for 45 to 55 minutes for everything to be set.  Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve.  Enjoy!!  

Note:  This dish can be prepared the night before!  Once removing it from the oven, allow to cool completely.  Cover and put into the fridge overnight.  In the morning, take it out from the fridge, preheat the oven to 400, and warm for about 30 minutes.