If you have lots of time to dip and fry individual pieces of french toast, or if you don’t like a sweet, holiday-ish french toast, this isn’t the recipe for you. BUT … if you could use a quick breakfast prep that feels like you’re serving up spoonfuls of the most wonderful time of the year … read on.
Use a large crock pot for this recipe and you will have enough to serve breakfast for about 8 people. I like to spray the crock with cooking spray before I fill it, just to make for faster, easier clean up. (Says the girl who still doesn’t have her Christmas tree up!)
Crockpot Brown Sugar French Toast
- 8 cups of cubed bread (I used a combo of not-premium homemade bread loaves & croissants I had frozen because they were in their last days. A combo makes it better!)
- 7 eggs
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 can of evaporated milk
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
Topping: (Use a pastry blender or 2 forks to combine into crumbs)
- 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup soft butter
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
Fill the crock with half of your bread cubes. Sprinkle half of the crumbly, brown sugar topping evenly over the bread. (You could add nuts now, if you want to) Repeat these layers.
Mix the eggs, milks, vanilla and cinnamon well and pour the mixture evenly over all of the bread.
Cook this on high for 2 1/2 hours. You might want to give it a slight stir when it’s done to see that the egg has combined completely. If you let it cook for another 30 minutes, you’ll have a little more crispy “cinnamon roll-like coating” on the bottom layer. Jeff said this reminded him of a bread pudding, but I think it’s just a distant cousin.
This makes a warm breakfast that smells so good. I actually assembled mine the night before, popped it in the fridge, then took it out when I first stirred in the morning. By the time everyone was ready to sit down, it was ready! Would work well for a brunch after church, too … or that morning you need to take something to a Sunday School group. It’s quite sweet, especially served with maple syrup, so you might want to add a protein and a fresh fruit to complete the holiday breakfast. And definitely make coffee!
As “comfort and joy” goes during this time of year, this recipe definitely goes in the comfort category!
You had me at Crockpot, but Brown Sugar French Toast – oh my!! I can’t wait to try this. : )
That brown sugar with the evaporated milk and vanilla turns into a bit of a brown caramel flavored sauce. Mmmmm … If you dare, you could top it with a little whipped cream 😉
So what time do you get up to put this on? I was thinking an all night crockpot recipe sounds good:)
I made mine the night before and put it in the refrigerator. I took it out when I very first stirred in the morning. By the time it was baked, it was time for a brunch for all!
Crockpot French Toast was a huge hit on Christmas morning! I usually make pancakes on Christmas but this was so much better – no messy kitchen and I didn’t have to leave all the fun to cook. For a non-dairy version, I used half store bought bread and half homemade “Amish” bread, substituted Silk coconut milk for the milk and Silk soy creamer for the evaporated milk and it turned out great. Thanks for the idea!
Sounds like great substitutions, and kudos for being such a resourceful cook! So glad it found a home on your Christmas morning 🙂 Happy new year!