B-R-U-N-C-H-!
French toast, hash brown casserole, mimosas, fruit salad, banana muffins, peach bellinis, chocolate croissants, blueberry pancakes, bloody mary’s, omelets, belgian waffles, bagels and lox, the list of brunch foods goes on and on and on! And I love it!
The night before the big morning I tried to prepare as may things as I could to save myself some hassle. I laid out all my serving plates and labeled them for each dish and turned them upside down to prevent any dust. If you plan on serving homemade baked goods like muffins and croissants (which iI highly recommend!) making them the night before will save you a ton of time in the A.M.! Casserole type dishes can also be made ahead of time and wrapped in the refrigerator. One of my favorite make aheads is overnight french toast.
I’ll be sharing the recipe for my overnight bourbon pecan french toast below.
My boyfriend, Jared, is kind of like Mr. Miyagi when it comes to working with a griddle. Wax on bacon, wax off pancakes. But for real, he knows what he’s doing. I’d like to say I have the patience to make pancakes but I was already at my second cup of coffee for the day and it just wasn’t going to happen. A griddle is a sure fire thing to have when you need to crank out a lot of food in a little amount of time. You can usually find them at a decent price too. Target is my go to for simple kitchen appliances. Some other dishes I featured were:
Hashbrown Cheddar Casserole
A hefty fruit salad
Donut kabobs
Assortment of Muffins
Chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes
Sliced ham and bacon
French Press coffee tray with mugs
This guy down here is my
bourbon pecan french toast
and its yummmmm!
The very best part about it is that a good 80% is made the night before. For this french toast I used a loaf of french bread. I’ve had a lot of french toast on a lot of different breads and my two favorites are french bread and brioche. They are great at soaking up the egg mixture but are strong enough not to get soggy. Read below how to make this heaven mouthful of bourbon soaked carbs. Delish.
Overnight Bourbon French Toast
ingredients
- 1 Loaf of French or Brioche Bread
- 6 Whole Eggs
- 1 ½ Cups of Half and Half
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract or the seeds from one vanilla bean
- 3 Tablespoons of your favorite Bourbon
- 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- For the Sauce
- 1 Cup of Butter
- 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons Bourbon
- 1 Cup of Brown Sugar
- ½ Cup of Chopped Pecans
instructions
- The Night Before…
- Slice your loaf of bread into angled slices with a serrated bread knife. Arrange slices in a large glass or ceramic casserole dish. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, cinnamon and 3 Tablespoons of bourbon. Pour this mixture slowly over your sliced bread so that each slice is coated with the egg mixture. This will allow maximum absorbency and won’t leave any pieces of your french toast dry. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate anywhere from 4-12 hours.
- The Morning of…
- Preheat your oven to 350F degrees.
- Uncover your soaked french toast from the refrigerator. In a small sauce pan melt butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans, and the remaining 3 Tablespoons of bourbon. Poor this sauce over your french toast making sure to coat every piece. Bake uncovered for 40-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve with maple syrup.
- Happy Brunching!
xo
Elizabeth
Thank you so much Joscelyn! Your kind words are such a big motivator to keep making great recipes! You're welcome for brunch any time!
WOW, I wanna come to your house for brunch! Everything looks so delicious.. I love the idea of having different mimosa flavors too. French toast is one of my favorite breakfast items so I can't wait to try your recipe! Thanks for sharing and congrats on your new blog! I love it!!