We are almost halfway through December. The winter chill has definitely taken over and I can feel my face and hands cracking when I stay outside for longer than ten minutes. Even though the weather outside is freezing, I still love this time of the year. There are always a lot of holiday happenings throughout the month. At work, my office had already planned a week of holiday lunches, gift swaps, and social events. Just yesterday, I had a work holiday party and tonight, I’ll be attending another holiday party with Kevin. After yesterday’s work holiday party, I woke up extremely tired. I still had to run errands, pick up groceries for the upcoming week, and meal prep. I was craving something sweet for breakfast, but didn’t get to start on making breakfast until after 11 in the morning. Since I was already behind on my usually eating schedule, I wanted to make a dish that didn’t require too much prep. Whenever I have cravings for a quick-ish breakfast, my go-to shortcut dish is a breakfast bake. I usually prefer savory breakfast bakes, but this morning, I wanted a sweet version with similar flavors of French toast and pancakes. I had a package of two demi baguettes, so cubed the baguettes, toasted the pieces in the oven, piled the bread into a casserole dish, topped it with an egg custard mixture, then baked it to perfection. To brighten and freshen up the dish, I also added a handful of blackberries right before baking and topped the dish with more fresh blackberries right before serving. The breakfast bake definitely hit the spot and made for a great mid-day breakfast right before another holiday party in the evening.
Blackberry Breakfast Bake
· 2 demi baguettes or 1 large baguette, cubed
· 5 large eggs
· ¼ cup sugar
· 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
· 10-11 ounces plain Greek yogurt
· ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
· Confectioners’ sugar, for serving
· Maple syrup, for serving
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the cubed bread in one layer on a large baking sheet. Toast the baguette pieces for 15-20 minutes until crispy.
2) In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, ground cinnamon, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Whisk all of the ingredients together until you get an evenly mixed egg custard.
3) Once the baguette pieces are done toasting, add the baguette pieces into a casserole dish. Pour the egg custard mixture all over the bread. Top with fresh blackberries.
4) Place the casserole dish into the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the egg custard mixture is cooked through and the top pieces of bread in the casserole dish are golden brown.
5) Serve the breakfast bake with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup.
Takeaways: This is a lightly sweetened breakfast bake. I only used ¼ cup of sugar since I will be topping my breakfast bake with confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup. If you prefer a sweeter breakfast bake, you can double the amount of sugar. You can also customize the breakfast bake by adding your favorite fruits. Apples, bananas, and other berries also work well with this dish.