Baked French Toast

Wow! It's been a long time; for which I promise there are plenty of good (and not so good) excuses. But I won't bore you those and instead will offer a delicious and simply way to make breakfast special: Baked French Toast!

We recently started picking up a really nice bread at a local bakery and have slices with dinner, which is more satisfying than reason can explain. But even we often can't finish the loaf before it crosses the threshold from delightfully chewy to just plain too much work to chew. The recipe below is the perfect solution!

On a slightly unrelated note, there are two new - and very welcome - additions to my kitchen! Introducing ...
A beautiful and perfect in every way Le Creuset dutch oven, from my wonderful husband! I've already made carnitas in this bad boy and have plans for ribs in the near future! I think his gift was a little self-interested, no? :o)

And the red OXO cherry pitter from Williams-Sonoma that I have been eying literally for years. My wonderful friends (and amazingly talented wedding photographers) Justin & Mary sent me a W-S gift card, so I really made the best of it! In the past I have used a chopstick to pit cherries, which is fine. But sometimes, a job calls for the perfect tool and the messy business of pitting cherries is definitely one of those. I am armed and ready for this year's sour cherry season!

Baked French Toast
About 1/2 a loaf sliced (to your preferred thickness)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk (or skim milk plus a dash of half & half)
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
cinnamon

1. Butter a rectangular baking dish and line with bread slices, packing them in tightly.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk milk, eggs, sugar, salt, and almond extract. Pour over bread slices.

3. Sprinkle cinnamon over the bread and let everything sit for about 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 425 F.

4. Bake for about 30 minutes, until puffy and delicious. Serve with warm maple syrup!