Baked French Toast

Two nights ago I went to this new restaurant in Glencoe.
Guildhall, have you heard of it?
It was amazing... which is shocking for restaurants that are not in the city.
I mean, even the bread you get at the beginning was freaking delicious. It came with a lightly sweetened butter. Ahhh! Pure bliss!

I ordered the Guildhall burger, it was outrageous. It was on a pretzel bun, which if you have never had pretzel bread/buns, stop reading this post and run to the nearest grocery store and get some.
I had my burger medium-rare, which they achieved perfectly. It had caramelized onions and morbier cheese on it. They also have some special mustard... that was on it too.
It was truly Godly.
Make a reservation fast, they fill up quick!

I apologize for the horrific pictures of this recipe.
It just happens to not be very photogenic. You can't blame it for that.

Baked french toast is basically bread pudding. It may appear to be coffee cake, but it is SO not coffee cake.

The edges get really crispy as you can see a little in the picture above.

But, then you reach the custardy, gooey, mad insides.

Berries are something I added extra, you don't have to do that. My sister likes it better with them, I like it better without. You can also add butter and syrup if you wanna go a little crazy,
You can prepare this the night before but if you do so, wait to put the cinnamon topping on until the morning!

Baked French Toast 

Yields 10 servings

• 14 slices Oldish Bread, I used half oatmeal/half whole wheat, you can use white or whatever kind you want.
• 8 Large Eggs
• 1 1/2 cup Buttermilk
• 1 cup Skim Milk or 2%
• 2 tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons Vanilla

Butter a 9x13 inch pan and lay the bread slices evenly across, overlapping at the ends. Alternately, you can rip up the bread and just sort of throw chunks around until it forms an even layer (probably easier, but not as pretty?). In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour this mixture evenly over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you make the crumb topping!

Crumb Topping

• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, cold and cut into small piees
• 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Mixed Berries, this is optional. I used blueberries and raspberries.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Mush together with your hands until you form small crumbs. This task is not as daunting as it sounds! 

Sprinkle berries, if you're using, over the french toast. Then top by sprinkling bits of the crumb topping over the berries/toast. 

Bake for about 45 minutes-1 hour. depending on how crispy you want it. I baked for 45 minutes at 350 then increased the temp to 375 and took it out when it reached that temperature. It gave it a nice crispy layer over the top!