Overnight Coconut French Toast

We got a lovely loaf of French bread from Safeway for $.99, but I knew we weren't going to get it eaten in time. So, here I was with a 2-day old French bread loaf...what to do, what to do? Overnight French toast! All the work happens at night, and in the morning, you just cook it off and voila! Breakfast! The problem with most overnight French toasts however, is that they are soggy, which basically ruins the taste. So, I went hunting for the perfect recipe to modify and found one on the blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything. This is a super blog, and one you should check out. Her recipe, she claimed, left the French toast non-soggy. The reviews were pretty good, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I did modify the recipe to give it my twist, but it is definitely inspired by her recipe.

**This was not soggy at all. We were very happy with the end result! Thank you Girl Who Ate Everything!

Overnight Coconut French Toast
Ingredients:

1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) butter, melted
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 loaf French bread sliced into 1 1/2 inches thick slices
8 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup light coconut milk
1/2 shredded, sweetened coconut (optional)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup walnuts, measured then chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
(optional) maple syrup and powdered sugar for topping

1. In a small bowl combine brown sugar and melted butter and pour on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

2. Arrange slices of bread in the baking dish (you will need to overlap).

3. Combine coconut milk, coconut (if using), eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl and pour evenly over bread slices.

4. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over bread slices.

5. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4-12 hours.

6. In the morning, take the casserole out of the fridge for at least 10 minutes while you are preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

7. Bake casserole for 30-35 minutes. If top starts browning too quickly place a foil loosely over the top of the casserole for the last 10 minutes or so. You want it to cook long enough to make sure the bottom part is cooked but don't dry it out completely.

8.Remove casserole from oven and let it cool slightly before serving. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup (the real stuff, please!).

Adapted from www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com