A great make-ahead breakfast featuring apples and cranberry with chai spices. So much easier than standing at the stove flipping French toast or pancakes. Don't have cardamom or ginger, no problem, it's still super tasty with just cinnamon.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time50 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr5 minutesmins
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apples, bread salad, breakfast, cranberries, French Toast, make ahead
Servings: 10
Calories: 872kcal
Ingredients
2applesdiced (peeling optional)
1/2cupcranberries, choppedfresh/frozen/dried
10cupscubed dry bread*
8eggs
2cupsmilk
1/2cup cream**
1/3cupbrown sugar
2tspcinnamon
1/4tspnutmeg
1/4tspcardamom
1/4tspginger
1tspvanilla extract
Brown Sugar Topping (optional
2Tbspbrown sugar
1tspcinnamon
Instructions
Grease a 9x13 inch (23x33 cm) baking dish.
In large bowl, toss apples with cranberries and bread.
In separate bowl, whisk eggs, milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom ginger and vanilla. Pour over bread and stir ensuring all pieces are soaked.
Transfer to baking dish. Cover and let rest one hour or overnight in refrigerator.
Remove from fridge and bring to room temperature (30 min). Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
Just before baking, prepare topping by mixing brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over top soaked bread.
Bake for 30–40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cover with aluminum foil if becoming too brown.
Let stand for 10 minutes to set before serving. Serve with whipped cream and syrup.
Video
Notes
Prepare the night before so it's ready to bake in the morning.Swap the fruit - try pears or rhubarb. Use dried cranberries, raisins or apricots for a sweeter taste.*Bread- Ideal is a dense, dry bread like French bread, brioche or sourdough. If you only have sandwich bread or some other fresh, soft bread - dry it out first. Place on cooling rack on top of baking sheet and dry out at 300F/150C for 12-15 minutes (flip halfway). Use 1/2 cup less milk and add 1 more egg.** Cream - If you don't have cream - use 1/4 cup milk plus 3 Tbsp melted butter.