Macadamia Nut French Toast

Macadamia Nut French Toast

Our christmas brunch always features this oven-baked french toast. It's great when you're trying to feed the masses - it's never fun as a hostess to hover over the stove trying to get hot food out to your guests a few at a time. This french toast recipe makes hosting brunch or even putting on a special breakfast a cinch!
You soak the bread over night, flip once, then bake it off in the morning. Ta-da! That way everyone gets a hot piece of french toast and can sit down and eat all together. It's also baked in the oven- so no frying here! 

Ingredients

The night before:

4 Large Eggs

1/4 cup Sugar

1/4 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

2/3 cup Orange Juice 
*Optional: zest of 1 orange

1/3 cup Milk

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1 (16)oz loaf of Italian bread cut into 1" slices

Next Day:

2/3 cup Butter melted (It can be melted in the large jellyroll pan before adding bread)

1/2 cup Macadamia Nuts chopped

Directions

The night before:

Combine eggs and next 5 ingredients, stirring well. 
Fit bread slices in a single layer into a lightly greased 13x9x2 baking dish. Pour egg mixture over bread slices; cover and refrigerate overnight, turning the bread once.

Next Day:

Pour melted butter into a 15x10x1 jellyroll pan, place bread slices in a single layer. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 min, sprinkle with nuts. bake additional 10 min. Sprinkle with 10X sugar and syrup. 

Pictured here are almonds, I had run out of macadamia nuts

But of course, you have to finish these babies off with a dusting of sugar or a dollap of whip cream :)