french toast (Click picture to enlarge)

French toast, baked

A special treat for a special breakfast or brunch. It bakes in the oven, making it easy. This recipe calls for panetone, but almost any kind of bread would do, such as, raisin bread, cranberry bread, or even English muffins.

Panetone is an Italian sweet, soft, bread baked in a cylindrical shape with a round puffy top. Trader Joe markets usually have it at Christmas time, but it surely must be available elsewhere.

  • 3 Tbsp orange zest
  • Juice of 2 oranges
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
    (or 1 Tbsp Splenda/sugar blend)
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
  • dash of cinammon (optional)

Beat everything together with a wire whisk.

  • 8 slices panetone
    (or other bread)

Lay bread slices in a shallow pan in a single layer. Pour the egg mixture over them, then turn to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least a couple of hours or overnight.

  • PAM or other cooking spray, butter flavored would be especially nice

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Spray a cookie sheet with PAM and arrange the bread slices so they do not touch each other.

Bake 10 minutes, turning pan half-way through if the oven does not cook evenly. Flip the slices over and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Serve with mixed-berry sauce or other topping.

Servings: 8

Credits: Adapted from a recipe from Carolyn.