French Toast Bake

with apple, cranberry & sausage

We’re all about make-ahead options. And this casserole benefits from being made the night before — allowing the bread to soak up more custard.

Brown sausage in a sauté pan over medium-high heat until nearly cooked through, 5 minutes; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Once cooled, chop sausage into pieces.

Toss bread, apple, cranberries, sausage, brown sugar, and 1 tsp. cinnamon to combine; transfer to prepared dish.

Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, vanilla,

1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and salt in a measuring cup; pour over bread mixture, cover with foil, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Remove casserole from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

Bake casserole, uncovered, until bread is puffed and golden brown, 40–45 minutes. Let casserole stand 10 minutes before sprinkling with powdered sugar; serve with syrup. Per serving: 386 cal; 19g total fat (8g sat); 85mg chol; 519mg sodium; 52g carb (2g fiber, 28g total sugars); 11g protein

Makes 12 servings

Total time: 20 minutes + baking

BROWN:

1

1

1

1

1/2 1

WHISK:

3

3/4 3/4

2 11/ 2 1/4 1/4 pkg. breakfast sausage patties (12 oz.) loaf cinnamon swirl bread (1 lb.), cubed

Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped cup cranberries, thawed and drained if frozen cup packed brown sugar tsp. ground cinnamon eggs cup whole milk cup heavy cream

Tbsp. granulated sugar tsp. pure vanilla extract tsp. ground cinnamon tsp. kosher salt Powdered sugar

Pure maple syrup

Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.