Bread. I love bread!!!! I. Love. Bread. I know, I sound like a popular commercial right now. But even before the well-known celebrity started screaming this mantra at us through the airwaves, I was in her camp. I admit that I–and I’ll bet you do, too–love me some bread. And when used in a decadent Cranberry Walnut Bread Baked French Toast, I love it even more!
Used for a sandwich, or toasted and slathered with fresh butter, or layered into a casserole, or just picked at as a snack, it’s hard to resist a really well made loaf of bread. The soft, pillowy inside and crusty outside of the perfect baguette. Or the dense, fruit & nut packed sourdough that comes to you in your dreams. I don’t discriminate; I love them ALL.
And it runs in the family. My grandmother (rest her soul) was never without bread in the house, or on the table. And her favorite way to get her fix? With as much slathered butter (or “oleo” as she called it) as the slice could hold. We used to ask her, “Gram, would you like some bread WITH your butter?” She was a butter-on-her-bread fan from way back.
But what happens when you have a whole loaf and you can’t in good conscience sit and eat the entire thing without feeling awful about yourself? I mean, not that I would ever think of doing that. I’ve just heard of people who would do that (cough, cough). After all, sandwiches and toast aren’t the only way to get your fill of that yeasty goodness.
One of my favorite ways to use bread that just can’t be allowed to go to waste is by making french toast (yes, I’ve done versions of this before). I LOVE french toast almost as much as I love bread itself. But I will also admit that while I love a good loaf of bread, I’m not much of a baker. So that means I have to find a local pusher who can be provide me with great options whenever I want them.
That means the local farmer’s market comes to my rescue! There are many around town, but my favorite is the Pearl Brewery Farmer’s Market. They have all of the wonderful produce that you expect from a great market, but they also have other local vendors to entice you as you wander through the various stalls. One of my favorite at the market has become Sol Y Luna, which translates to “Sun and Moon”. Their breads are the things of dreams, and I cannot pass up that stall without trying every type of bread they have available. The biggest problem is narrowing down which one I’ll buy each time I see the stacks of loaves waiting to go home with me.
This week I couldn’t narrow it down to only one. I walked away with 2 different loaves. And this Cranberry Walnut Bread French Toast was the very first thing I thought of when I picked up this beauty. I knew that I was going to amp it up by adding even more cranberry goodness to bring out the tart flavors they put in there. And whoa. I mean WHOA.
Maybe if you say pretty please, they’ll send you some! ‘Cause we all need bread. We need THIS bread! Yum.
** My Midlife Kitchen was not subsidized for this post. The opinions are all my own and are unsolicited. **
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 2 people | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 40 minutes |
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This is one of those wonderful overnight french toasts that you can make ahead and just pop in the oven whenever you roll out of bed. Let the coffee drip, rub the sleep out of your eyes, and let this delicious baked french toast wake you up. You'll start the day off right for sure!
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- 4 2" slices cranberry walnut bread (or any other dense fruit bread)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 1 tbsp. kosher salt
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp. vanila extract
- 2 cups frozen cranberries
- 1/4 cup orange marmalade
- 1 cup orange juice
- Slice bread into 2" squares. 2 slices should be enough to fill a 6" ramekin.
- Mix eggs, milk, salt, sugar and vanilla extract. Lightly beat eggs until all ingredients are fully mixed.
- Place bread into cooking spray-coated ramekin. Pour equal amounts of egg batter over bread cubes, being sure to coat each piece. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Heat cranberries over medium high heat in small sauce pan along with marmalade and orange juice. Bring to a boil until cranberries begin to pop. Stir frequently. Allow to cool and store in refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
- Remove ramekins from refrigerator and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove ramekins and top with 1/4 cup cranberry sauce. Bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Serve immediately with additional cranberry sauce if desired.
Now if you don't happen to live near this particular bakery, first of all, I'm so sorry. :o( Their bread really is amazing (I will prove it with another post later this week) and so versatile. But if you can't get your hands on a loaf from Sol Y Luna, a sourdough or other fruit bread will work well, too.
And that extra cranberry sauce? Well, if you've been reading the blog for any amount of time you know that I'm a big fan of having extra on hand to serve over ice cream or other desserts. It's like a holiday every day when you have this cranberry sauce around!
I love the flavor of cranberry orange together — and with a rich dark bread like this – way yummy!
It was amazing. The sour nature of the sourdough with the tartness of the cranberry was so good!
What a beautiful holiday dish Dee Dee. Love me some bread!!! Perfect in this baked french toast!
Thanks, Allie! It was so delicious. I need to get more loaves of that bread and just keep it in the freezer all holiday season long! :o)
I love this combination! This is a recipe my entire family would love!
I love using flavored, or non-plain I guess(?) bread for French toast or bread puddings! This one looks so delicious, I love the combination of cranberries and walnuts! Classic for a reason 🙂
What a delicious flavor combination. I absolutely love cranberry and orange together and the walnuts put it over the top. I really need to make French toast like this more often.
What a great bread for this recipe! I love bread and buy so much of it, but hate when it gets so stale, so quickly. Great option here! Thanks for the great idea!
This is a nice coincidence that I see this post today. Just two days ago I was talking with a few friends how using up leftover bread (that wasn’t the typical white bread), and wondered how a denser bread would do in a bread pudding or breakfast casserole. I know what I’ll be making soon! Thanks for the inspiration!
I could live quite happily on bread alone, but you really should try to bake your own, you will be in HEAVEN 🙂 and french toast is the most delicious way to use up all that day old bread (if it lasts that long)