French Toast and Sausage Breakfast Bake

I couldn’t really remember the last time I made a breakfast that didn’t consist of just 4 cups of coffee, so I went in search of something new. I came across these delicious looking sausage and egg French toast cups, but decided to simplify it by making a huge breakfast bake that would be perfect to serve when having multiple guests over for the holidays or brunch. Not a morning person? That’s the best part of this recipe.. everything can be done the night before!

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Recipe adapted from the Foodie Crush

Ingredients:

8 cups (16oz loaf) cinnamon raisin bread, cut into cubes

12oz turkey breakfast sausage (regular pork sausage works just fine too)

¼ to ½ tsp cayenne pepper

8 eggs

1 ½ cups milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

Syrup or powdered sugar for topping

(1.) Butter a large baking dish, spread 3 cups of bread cubes in the bottom of the dish, and set aside. (2.) Heat a large skill over medium heat and add turkey sausage. Use a spatula to break up sausage, season with cayenne pepper, and cook for 8-10 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. (3.) Spread half of the sausage over the bread cubes in the baking dish. Spread 3 more cups of bread cubes over the layer of sausage followed by remaining sausage. Top with the remaining 2 cups of bread cubes. (4.) In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg until well mixed. Pour evenly over the bread and sausage mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Remove dish from the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) and place dish in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until top is crisp. Dish it up, top with syrup, and serve!