I recently visited New Orleans, home of the famous bananas foster dessert. If you’re not familiar with this treat, it’s made with bananas cooked down in butter and sugar to form a caramel-y sauce. A splash of rum is added and ignited just before serving, making for quite the show! The sweet and saucy bananas are then served over vanilla ice cream for an unforgettable treat. The flavors made quite an impression on me, so when I came across recipes for Bananas Foster French Toast I knew I had to give it a go!
French Toast is one of my all-time favorite breakfasts. Rich and eggy bread drenched in syrup or fruit, absolutely heavenly. The addition of caramel and bananas seriously ups the decadence into a breakfast worthy of any special occasion. This french toast bake saves you from standing at the stove flipping one serving at a time and can be prepared the night before. Just pop it in the oven when you get up, and less than an hour later everyone can dig in at once!
New Orleans was once one of the main ports for bananas shipped to the US from Central and South America so it makes sense they’d get creative with all that fruit on hand (the inclusion of rum also seems like an obvious choice for the region!). We’re sure glad these heavenly flavors have made their way into our recipe repertoire, especially when we can sneak them in for breakfast. Give this Bananas Foster French Toast Bake a try and we’re sure you’ll feel the same!
Bananas Foster French Toast Bake
Ingredients
- 1 large loaf challah bread, cubed
- 7 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Caramel Sauce
- 3 bananas, sliced
- ½ cup butter (1 stick)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
Preparation
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Stirring often, cook over medium-high heat until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and mix in vanilla and cinnamon.
- Pour sauce into the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer.
- Top sauce with banana slices.
- Spread the bread cubes over the bananas in an even layer.
- In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Once fully combined, pour the mixture over the bread cubes.
- Using your hands or a spatula, press bread down into the egg mixture to help it absorb.
- Cover baking dish and refrigerate overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours.
- Remove casserole from fridge and preheat oven to 375 degree F.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Allow casserole to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Flip slices upside down when serving so the banana slices are up top.
Recipe adapted from Chef-in-training.com