Apple and Cranberry Baked French Toast

I'm having some trouble with my camera and flash; sorry this looks so terrible.

In my attempts to get back to this blog, I committed to the Recipe Swap hosted by Sarah again (check out her blog, http://tasteofhomecooking.blogspot.com, to see the full recipe swap roundup).  This go around was Blogger's Choice, which is always so much fun.  I was again assigned The Jey of Cooking, and when I saw this yummy looking concoction, knew I'd be making a fancy breakfast.

This week, my husband and son have been on spring break.  My amazing husband has been waking up early in order to make breakfast for me before I leave.  I knew he (as well as the kiddos) would love this sweet breakfast.

I started by making Hawaiian bread in my bread machine (I used this recipe and will blog about it soon!), because despite seeing Hawaiian bread in stores often, I could not find it in two different grocery stores and it was way cheaper to just make it I'm sure!

This was OUTSTANDINGLY good.  So sweet and delicious, though definitely a once in awhile kind of breakfast, but such a nice treat.

I ran into a few troubles, not due to the recipe, though.  My husband has been home all week for his spring break, which means he's been doing some baking and breakfast making.  So nice of him, but it also meant some supplies ran out unexpectedly.  I only had 2 apples when I went to make this and two eggs; I made it anyway.  It was completely fine on the apples side, but definitely needed more eggs--I don't know if SIX is necessary, though!

The Hawaiian bread was perfect here and I feel so accomplished having made it myself!

Thanks again to Sarah for hosting the swap and to Jey for yet another great recipe!

Here's Jey's take on the recipe!

Apple and Cranberry Baked French Toast as seen on The Jey of Cooking

Apple and Cranberry Baked French Toast.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Cup (1 stick) Butter, melted
• 3 tsp. Cinnamon
• 3 Apples, peeled, cored and finely diced (I used Golden Delicious)
• 1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
• 1 Loaf Hawaiian Bread, torn into pieces
• 6 Eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups Milk
• 1 Tbsp. Vanilla

Instructions

In a 9x13 baking pan, combine brown sugar, butter and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Add the diced apples and cranberries and toss to coat. Spread the mixture evenly across the bottom of the pan. Arrange torn bread pieces on top.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and remaining 2 tsp. cinnamon. Pour over the bread, making sure it is completely soaked.

Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Bake covered for 40-50 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.