Baked Almond Butter And Jelly French Toast

Made with whole wheat bread and cooked in the oven in a casserole dish, baked almond butter and jelly French toast is a healthier version of the sweet breakfast (or brunch) classic.

In between holiday shopping for everyone else, I’ve snuck in a few things for myself.

It’s tough to resist all these incredible sales!

My best unplanned purchase so far has been a pair of black fleece joggers.

I don’t remember the last time I owned sweatpants. And I regret how much time has gone by since I fully embraced my love of such cozy loungewear.

I’m pretty sure I need another pair of these joggers to get me through the upcoming lazy, sofa days at home.

All this relaxation has me thinking about cooking, specifically breakfast.

I know I will be making some veggie-filled frittatas in both full skillet size and muffin pan minis, but there have to be other options to go with these savory eggs.

French toast is just the right balance because it’s not too sweet.

To make sure that everything is ready at once, I love making French toast casseroles that bake in a dish.

Then you can skip all that dipping and cooking individual slices of bread.

It’s probably pretty obvious that this baked almond butter and jelly French toast is inspired by my go-to sandwich, the classic PBJ.

The best part is that it’s a healthier version of French toast.

How To Make Baked Almond Butter And Jelly French Toast

I start by assembling almond butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat bread. My style of making PBJ is to put nut butter on all the bread and then spread jelly on half the slices.

You can use low-sugar jelly or jam.

Next I quarter the sandwiches to make them a more stackable size.

I line up those small sandwiches in a rectangular baking dish in distinct, very snug rows.

Then I whisk together a mix of almond milk, eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract and pour that mixture over all the sandwiches.

The French toast bakes for about half hour. Ten minutes before it’s finished, I sprinkle on chopped almonds to give them time to lightly brown.

I never can decide what I like best, the crispy bites on top or the soft ones in the middle and bottom of the dish.

There’s no need to choose because I can have it all in a single slice.  

Baked Almond Butter And Jelly French Toast

• Author: Paige Adams
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: Serves 8–10 1x

Made with whole wheat bread and baked in a casserole dish, baked almond butter and jelly French toast is a healthier version of the sweet breakfast (or brunch) classic.

Ingredients

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 18–20 whole wheat bread slices
• 1 cup almond butter
• 3/4 cup jelly or jam
• 1–1/2 cups almond milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped almonds
• Maple syrup for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2. To make each sandwich, spread two slices of bread with peanut butter. Then spread one of the slices with jelly and press them together. Repeat with the rest of the bread.
3. Quarter the sandwiches. Arrange them in tight and close rows, cut sides up, in the prepared baking dish.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the almond milk, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt. Pour the mixture over the sandwiches.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the almonds on top and continue cooking for 10 minutes until toasted and golden brown.
6. Drizzle with maple syrup before serving.

Notes

You can make the almond butter and jelly sandwiches the night before. Just put them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.