Crunchy Oven Baked French Toast

Just in case any of you noticed, Tierra hasn't posted a recipe today. Tierra recently graduated as an RN and took her state boards to become a certified registered nurse. She had been job hunting since May {right, Tierra? I'm not mixing up any details, am I?} and she finally got a job! Yay, Tierra! Congratulations from all of us! Well, this job could make things interesting. Today she worked from 6am to 7pm. I'm sure she was pooped! I know I would be. Anyway, she didn't get a chance today to post a recipe, so I'm taking her place. Of course, I'm not Tierra so I can't call this post a Tuesday with Tierra post, but I'll just have to do for now. {Perhaps we should teach Tierra how to schedule posts so you don't have to deal with me when you'd rather see her? ;) }

On to the recipe. This toast was so super yummy. It doesn't taste like any french toast I've ever had. It has a really nice flavor and the texture isn't gooey or soggy. My experience with all the oven baked french toast recipes I've ever made is that they are soggy and I just don't do soggy. Uh, uh, no way jose, absolutely not! So this crunchy, tasty, not-soggy recipe hits the spot right on for me. Oh, and in case you were wondering, this toast tastes supreme with Strawberry Sauce. Of course. :)

Just a little note: I'm not sure this would work really well for breakfast because you have to freeze it for a couple of hours before baking. You could try just freezing it over night but since I haven't tried that myself I can't guarantee how it would turn out. It seems to me that it would work fine, I'm just telling you I can't guarantee anything.

Curnchy Oven French Toast
Prep: 20 minutes | Total time: 2 hours, 40 minutes | Makes 4 servings {2 slices each}
Recipe from Pillsbury

3 eggs
1 cup half-and-half
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups corn flakes cereal, crushed to make 1 cup
8 {3/4 inch thick} diagonally cut slices of French Bread

Directions:
Grease a 10x15 baking pan {when I made this, I cut the recipe in half and used an 8x8 pan}. You probably don't want to use a glass pan. In a shallow bowl, combine eggs, half-and-half, sugar, vanilla and salt; beat well. {Note: You could do this step ahead of time and placed the mixture in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until you need it. Use within 24 hours.} Place crushed cereal in another shallow bowl. Dip each bread slice in egg mixture, making sure all egg mixture is absorbed. Coat each slice with crumbs. Place in greased pan; cover. Freeze 1-2 hours or until firm.
Heat oven to 425. Bake bread slices 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Serve with fresh fruit, Strawberry Sauce, and, if desired, garnish with whipped topping and mint leaves. Yum!