Tiffani Thiessen’s French Toast Casserole Makes Use of an Unexpected Ingredient

It’s sure to be a kid-pleaser.

I recently shared that my family’s favorite fall dinner is made, in part, from leftovers saved in the freezer. Although I’m far from perfect about utilizing leftovers, I really hate to waste food. Making chicken pot pie filled with leftover veggies and chicken is one way I use up remaining ingredients, even if they spend some time in the freezer first.

My desire to curb my family’s food waste is one of the reasons I enjoy actor and cookbook author Tiffani Thiessen’s TikTok. It’s full of tips on using leftover food, and her newest cookbook, “Here We Go Again,” is also dedicated to recipes using leftovers.

In a recent post, she shared someone else’s TikTok post, a mother who was preparing a whole bunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and removing the crusts. The PB&J prepper put all the crusts in a zip-top storage bag, presumably to use for something else.

“I’m so curious what she's going to do with it,” Thiessen said, “but I’m going to show what I do with it.”

She then gets out what looks like a 9x9-inch baking dish and greases it—there’s a casserole coming.

Thiessen’s Brilliant Use of Sandwich Crusts

Thiessen then takes a bag filled with nothing but the cut-off crusts of sandwich bread and dumps it in the casserole dish, pours an egg mixture over it, and says, “Let it soak overnight in the fridge or at least a couple hours.”

She’s using the crusts to make an overnight French toast casserole, and who doesn’t love French toast casserole? The former “Saved by the Bell” star doesn’t give a specific recipe; we just see her eating a slice covered in powdered sugar and maple syrup after it’s cooked.

But this brilliant and yummy way to use up sandwich bread crusts is pretty easy to re-create once you’ve saved up enough bread crust in a zipper bag in the freezer to fill the casserole dish.

How to Make French Toast Casserole with Leftover Bread Crusts

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs

• 3/4 cup milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• Enough sandwich crusts to pack an 8x8-inch or 9x9-inch casserole dish

Directions

1. Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl until incorporated.

2. Grease an 8x8-inch (or 9x9-inch) casserole dish and fill with sandwich crusts.

3. Pour egg mixture over sandwich crusts. Push down on crusts to make sure they are coated with the mixture.

4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).

6. Bake casserole, uncovered, in the preheated oven until set in the middle, 40 to 50 minutes.

7. Let sit 15 minutes before serving.

Tips

In place of the milk, you can also use half-and-half, heavy cream, or a combination.

In addition to cinnamon, you can also add nutmeg or any baking spices of your liking.

Serve with powdered sugar, maple syrup, butter, fresh berries, or whipped cream.

Sure, this version isn’t as fancy as some other overnight French toast like a praline pecan French toast casserole or cinnamon roll French toast casserole, but it’s a great way to curb food waste. And, if you have a bunch of leftover bread crusts, chances are you have kids. They may enjoy this simple recipe much more than a fancy one, anyway. I know my boys would have when they were young.

Read the original article on All Recipes.