Make Ahead French Toast and Bacon Casserole

         Merry Christmas!!!!! We have had SUCH an amazing day!  The kids have paper, trash, boxes and toys strewn from one end of the house to the other so I think that is a sign of a good Christmas!   One thing that helps with the craziness of Christmas morning that I always do is assemble a breakfast casserole the night before, so all I had to do was put it in the oven at the crack of dawn this morning when the kids woke us up.  1 hour later, we had a DELICIOUS breakfast treat that was completely hands off and freed me to continue the toy opening assembly line.  Ha.  This is our favorite breakfast casserole.  The only thing I do different is add a  package of extra crispy Wright Brand Applewood Smoked bacon, chopped small and added to the Sourdough bread pieces.  It is the PERFECT combination of sweet and salty!  I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas!  Now it is time for me to get back to the new Super Mario Wii U that Santa brought me my daughter.  Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 (24 oz) package Wright Brand Applewood smoked bacon, chopped and cooked EXTRA CRISPY
8 whole Eggs
2 cups Whole Milk
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
Topping
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 stick very Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
Warm Syrup, For Serving
Butter, For Serving

Directions
For the french toast:  The night before, Slice the package of bacon into bite sized pieces and cook it slightly crispier than you would normally eat it.  It will soften some overnight in the casserole.  Tear the bread into chunks, or cut into cubes, and evenly distribute the bacon and bread pieces into a heavily buttered 13×9 baking pan.  Crack the eggs in a big bowl. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread and bacon. Cover the pan with foil and store in the fridge overnight.

For the topping: (You can prepare this the night before also, but do not sprinkle it on the casserole until the next morning, right before you bake it.  Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a separate bowl. Stir together using a fork. Add the butter and with a pastry cutter, and mix it all together until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.

When you’re ready to bake the casserole, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the casserole from the fridge and sprinkle the topping over the top. Bake uncovered for 1 hour.  (I had some extra bacon that was already cooked so 5 minutes before it was done, I topped it with some precooked bacon and let the bacon warm up on top of the casserole. Made it so pretty!)

Scoop out individual portions. Top with (MORE) butter and drizzle with warm pancake syrup!  ENJOY!!!