Banana French Toast Casserole
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What do you do with overripe bananas? Make banana French toast, of course!
Over this past weekend I found myself with an excess of bananas that were on the verge of going bad – definitely too soft to enjoy right from the peel. Everyone else has been making banana bread lately, so I wanted to try something DIFFERENT for a change after seeing everyone’s “quarantine banana bread” bakes on my Facebook feed.
I also made some eggs benny and ended up with a bunch of plain hollandaise in my fridge from another breakfast earlier in the week. I’m a sucker for anything covered with hollandaise so I like to keep a nice big jarful of it in my fridge to use up throughout the week. But this week, I seemed to have an excess! I had intentionally left my hollandaise plain, making it even harder to use up.
At a loss of how to use both of these ingredients up, I had a lightbulb moment! French toast relies heavily on eggs and butter to get that classic savory taste; and it just so happens those are also the two main ingredients in hollandaise.
Funnily enough, the lemony tang of hollandaise works perfectly as a base to hold together French toast. Just make sure you are using hollandiase that hasn’t been spiced up with cayenne pepper, like some recipes call for.
Plain hollandiase is the way to go!
French toast is a great way to use up other ingredients like old bread too! In fact, you’re best off to use very stale bread to get the best results.
If you are trying to use fresh bread, toast it in the oven on a low temp until it is dried out.
Just soak your French toast casserole overnight to bring the bread back to life and then top it off with your favorite fresh fruits like bananas, strawberries and blackberries.
And of course, a light dusting of powdered sugar is also welcomed!
Banana French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- ½ day old French bread loaf or stale bread like challah or brioche
- 3 over ripe bananas
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup plain hollandaise
- ½ cup old fashioned oats
- 1 ripe banana sliced for topping
- fresh strawberries sliced for topping
- fresh blackberries or blueberries for topping
- powdered sugar for topping
- oil spray
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mash together the overripe bananas and cream cheese until smooth. Add the Greek yogurt, milk, oats and hollandaise and stir until completely combined.
- Cut the bread into small cubes or tear into chunks. Grease a small casserole dish with cooking oil then put the bread into the dish in even layers.
- Pour the banana mixture over the bread and gently toss with spoons to coat the breading completely. Cover and chill for at least one hour or up to 24 hours. The longer the bread soaks, the better the flavor.
- Remove the casserole from the fridge and let come up to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 375 F and bake for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Top with fresh bananas, strawberries and blackberries and a light dusting of powdered sugar. Enjoy!
