Coconut-Almond French Toast Casserole

Just baked this dish this morning and it was delicious! The next time you entertain special guests or serve a brunch this dish needs to be included. If you like, you could serve with maple syrup or whipped topping. Mini chocolate chips would also be a great garnish. We did not wait 1 hour for this to cool and it was great. I could not find Texas toast, so I bought a loaf of Italian bread and sliced it thick myself. Doing as much prep work as I could last night made finishing this dish a breeze this morning. Remember to remove the dish from the refrigerator about 1/2 hour before placing in the oven. Enjoy!

French toast:
unsalted butter, for greasing dish
9 slices Texas toast or other
thick-sliced bread
6 large eggs
3 1/2 C. half-and-half
5 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Coconut-Almond Crust:
1/2 C. plus 3 Tbsp. sweetened
coconut flakes
1/3 C. plus 1/4 C. sliced almonds
5 Tbsp. sugar
5 Tbsp. flour
pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter,
softened
1 large egg plus 1 large
egg yolk
Powdered sugar and berries for
garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly butter a 13×9 casserole dish.

For the french toast: Lay the bread slices in one layer (they can overlap) on a baking sheet. Bake the slices ( to dry them out a little) for 6 minutes, then flip and bake for 6 minutes more. Set aside to cool.

Whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Dunk each bread slice in the egg mixture to coat thoroughly and shingle the slices in the buttered casserole dish. Pour any remaining egg mixture over the bread. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

For the coconut-almond crust: Put 1/2 cup of the coconut, 1/3 cup of the almonds, sugar, flour, and salt in the food processor and process until very fine. Add the butter, egg and egg yolk and process well to form a smooth paste.

To assemble the casserole: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut-almond mixture evenly over the soaked bread slices. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup sliced almonds and 3 tablespoons of coconut and bake until puffed and lightly golden and the custard is set (the center of the casserole will no longer jiggle when shaken), 45 to 50 minutes. Allow to cool 1 hour before serving, or serve at room temperature.

Serve with powdered sugar and berries if using.