New! Cinnamon Baked French Toast Recipe

Oh my goodness, if you want to make the best french toast casserole, here's your recipe. I got the original  recipe from a good friend who made this for us during a visit to her house. It's a variation of Pillsbury's Cinnamon Baked French Toast recipe using canned Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls. I added extra cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar; and reduced the eggs so it didn't get soggy of overly fluffy. Per my friend's recommendation, I left off the maple syrup because it's plenty sweet enough without it. That's all there is to this easy french toast casserole -- great for overnight guests or as a family treat.

New recipe — now even better!

I recently (Dec. 2013) made some updates to this recipe to make it even better. It's now less fluffy and eggy and more moist and gooey. Also, a slightly shorter cook time. Let me know what you think of the new taste.

Ingredients

2 cans (12.4 oz each) Pillsbury flaky cinnamon rolls
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (half & half works too)
3 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Icing from cinnamon rolls
Powdered sugar, if desired

Directions
1. In a large glass bowl, melt butter then together with sugar. 

2. Beat in eggs, cream, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.

3. Open canned cinnamon rolls, slice each  cinnamon roll into eighths. Place cinnamon roll pieces into the bowl of egg mixture and toss to thoroughly coat.Then pour the pieces, coated in egg mixture, into a greased 9x12 casserole dish and spread out evenly. Any remaining egg mixture, you can brush over top of areas that look like they might get dry.

4. Sprinkle with pecans and then bake on 350˚ on a low rack for 35-40 minutes.

5. Remove bake from oven. Warm icing from cinnamon rolls in microwave for 15 seconds; pour evenly over bake. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Serves: 6-8

*If you like this recipe, you'll love our Cinnamon Apple Strudel Bake, also using Pillsbury cinnamon rolls!

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I love chicken cordon bleu. It pretty much has all my favorite things... chicken, rice, ham, onions, cheese... you catch my drift. I've made stuffed chicken cordon bleu before and it's delish but it's a little labor intensive to prepare. So, I'd seen recipes for chicken cordon bleu casserole on Pinterest and got really excited. However, after digging into the recipe, all of them were complicated. The whole point of a casserole is it's supposed to be easy, right? Well, as fate would have it, a friend offhandedly mention he'd made chicken cordon bleu casserole just the other night and he rattled off the recipe. It was easy enough for me to remember so I was sold. I doubled the recipe and made it for a recent family get-together and it was a big hit. The only changes to my friend's recipe I made were the addition of thyme and I used panko breadcrumbs instead of crushed saltines.

Ingredients
4 cups cooked rice
4 chicken breasts
1/2 onion, diced
4 tbsp butter

1 large can cream of chicken soup

1/2 package swiss cheese

1/2 package deli sliced ham

1/4 tsp powdered thyme

1/2 package Italian panko breadcrumbs

Directions
1. Prepare rice and spread an even layer on the bottom of a 9x12 greased baking dish.

2. Cook chicken breasts with onion in butter on stove over medium heat for 15 mins or until cooked thoroughly. Remove and cut chickn into bite-sized chunks. Leave onions and remaining juices in pan.

3. Layer chicken piece evenly over rice.

4. Slice ham into bite-sized chunks. Layer evenly over chicken.

5. Layer cheese over top ham.

6. Mix cream of chicken soup with chicken juices and onions leftover in the pan. Add thyme and mix thoroughly. Spread evenly over entire casserole.

7. Layer Panko crumbs over top of casserole and cover with foil.

8. Bake at 400˚ for 35 mins. Uncover and bake an additional 10-15mins.

Creamy Crock-Pot Chicken & Dumplings Recipe

This is an excellent, easy recipe for creamy Crock-Pot chicken and dumplings that's made up of ingredients you'll likely already have on hand.

Ingredients
1 whole fryer chicken (or 4 large chicken breasts)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 onion, minced

1 bay leaf

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 bag crinkle cut carrots

About 6 cups water

2 cups chicken stock (created from cooking chicken)
1 (26oz) large can cream of chicken soup

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp celery seed

1 lrg package Pillsbury flakey buttery biscuits (dumplings)

Directions
1. Place chicken, onions, garlic, celery, carrots and bay leaf into crock pot and fill with water until chicken is covered or mostly covered.

2. Cook on high for 4 hours or until chicken is falling off the bone. Remove the whole chicken and let cool in a bowl.

3. Using a strainer placed over a large bowl, pour remaining Crock-Pot contents into the bowl using the strainer to separate out the solid ingredient from the chicken stock. Measure and return 2 cups of chicken stock to Crock-Pot. Stir in cream of chicken soup, pepper, garlic salt and celery seed. Turn Crock-Pot to high heat and cover.

4. Shred the cooled chicken, discarding the carcass, and return chicken to Crock-Pot. Add solid ingredients from the strainer back into the Crock-Pot. Stir gently.

5. Open biscuit dough and slice each biscuit in sixths. Place in crockpot pointy-side down. Cook on high 55-60 minutes or until all dumplings are firm to touch.

Serves: 6-8

Hominy Breakfast Casserole Recipe

This dish is based on a recipe from a 1968 Betty Crocker cookbook published by Better Homes & Gardens. The first page starts out with "Dear Homemaker..." Gotta love it! I found the cookbook at a Salvation Army and it had some great recipes that were dying to come back in style. This is a good one to make for guests who've spent the night or for yourself if you're just tired of eating the same old french toast or pancakes for breakfast.

Ingredients

1 package sliced bacon

1 can hominy

6 eggs

4 tbsp milk

4 green onions, sliced

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Cook bacon till crispy; set aside. Saute scallions and lightly brown hominy in bacon gristle. Beat eggs, milk, salt & pepper; add to hominy. Stir frequently until eggs are fully cooked. Fold in cheese until melted. Crumble bacon over top and serve hot.