Baked French Toast

I combined a couple recipes to make this amazing baked French toast.  It's nice to let the oven do the work and not have to stand around a griddle making breakfast.  I loved how crunchy this was and the flavor was awesome!

• 8 pieces Texas Toast bread
• 2 c. milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 T. vanilla
• 2 T. granulated sugar
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 3 T. butter
• maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with Silpat or aluminum foil and set aside.
Whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon. Lay the slices of bread on another (rimmed) baking sheet, then pour the mixture over the bread. Allow it to stand for 10-15 minutes or until the bread soaks up the egg/milk mixture (you can carefully flip the bread over if you want to hurry the process along).
When the bread is almost done soaking up the egg mixture, place a 1 1/2 tablespoons butter on the lined baking sheet and place the baking sheet in the oven for 1-2 minutes or until the butter is melting. Remove the pan from the oven and use a pastry brush to brush the butter over the baking sheet. Carefully transfer the soaked bread from one pan to the other pan. Place in the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes.
When the time is almost up, melt the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter. Remove the pan from the oven and brush the top of the bread with the remaining butter, then use a spatula to flip the bread and return it to the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the bread is cooked through and the pieces are fluffy and golden. Take car to not overcook, you don't want the French toast to be too crunchy.  Remove from the oven. Serve with additional butter and plenty of maple syrup.

Recipe Source: adapted from Sweet Rose Studio & Our Best Bites