A Lighter Version of Paula's Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup

I made this casserole over the weekend.  It's my husbands favorite during football season.  I wanted to lighten it up and sub almond milk in place of heavy cream and to my surprise it turned out DELISH! Couldn't tell a difference!  

Ingredients

1 1/2 loafs of bread (I used raison bread but you can choose a lower calorie bread or to make it extra special use french bread)

8 eggs

3 cups of almond milk (original recipe calls for 3 cups of heavy cream)

dash of sugar, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg

tiny dash of salt

Directions

Arrange slices in a buttered casserole dish like the picture above.  

In a large bowl combine eggs, almond milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and beat or whisk until blended but not with bubbles.  I usually break the yolks and mix eggs before I add the liquid.  

Pour mixture over the bread slices, make sure all of the bread slices are covered evenly.  

IMPORTANT

COVER WITH FOIL AND REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT!

Next day preheat your over to 350.  If you see some dry areas on the bread move them around to get the liquid coated on them.  After all bread is coated drain the remainder liquid off.  NOW if you want to add more calories and make it extra special make this topping below...if not  Place casserole in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes.  Serve with maple syrup.

Topping

1/2 stick of butter

2 tablespoons of flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

blend with hand in a mixing bowl until they look like clumps of sand and sprinkle over casserole.

Finished product looked like this :) It was good!