Christmas Morning French Toast (Granola Pain Perdu)

Christmas morning deserves a special breakfast food in celebration.  What I love about this recipe is that most of the prep work can be done the night before so that the cook doesn't have to miss a bit of the fun.
Pain Perdu is French for "lost bread", meaning that if this day old bread didn't get used for something, it would be a loss.  It is also by far the best way to make french toast.

You will need:

4 thick slices of day old bread (French or Challa)
3 eggs
1 cup milk (I use whole)
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
0.5 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbs. orange zest
1.5 cups plain granola
3 Tbs. butter
*Pre-heat your oven to 400°

1. Slice your bread 1 inch thick.

2. Mix together the eggs, milk, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and orange zest in a good pan for soaking the bread.  I used a 13x9 casserole dish. 
3. Let the bread drink in the custard mix for about 5 minutes per side.  In the meanwhile...
4. Heat the pan to med/high and add a tablespoon of butter.  The granola coating is best if somehow ground to a finer crumb.  Sticking it on as-is works too though.  A few pulses in the food processor is all it takes.

5. Sprinkle some granola mix to cover the up-facing sides of the bread, then place the bread granola side down in the hot buttered pan. Granola up the empty upfacing side.

6. Brown both sides for 2 minutes per side.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Move the browned toast to the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.  Flip them over and bake for about 5 more minutes.
Top with: powdered sugar, or maple syrup, or some yogurt mixed with honey and cinnamon. Merry Christmas!