Cream Cheese Stuffed Eggnog French Toast

Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Arrange enough bread slices to cover the bottom of the dish. Spread these bread slices with the softened cream cheese. If you’re like me, you can use an extra 4 ounces of cream cheese just to make sure you’ve got a nice filling. Arrange enough bread slices over the top to cover the cream cheese layer. You can cut the slices into smaller pieces to fill in the nooks and crannies on both bread layers – but you may not need to use the entire loaf.

In a large bowl, combine eggnog, eggs, and butter until well blended. Pour this evenly over the bread and press it all down gently. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg. You could use cinnamon instead, feeling free to slip a little of either into the eggnog mixture prior to pouring it over the bread.

Cover the dish with plastic and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350 degrees (F). Remove the plastic wrap and bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes, until the center is set and the edges are a light golden-brown. Remove from the oven and let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

To make the sauce, combine the cranberry juice, cranberry sauce, and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring it until the sugar melts. You can use straight cranberry sauce, or a cranberry juice blend such as cranberry-raspberry.

Cut the French toast into squares and serve with the warm cranberry sauce on top. Satisfying and decadent!