Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

We made this yesterday to take to Scott's mother's house for dinner, and everyone really liked it. You can prep it in the morning to serve for dinner, or prep it the night before to serve for breakfast. Enjoy it savory with some optional hot sauce or Chick-fil-A sauce, or serve it sweet with a drizzle of maple syrup and/or a dusting of powdered sugar (like a Monte Cristo).

See the original recipe here: https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/ham-and-cheese-breakfast-casserole/

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

• 16 slices bread cubed and divided, approximately 1 loaf
• 16 ounces cubed cooked ham 1 package
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded swiss cheese
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups milk
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon ground mustard
• pinch pepper
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1½ cups cornflakes crushed
• 3 Tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. Place 8 slices of cubed bread on the bottom a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Top with ham and cheeses and then the remaining cubed bread.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, garlic powder, ground mustard, and peppers. Pour over bread, ham, and cheese. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours (or overnight).
3. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
5. In a small bowl, mix together crushed cornflakes and melted butter. Sprinkle over top the casserole and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Serve warm.

Marsha's Notes:

We baked ours on convection at 350 degrees for 40 minutes and it was almost perfect. I found the center to still be a bit moist but edible, even with reaching 160 degrees internal temperature (at 30 minutes) and a knife inserted in the middle coming out clean... so I would certainly do the full 45 minutes next time, or at least as long as I dared before things started to get too brown. The bottom DOES brown up, so if you use a glass pan, that is easy to check for. Also, maybe it would have been less "wet" in the middle if it had sat for a few more hours, but I made it around 9:00 in the morning and cooked it at 4:00 pm, so that was 7 hours. It was still delicious, but I would cook it a tad longer next time.