If you like the breakfast foods of eggs, pancakes, bacon, cream of wheat, oatmeal, etc. — this French Toast Bake might possibly be a new all-time favorite. Yes, it’s that good!
Let’s talk about breakfast food, shall we? I absolutely love it! Breakfast all day every day? Yes, please and thank you. Okay, that might get old after awhile, but you know what I mean.
The BEST French Toast Bake
Are you familiar with Penzey’s? A fantastic store that sells spices, herbs, and seasonings. Their pasta sprinkle is awesome sauce… as I digress. This french toast bake recipe was spotted in one of their catalogs. Mmmmm!
I made it for the first time over the holidays. Normally, it’s eggs, toast and bacon on Christmas morning. Since I hosted this past year, it seemed like a good time to try this casserole.
Oh my glory! What a delicious recipe, and better yet, everyone loved it. I hope you can say the same.
Breakfast is served…
French Toast Bake
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French Bread 1/2 inch thick and allowed to dry out
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups half & half
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Topping
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
Instructions
- Grease a 9x13 casserole dish. Layer the dried bread in the bottom of the dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, half & half, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well. Pour over the bread.
- Pat plastic wrap over the bread and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Place a couple of small appetizer plates on top of the plastic wrap to keep the bread submerged, if necessary.
- Preheat oven to 350. Place a piece of foil on the rack to catch any potential dripping. Remove the french toast from the refrigerator.
- In a medium bowl, combine the butter, maple syrup, brown sugar and chopped pecans. Mix until crumbly.
- Spoon the topping evenly over the French toast. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour or until puffed and golden. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with additional maple syrup, optional.
So, when do you think you’ll be making this French Toast Bake? This weekend for Sunday brunch? Pssst, don’t forget the Orange Juice!
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Shannon Fox says
I’ll take a slice 🙂 YUM!!
Liz says
Oh, my. This looks heavenly! I need to have some weekend company so I have a good excuse to bake this up!!
Kathleen says
A friend has started an annual Holiday Brunch, and this is EXACTLY the type of recipe I wanted last year so we could take something hearty, “kinda sweet” ~ and loaded with CINNAMON (our hostess loves it!).
Your recipe looks fairly easy because it’s partly make-ahead, and not so costly that I can’t double (even triple) the recipe! I always want to offer much more than needed to serve guests …
I am thrilled to find this … thanks for sharing, Kelly!
Debbie says
Hi Kelly, I really enjoy receiving your emais! This looks so delicious! I went out out today and got everything I didn’t have on hand to make it. It’s soaking in the fridge now we are looking so forward to breakfast tomorrow! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Kelly Rowe says
Yay, Debbie!! I’m so happy to hear this… how was your breakfast? I truly hope you enjoyed it. HUGS!
Natasha says
Looks yummy! I’m allergic to nuts. What do you suggest could be an alternative to pecans?