Baked French Toast with Strawberries

Name: Baked French Toast with Strawberries
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 12 servings.
Ingredients: 12 slices day-old French bread (1 inch thick); 6 large eggs; 1-1/2 cups 2% milk; 1 cup half-and-half cream; 2 tablespoons maple syrup; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg; TOPPING:; 1 cup packed brown sugar; 1/2 cup butter, melted; 2 tablespoons maple syrup; 1 cup chopped pecans; 4 cups chopped fresh strawberries; Additional maple syrup

French toast is a crowd-pleaser, but it's hard to make for a big group. This overnight casserole with strawberries and a sweet pecan topping fixes everything. —David Stelzl Jr., Waxhaw, North Carolina

Ingredients

12 slices day-old French bread (1 inch thick)
6 large eggs
1-1/2 cups 2% milk
1 cup half-and-half cream
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
TOPPING:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 cup chopped pecans
4 cups chopped fresh strawberries
Additional maple syrup

Directions

Place bread in a single layer in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, cream, syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg; pour over bread. For topping, in a small bowl, mix brown sugar, butter and syrup; stir in pecans. Spread over bread. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°. Remove French toast from refrigerator while oven heats. Bake, uncovered, 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with strawberries and additional syrup.

Nutrition Facts

1 piece (calculated without additional syrup): 377 calories, 20g fat (8g saturated fat), 126mg cholesterol, 266mg sodium, 42g carbohydrate (27g sugars, 3g fiber), 8g protein.

Originally published as Baked French toast with Strawberries and maple syrup in Breakfast & Brunch 2014 Bookazine

Reviews

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Average Rating:

mumsay

Jan 27, 2018

Yummy! I used Texas toast and tore it into small pieces. I have a lactose intolerant person in the house so I used almond milk in place of the milk and vanilla soy creamer in place of the half-and-half. Everything else was per the recipe instructions. I'm thinking of trying it with sauteed apples next time.
mkaskela

May 8, 2016

Great!
LoungeDog

May 6, 2016

Delicious and easy to make. I used a baguette and it worked well. I imagine it works equally well with cubed bread.
tsuop

Apr 20, 2016

Very similar to a recipe I make except I cube the bread. It is delicious & never "gooey" I use a loaf of plain Texas Toast (not the garlic kind : )) jimclark try cubes next time, it's worth another try!!
jimclark

May 10, 2015

I made these today as a Mother's Day brunch for my wife and family. Everyone really enjoyed them and commented on how delicious they are! There's just a few things to be aware of when you make these:1) They are more like bread pudding than French toast.2) They do not cook all the way through. Mine stayed quite gooey in the middle. Again, see above.3) The recipe calls for "French bread" but it really should read "French baguette". If you use a standard loaf of French bread, the slices will be too big to fit 12 in a 13x9 pan; you'll only get about 6-7 slices in the pan. However, if you use a baguette you'll be able to get the right number of slices in the pan, and there's less in the middle to stay soggy because they're smaller.Overall, they're quite yummy.