Every once in a while you come across a recipe that turns out to be one of the best tasting dishes, though not the most gorgeous, sophisticated or gourmet, just smells and tastes so good (like a Cinnabon on steroids). This is one of them. It started out as a Paula Deen recipe (if you are concerned about your cholesterol this one is not for you) and I made just a few small adjustments (if you know me, you know I only follow a recipe once, if that)…
Praline Pecan French Toast
Spray a 9×12 glass baking dish.
Ingredients:
3 cups whole milk
8 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
dash of vanilla
dash of cinnamon
Mix well (I use a blender for all my egg/milk mixtures-it works best for light and fluffy) and set aside.
12 slices of French Toast bread or other thick cut soft egg bread, Challah would be great. This is equivalent to maybe 16 slices of regular sliced white bread. Cube the bread and put into the baking dish. Drizzle maple syrup all over the dry bread. Then pour the egg mixture and let sit.
Topping:
1 1/2 sticks softened butter
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 cup light brown sugar
dash of nutmeg
Blend with mixer until fluffy and add 1 cup pecan halves – fold in.
Dollop/spread the topping all over the bread mixture and let sit refrigerated overnight. Let sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes before baking. Bake at 375 covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 20 more until browned on top. BE SURE to use a drip pan or a cookie sheet with edges to catch the butter because it WILL drip over and CAN start an oven fire (not a good thing). Let sit to cool at least 10 minutes or it won’t stay together when you try to cut it. It doesn’t need syrup, just cut and enjoy! Makes 8 servings, depending on how large you cut them…
For the inn I fancied it up by serving it with a warm rum sauce, caramel drizzle and sliced peaches, but for this purpose, it’s not necessary. This recipe is simple and delicious and makes great leftovers (if you have any)!
Note: this photo is courtesy of Monika McGillicuddy (@monikamg on Twitter) – we met on Twitter and met in person at a real estate conference in Boston in June. One week when I was innsitting at Timbercliffe Cottage in Camden, Maine, I made this dish. Monika and some others on Twitter kept talking about it. So I told Monika I’d give her the recipe, but she said she didn’t want to attempt it, she’d screw it up. So I told myself that when Monika and her husband Jay (@acemaker on Twitter) came to Bar Harbor during their August visit, I’d make one ready to bake and surprise them with it! So I dropped it off at their incredible waterfront RV site yesterday and they had it for breakfast this morning. So when she tweeted the photo I copied it and decided to blog the recipe. Hope you all enjoy it!!
It looks absolutely to die for. How lucky for them that you delivered breakfast to them-a gesture I am sure they will remember fondly.
Pecans and Pralines are my favorite and when I saw Dana tweet about it I commented on how I love the combo but never knew it was made for French Toast.
My wife Monika would never make it so I could only dream about having it.
Well, when Dana showed up at our campsite with this huge dish I was totally surprised and was thankful of her gesture.
This was a treat that I will never forget as it tastes so yummy and smells delicous when cooking. She did such a great job and made so much that left overs were just as good as the day it was first made.
Thank you so much Dana a treat indeed.