French Toast with Praline Sauce

We love breakfast at our house.  During the week with work and school, it's usually a quick bowl of cereal or grits for the girls, a breakfast bar for me and A.J. usually heats up leftovers from the night before or the night before that.  Don't make a face, he works night and gets home during the day so even though it's morning, it really his dinner time...I think.  Anyway on Saturdays either the girls have to be at work early or they slept at a friends the night before so they aren't looking for breakfast and A.J., ok make faces now, A.J. is either eating some hot pickles he made or eating chips and salsa.  Sundays are much like during the week, something quick and then out the door to church.

Honestly, maybe once every month or two, we're all together on a Saturday or holiday I get to make a nice family breakfast.  In between, we Waffle House it for late night cravings.

I have been wanting to try this recipe for such a long time.  It's a combination of a Paula Deen recipe, one on Steen's Cane Syrup website and the method I've used on the past for breakfast bakes.

NOTE:  Start the night before

1 loaf French bread

8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt

Butter a 9x 13 baking dish. Slice the whole loaf of French bread into 1-inch thick slices. Arrange slices, in the dish by overlapping them and in 2 rows.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, then whisk in the half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Whisk until thoroughly blended.

Pour mixture evenly over the bread.  Make sure each slice is coated with the egg and milk mixture.  Cover the dish with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the Praline Sauce:

2 sticks of butter, melted 

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Whisk all of the ingredients, except the pecans together.  Once thoroughly combined, fold in the pecans with a spatula.

Remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and pour sauce over the the bread.  the sauce will be somewhat thick, so you may have to get a spoon and gently spoon the sauce to make sure it covers each slice of bread. 

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.  The bread will puff slightly and turn a pale golden color.

I added a little sprinkle of powdered sugar but if you're a French toast die-hard, pour on the Steen's Cane Syrup or maple syrup.

Demand more holidays so we can all have breakfast with our family!

 

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