French Toast Casserole Recipe

I am a member of a MOPS group here in Colorado. If you don't know what that is, it's a mommy group that meets to listen to speakers, do crafts, community service projects and to eat a huge brunch. We take turns bringing food and next week it is my groups turn. I want something really tasty and also something I have never made before. Given my track record of trying new recipes on important days, I decided to give this recipe a try this weekend for my family. It turned out so well that I will be bringing it to my group on Wednesday. I highly recommend that you try it. My favorite thing about it was how easy and quick it was to make. My second favorite thing was crunchy praline topping. The original recipe is by Paula Deen but I made some adjustments that I recommend that you follow. 

You have to start this dish the night before, it needs to refrigerate overnight. 

Ingredients:


20 slices of french bread, about an 1 inch thick, fresh or day old
6 large eggs
2 cups of half and half
1/2 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg


For praline topping:


1 cup of chopped pecans
1 cup of light brown sugar
2 tablespoons of light corn syrup
1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg


Yields 8-10 servings, pictured above.
Test portion, pictured below, yields 4-5 servings 


Time: 10 minute prep and 40 minute cook time. 


Recipe:

Line sliced bread into two rows in a greased 9x13 baking pan. They will be overlapping. In a medium size bowl mix eggs. To the egg mixture add half and half, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well but not frothy. Pour mixture over bread, making sure to get in between the overlapping pieces. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. 

Take your butter out for fridge so it will be room temperature in the morning. 

In the morning preheat oven to 375 degrees f. Remove the casserole from fridge (bread will have absorbed all the mixture). 

While the oven is preheating  mix the praline topping. Spread evenly over bread slices (nuke the mixture for 20-30 seconds if it is hard to spread).

Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until  top is slightly crunchy and golden. Do not under bake because it will be really mussy. 

Serve with maple syrup!

To reheat, bake in a preheated 300 degree f oven for 10-15 minutes. If you want it more moist when you reheat, cover with foil. Even more moist? Add some milk and cover with foil. You can also reheat in microwave but you lose some of the delicious crunchiness of the praline topping.