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This Baked Pecan Praline French Toast Will Impress Your Brunch Crew

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Slice of French toast casserole with whipped cream and pecans
Stefani Renée's baked French toast will impress your brunch crew. (Stefani Renée)

If you love French toast but aren’t a fan of standing at the stove flipping bread, Stefani Renée‘s Baked Pecan Praline French Toast is the perfect breakfast for you. It’s decadent, easy, and ideal for serving a crowd for the holidays or a weekend brunch.

Baked Pecan Praline French Toast:

  • Prep Time: 30 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 50 Minutes
  • Total Time:  1 hour, 20 Minutes
  • Servings: 8-10

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf brioche, 1-inch thick slices lightly toasted
  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 cups cream ( you can also use any milk)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼  teaspoon of kosher salt

Praline Topping

  • 1 ½-2 cups pecans, chopped
  • ¾  cup brown sugar packed
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Maple Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 baking dish with 2 tablespoons of butter.
  2. Whisk together eggs, 2 cups of cream, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
  3. Dip bread in the custard mixture and arrange in the prepared baking dish. Pour remaining custard mixture over the bread. Cover with aluminum foil, and let sit at least 20 minutes for the bread to absorb the mixture. At this point, you can also chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
  4. While bread and custard are resting, combine remaining butter, brown sugar and pecans. Spread the praline mixture over the bread right before putting it in the oven.
  5. Place the baking dish on a large rimmed baking sheet, cover and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, uncover, return to the oven and bake until golden brown and center is set, about an additional 20-25 minutes.
  6. While the French toast is baking, add remaining cream, maple syrup and vanilla to a medium-sized bowl. Using a handheld mixer, whip the mixture until fluffy.

Serve the French toast warm, topped with whipped cream.

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NOTES

  • This also freezes well and can keep for about a month

About Stefani Renée:

Oakland writer, photographer, and recipe developer Stefani Renée inherited her love of cooking and storytelling from her Granny Octavia.  While her grandmother’s side of the family hails from the South, Stefani Renée grew up in the Bay Area. You can taste this melding of Southern flavors with California flair in her new video recipe series Smackin’ Kitchen, streaming this fall on KQED Food’s YouTube and social channels.

When Stefani Renée is not developing or photographing recipes, she’s interviewing tastemakers for her blog and podcast Savor & Sage. Stefani is passionate about amplifying the work and expertise of BIPOC people in the food space and furthers this mission as a founding member of the Black food blogger hub Eat the Culture and as an advisory board member of Food Culture Collective.

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