Caramel Pecan French Toast

This french toast is amazing!

I had pulled this recipe from a library book earlier this year (I think it was from Paula Deen, but I'm not sure...let's give her the credit anyway) and was waiting for an occasion that could justify a recipe that involves copious amounts of brown sugar, butter and eggs.   

This is not your standard Saturday morning french toast. 

This is special occasion, plan ahead, who cares about calories, french toast.   
In fact, it was my Thanksgiving toast.  

After enjoying all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings at last weekend's Friendsgiving, I was not inspired to cook a big meal on Thursday.   My turkey, a holiday gift from my employer, is hanging out in the freezer.    I'll cook him later.   Possibly in early 2013.

What You Need

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (lay them flat on a cookie sheet and bake at 300 for 3-5 minutes - watch them so they don't burn)
1 loaf french bread, sliced into 16 slices (it's ok if they aren't all the same size)
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim...is that like ordering a diet soda with meat lovers pizza?)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

What You Do

Ideally, make this the night before so that you don't have the morning impatience of waiting for it to "rest."      This toast of awesome will be served in a 13x9 baking pan.

In a medium saucepan combine the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup.   Cook and stir until butter is melted and the sugar dissolves.     Pour this caramel sauce into your ungreased 13x9 pan.   Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the toasted pecans.

Arrange half the bread, eight slices, in a single layer on top of the caramel sauce.    Sprinkle with the remaining pecans then top with the other eight slices.  

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla.   Gradually pour egg mixture over the bread.   Use a spoon to press the bread down to moisten it.    Mix the granulated sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a small bowl.   Sprinkle over bread.

Cover and chill for 2-24 hours.  This is that "resting" phase I mentioned.    No one wants to wait 2 hours in the morning for the magic to happen.

Preheat oven to 350.   Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned.   Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.     Now here's the tricky part - the recipe says to invert the toast onto a platter for serving.   Inverting is never as easy as it sounds and increases the possibility of me making a mess.    However, it's how you get the caramel on top looking amazing.     If inverting scares you, just use a big spatula to pick up both the top and bottom slice of toast and flip it on to your plate, getting plenty of the caramel pecan sauce.  

This is so rich and delicious, that you don't need any syrup.    Just a cup of coffee or a big glass of milk.   

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends!