For those of you who want to serve a nice hot breakfast on Christmas morning, or even when you are doing holiday entertaining, I will share with you another of our favorite Christmas morning traditions…Oven Puffed Pecan French Toast. It is prepared (except for the topping) the night before….which is pretty important to do because the bread needs time to soak in the egg mixture…and then requires very little effort and fuss in the morning.
- 2 loaves white baguette bread
- 6 eggs
- 3 cups blend or half & half
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- ¾ tsp. cinnamon
- ½ cup plus 2 tbsp. margarine softened (should still be quite firm)
- 1¼ cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- Cooking spray
- Spray the bottom of a 13 X 9 glass pan.
- Slice French baguette bread into round slices that are about 1½ or 2 inches thick.
- Place them evenly in the glass pan.
- In a mixing bowl combine eggs, blend, nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Pour over the bread... it is ok if it floats.
- Cover it and place in the refrigerator overnight- the bread will absorb the egg mixture.
- In the morning just before baking, use a pastry blender to cut the margarine or butter into the brown sugar.
- Add pecans for a rough crumbly topping.
- If your butter is really soft and it is pasty, this is fine.. just spread it pretty evenly over the bread slices. I like to make sure each slice has a generous coating of topping.
- Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, or until topping is starting to look bubbly and golden at edges.
You can serve as is or with syrup according to your preference. We find it does not need syrup, as the topping makes it taste sweet and the buttery pecan sweetness perfectly brings out the nutmeg in the French toast. Enjoy!
Do you guys do a big breakfast on Christmas morning? Do you like to prep it the night before and have it all ready? Leave a comment and tell me your Christmas morning breakfast traditions. 🙂 Be sure to check out our Top 10 Go-To Holiday Recipe post for more inspiration.
