And now for something completely different . . . .
This recipe favors those with a sweet tooth, or with a desire for an occasional special sweet treat.
Brett’s all-time favorite breakfast item whenever we go out for breakfast is French toast. If it’s on the menu, in any form, from plain to stuffed, I know it’s what he’ll order. I found this decadent recipe on a B&B recipe site a few years ago when I was looking for a stuffed French toast recipe to make for his birthday. There were an incredible number of French toast recipes to choose from, but knowing Brett also loves caramel sticky buns (me too) when I saw this one I knew I had to give it a try.
It’s a surprisingly easy dish to put together. Although the recipe calls for a baguette, I used a brioche loaf from Trader Joe’s and overlapped the slices somewhat to get them to fit in the baking dish. I think challah would also work well. I also substituted Lyle’s Golden Syrup, made from cane sugar, for the corn syrup. Lyle’s comes from England and can be purchased from Amazon.
This French toast really does taste just like a sticky bun. Reviews over the years have included “The best thing you’ve EVER made for breakfast” and “I want this for my birthday cake next year.” Although it’s too much for Brett and I to have on our own these days, I do plan to make it next time our family is all together again, whenever that eventually happens.
CARAMEL PECAN FRENCH TOAST
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 TBSP light corn syrup or golden syrup
1 cup chopped pecans
36-40 1/2 slices baguette-style French bread, 18 2-inch slices of French bread or a 8 slices of a heavier white bread
6 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, stir together brown sugar, butter and syrup. Heat and stir until the butter is melted and the brown sugar dissolved. Pour into a well-greased 9″ x 13″ baking dish and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the pecans. Arrange half of the bread slices in a single layer over the sugar mixture and pecans. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans and top with the remaining bread slices.
In a medium bowl, blend the eggs, milk and vanilla, then slowly pour over the bread. Press lightly with the back of a large spoon to make sure all the bread is moistened.
Stir together sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, then sprinkle over the bread. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours. Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. To serve, remove individual servings with a wide spatula and invert onto serving plates. Makes 9 servings.
The Occasional Nomads 
I am salivating!
LikeLike
This is honestly one of my favorite breakfasts. Too rich for me now, but when the family is back togather one of these days . . . .
LikeLike
Help! I wanted to make bulgur mexicana for dinner but cant find the recipe I wrote down from youre website years ago and that site is no longer up. Do you still have the recipe?
LikeLike
Here you go!
BULGUR MEXICANA
2 TBSP olive oil
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
1 cup bulgur wheat
1 large stalk celery, thinly sliced
1/2 green or red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin
2 1/4 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in large saute pan or skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bulgur and cook, stirring often, until onion is soft and bulgur is golden (about 7 or 8 minutes). Stir in celery, pepper, chili powder and cumin and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve, mound bulgur mixture on plates, and then allow each person to top with their favorite condiments.
LikeLike
Wow…that recipe looks amazing. Like you, though, I would need to make it when we had more people here. Although DH would probably eat it until it was gone. We normally do Easter Brunch for the family, and one year my SIL brought a bread pudding made of Krispy Kreme donuts. One bite made my teeth ache, but DH LOVED it. Mr. Sugar, I call him.
LikeLike
I cannot imagine anything made from Krispy Kreme donuts – it makes my teeth ache just to think of it (and to think there is a recipe that uses KK as hamburger rolls – ugh!). This recipe is sweet, but not that bad.
Brett has a real sweet tooth as well. Our little piece of cake every evening seems to be helping him eat less, as does not allowing cookies or other sweets into the house.
LikeLike
I made this for brunch today and it is absolutely delicious! Even ordered the Lyle’s Syrup from Amazon and it came today but this doesn’t need syrup. (Will pass along a failed idea. One family member likes stuffed French toast so I mixed some brown sugar and cream cheese and added it to one slice then followed the recipe as written. It’s better unstuffed.)
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s a keeper
LikeLike
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! It definitely doesn’t need any additional syrup – I use the Lyle’s as a substitute for corn syrup. The stuffing sound interesting as well, although I think maybe just some more pecans might be the way to go.
LikeLike