Overnight Baked French Toast

My first attempt to make overnight baked french toast wasn't so great. I used the Paula Dean recipe on food network for our Christmas brunch. It was... soggy. Yuck. The bottom half was like egg with sugar and bread baked into it and the top was hard and dry.

I am a french toast lover, so I decided to try again. A few weeks ago I tried the recipe below, with some of my own adaptations. It was delicious! I have definitely found a winner!

original recipe from tablespoon.com

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) butter, melted
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 loaf french bread sliced into 1 1/2 inches thick slices
• 8 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup pecans, measured then chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• (optional) maple syrup and powdered sugar for topping

Directions

1. 1In a small bowl combine brown sugar and melted butter and pour on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
2. 2Arrange slices of bread in the baking dish, overlapping slightly, if necessary
3. 3Combine milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl and pour evenly over bread slices.
4. 4Sprinkle chopped pecans over bread slices.
5. 5Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4-12 hours.
6. 6In the morning, take the casserole out of the fridge for at least 10 minutes while you are preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
7. 7Bake casserole for 30-35 minutes. If top starts browning too quickly place a foil loosely over the top of the casserole for the last 10 minutes or so. You want it to cook long enough to make sure the bottom part is cooked but don't dry it out completely.
8. 8Remove casserole from oven and let it cool slightly before serving. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup.