Baked Blueberry Pecan French Toast
This baked blueberry pecan french toast is a delicious, out-of-the-norm breakfast. While blueberries are in their prime, you must try this!
After the success that was Baked Oatmeal, I was on the hunt for another great, out-of-the-norm, breakfast idea.
Thanks to a telepathic cousin-in-law, I was sent this fabulous baked french toast recipe to try, complete with her raving reviews. My family ate it for breakfast this morning and…it was soooooo good. So good.
While blueberries are in their prime, you must try this!
The pecans are toasted and tossed with a smidgeon of butter – giving them a delicious, buttery flavor.
The french baquette slices soak in an egg/milk/brown sugar mixture overnight and it all bakes to glorious perfection with fresh, tart blueberries and a brown sugar caramel drizzled atop.
It is very glorious and makes a perfect Saturday morning breakfast.
I owe you, Julianne. Thanks for the recipe (and the devoured calories).
Baked Blueberry Pecan French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 French bread baguette
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup (159 g) packed brown sugar, divided
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- ½ stick plus 1 teaspoon butter
- 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
Instructions
- Butter a 9×13 baking dish. Cut 1 1/2 inch slices from the baguette and arrange in one layer in the dish (about 6-8 slices).
- Whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a large bowl and pour evenly over the bread. Refrigerate mixture, covered, until all liquid is absorbed by the bread, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
- When you are ready to bake and serve, preheat oven to 350 F. Spread pecans evenly in a shallow baking pan and toast in middle of oven until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Toss pecans with 1 teaspoon butter. Alternately (and this is what I did), toast the pecans in a skillet in one layer over medium heat, stirring often. Toss with 1 teaspoon butter. (I did this the night before to save time the morning of).
- Sprinkle pecans and blueberries evenly over bread mixture. Cut remaining 1/2 stick butter into pieces and heat with remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar in a small saucepan, stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.
- Drizzle butter mixture over bread and bake mixture 30 – 40 minutes or until any liquid from blueberries is bubbling.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Julianne
Wonderful recipe! Take it up a notch with homemade blueberry syrup. Just heat a cup of fresh blueberries & 1/2 cup real maple syrup in a small saucepan over med-low until berries burst. Strain and stir in a tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Big hit every mother’s day!
For years, every Christmas morning, I have made a version of this (from another site). That recipe calls for much more liquid, and while I love bread pudding, not everyone in my family likes that soggy texture. In an effort to find something similar, I stumbled across your recipe and it is PERFECT! Just the right ratio of liquid to bread. This is my new go-to recipe. It is delicious!
I’m so happy to hear that, Starr!
I can’t count how many times I have made this over the past 6 or 7 years! It is the most requested birthday breakfast in our family and a hit with houseguests. I never toast the pecans (and it’s still unbelievably tasty!). I bake it for closer to 40 minutes every time (30-35 will cause the eggs in the center to still be creamy-textured). Don’t forget to butter the dish first! By the way, mostly-stale baguettes also work if you give enough hours to soak up the liquid (especially if you turn each bread piece over at least a few hours before baking). I also have made this a number of times with Gluten Free baguettes (Schär brand). Those baguettes are a much softer bread, but it works just fine … and once it’s baked, you almost can’t tell the difference in taste! (And I’ve done a side-by-side taste comparison!)
You’re awesome, Allyson! Thanks for leaving the review – especially about converting to gluten free!
Mel- I make this dish all the time for guests and love it! It always turns out great! I have a stale baguette I’m trying to figure out what to do with. Could I use it to make this? Would I need to add more liquid? Just wanted to hear your thoughts! Thanks!
Hi Mindy – is there are a lot of crust to the baguette? If so (or if it is really stale), I’d suggest adding a bit more liquid.
This seems like a yummy recipe. Can I add the pecans, blueberries, and drizzle the night before? I’m taking it to someone for breakfast tomorrow and would like to have it all assembled so all they have to do is put it in the oven.
You probably could – the pecans will probably get a little soft if refrigerated overnight with the casserole.
This was delicious!!! Minus the pecans for no nut house, still awesome though
Hello Anissa – Mel doesn’t have access to internet right now so I’m helping her out with comments for the next few days. Thank you for the feedback. I am glad it was still delicious even without the pecans!
What kind of french baguette did you use? Just french bread, or a smaller thinner baguette that’s crunchier?
I use one kind of in between – not super super thin and crunchy but definitely not ultra-fluffy french bread. More like an artisan-style loaf that has some heft to it.
I’m wanting to try this without the pecans, since DH is allergic to pecans and walnuts. Should I just leave the nuts out altogether or can I use almonds?
I think almonds would work great.
This turned out perfect! Next time I think I’ll swap out the nutmeg for cinnamon. Just my family’s personal preference. Delicious!!!
This sounds soooo gooood! Was wondering though, if fresh strawberries could be used instead of blueberries?
Pennie Jo – I’ve never tried strawberries. Good luck if you try it (just keep in mind strawberries have quite a bit more water content than blueberries).
Yummy and just the right amount of sweet! I made it for my son’s birthday breakfast. Very quick to prepare. Thanks, Mel.
Delicious! Made this for a potluck brunch at church. It held up great in the warmed casserole keeper. And the leftovers were very tasty, both cold and re-warmed. Thanks for another amazing recipe!
This was so very yummy! Made it for dinner last night and will have the leftovers for lunch today!
Can’t say enough good things about this recipe. Superfast prep the night before and then it pops in the oven in the morning to bubble up to delicious perfection. I added some cinnamon to the custard and used toasted pecans from Trader Joe’s. SO good!
Made this Yesterday and had a few of my girlfriends over for breakfast. They loved it and the frozen bluelerries worked great! I blogged about this recipe and used your picture cuz i dont have a very good camera. Let me know if that was ok!
Jena – I’m glad the frozen blueberries worked great and that your friends liked it. Thanks for checking back in!
I have some frozen blueberries. Do you think those would work?
Jena – yes, I think frozen blueberries work fine in this. Just make sure to drain them as well as you can.
I made this for guests yesterday morning and it tasted great! It turned out kind of mushy and soggy though – is that normal? Any ideas on what I could do to make it a little crisper? my husband’s not a fan of soggy foods…
Megan – I’m glad this worked out ok but am sorry it was too soggy. If you want it a bit crispier, I would cut the soaking liquid in half, or bake it in a much larger pan so the bread has room to bake around the edges. Hope that helps!
@Mel, they turned out great! We’re also watching our calories pretty close, so we couldn’t eat _too_ much of these without busting the bank so to speak 🙂
(If anyone following along is curious, I calculated the calories for 1/8 of the pan — making 8 servings — at 407 calories)
Thanks, Jesse! I’m glad (well, kind of…) for the calorie count. It will probably make me feel a little more guilty when eating this but it probably won’t stop me. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know it turned out great!
I’m making this for my wife for Mother’s Day tomorrow. Never browned pecans before…wish me luck!
Jesse – how did it turn out? Way to go on making such a decadent dish for your wife!
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Woohoo! This picture is making me really, really really want this again.
I think I forgot to tell you, but both times I’ve made this, I’ve used pumpkin pie spice instead of nutmeg — works great and lovely.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
That look simply delicious. I have added that recipe to my list of dishes to prepare. Thanks for sharing!
this is great, melanie, particularly because your berries are so big and luscious!
I make this..but without the blueberries. I must try it this way! yummmmm!
WOW I’m sitting here at my desk, mouth watering! YUM!
Oh my goodness this looks good! I think I tried something similiar to this 3 months ago. It was very good 🙂
oooooo my gosh, looks sooo good !
Just wanted to let you know that this was heavenly!
Jessica – glad you liked this! Thanks for letting me know.