Baked Baguette French Toast Recipe 465

Steps:

• Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with melted butter. Spread any remaining melted butter over bottom of dish.
• Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over melted butter.
• Arrange bread in two layers over brown sugar mixture.
• Beat eggs, milk, and salt in a bowl; pour over bread.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• You can soak this overnight but the texture will be more like a soufflé. If you do it 30 minutes before baking, it's a bit crunchier. But both techniques work well. You want the baguette to be stale but not as hard a a rock. You could save scraps in the freezer for a few weeks until you have enough for this dish. Preheat oven to 375°F. Trim 1/2 inch off of each end of the baguette and feed scraps to the dog. Slice baguette in half. Cut into serving-size pieces (4-5" long). Place bread cut-side up in an ovenproof dish and butter the top of each piece. Don't overlap the pieces. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the eggs. Add milk, vanilla extract, orange juice/zest, and salt. Whisk until foamy. Pour over bread. Flip the pieces around every 10 minutes or so to make sure both sides are soaking up the liquid . Leave in the liquid for about 30 minutes total. You want the bread to be wet but not soggy and falling apart. When you bake it, the bread should be resting in a small pool of the liquid but not drowning in it. You might need to pour off a few tablespoons of the liquid if the bread doesn't soak most of it up. Make sure all pieces are cut-side up. Sprinkle turbinado sugar all over the top. Bake until the bread is puffed up and golden (30-40 minutes). You might need to throw it under the broiler for optimum crispy crunchy caramelized beauty. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and eat right away (but it does reheat nicely). Serve with optional toppings listed above.

Steps:

• Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan. Place baguette slices into the bottom of the prepared pan.
• Combine half-and-half, milk, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Pour over bread slices, cover the baking pan, and store in the refrigerator, 8 hours to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Uncover pan. Combine brown sugar, pecans, margarine, and corn syrup in a bowl and spoon over bread mixture, making sure to touch each slice.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, about 40 minutes.

Steps:

• Start the French toast: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet and bake until fully toasted, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the syrup: Combine the maple syrup and cinnamon sticks in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and keep warm while you finish making the French toast.
• Continue with the French toast: Whisk together the milk, eggs, cocoa, sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl until evenly combined and frothy. Pour into a pie plate or other shallow baking dish. Add a few of the toasted baguette slices at a time and allow to soak in the custard, about 1 minute per side.
• While the bread soaks, melt a couple tablespoons of the butter over medium heat in a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet. Working in batches, cook the baguette slices until cooked through and slightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter and repeat with the remaining butter and baguette slices.
• To serve: Divide the French toast among plates, drizzle with the warm cinnamon-infused syrup, dollop with crème fraîche or whipped cream and sprinkle with the chopped chocolate.