Pecan Bread French Toast Recipe

A Perfect French Toast Recipe

Featuring our Sliced Pecan Bread

Let’s face it, breakfast is the most frequently skipped meal of the day…

For most of us, our weekday mornings consist of a mild hysteria as we balance getting ourselves or our kids dressed and out of the house on time. Basically, our mornings are considered a success if we manage to drink our first cup of coffee before it becomes ice cold.

All week long we rush, rush, rush! Then,…*sigh*… along comes the weekend. A time of the week specifically created for the purpose of rest, relaxation, and even a little self-indulgence. Now, on this mini-vacation, we call Saturday, no ordinary breakfast will do. Why choke down your ritualistic bowl of gloopy oatmeal or tasteless bran when you can sit and truly enjoy your morning with a stack of buttery, golden brown goodness? Excellent question astute reader. We sense you are a true intellectual.

Luckily for you, here at Collin Street, we are mind readers as well as bakers. We sensed you were in a breakfast quandary and jumped into action! Our kitchen psychics dashed off to their griddles and whipped up the most perfect french toast recipe you have ever tasted!

CLICK HERE to jump to recipe below.

Our recipe begins were any great French toast recipe begins. The bread!

The key is to find a flavorful, robust bread which is not too thick yet not too thin. The bread needs to hold up to the moisture of the egg mixture and the heat of the griddle. Too soft a bread and your french toast can struggle to hold up to the egg mixture, becoming soggy and mushy. Too dense a bread and the heat from the griddle can make your french toast tough and dry.

We went through a series of trials with different types of loaves: white, wheat, whole grain, brioche, texas toast… nothing provided us with the just right texture and flavor. Then, on a whim, we tested our Pecan Bread and oh, Mama!! We found it was the perfect thickness and density.

As an added bonus, our pecan bread is already packed with loads of flavor! Baked with handfuls of hearty, native Texas pecans, this bread is a foodies’ dream come true. If you have never enjoyed a slice of our Pecan Bread, we’ll describe it for you:

“A flaky, golden brown crust,  surrounding an airy, chewy interior, sprinkled with toasted, chopped pecan emphasizing the savory nuttiness of the bread itself…”

Pardon us while we mop up our drool!

So we chose the perfect bread! What was left but the winning combination of spices.

We wanted to stick to the traditional french toast flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. However, we decided to take the traditional flavors of french toast and build upon them to highlight the flavor profile of the bread itself.

Turns out that when you work with high-quality ingredients, it’s pretty easy to make something great.  After a few practice batches, we found the best combination of wet to dry ingredients.

After spending a little time over a hot griddle, we had ourselves some buttery and toasty bread.  We recommend serving your Pecan Bread french toast hot with a handful of freshly sliced fruit, toasted pecans, a drizzling of warmed fruit preserves, and just a dusting of powdered sugar. Like such…

Servings:  4**
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking Time:  10 – 15 minutes

** Recipe can be halved to accommodate 2 servings instead of 4**

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf of Collin Street Pecan Bread ⭑
• ⅔  cup Milk
• 4 Eggs
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• ½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Salt – to taste
• 2-4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 2 cups Fresh Strawberries and Blueberries, for serving
• 1 jar Collin Street Strawberry Preserves, for serving
• 1 cup Pecans, for serving
• ½ cup Powdered Sugar, for serving

⭑ Pecan Bread only available for purchase only in Collin Street Bakery Bakeshops

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees (this is for keeping your french toast warm). Line a rimmed baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Preheat a large non-stick griddle over medium heat.
3. In mixing bowl, combine milk, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and salt. Whisk till well combined.
4. Place two tbsp of unsalted butter onto the griddle to melt.
5. While butter is melting, dip one slice of bread at a time into your egg mixture, ensuring an even coating of egg mixture on both sides.  Be careful to coat the bread without soaking the bread. Allow any excess egg mixture to drip back into the dish.
6. Place egg mixture-coated bread onto your griddle and allow to cook until the bottom side is golden brown (2-5 minutes) then flip. [Duration of cooking time depends on the duration of time bread spent in the egg mixture].  Once both sides are golden brown (~2-5 minutes per side), transfer cooked french toast onto your parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the warmed oven.
7. In a microwave-safe bowl, place 2-4 tbsp of Collin Street Strawberry Preserves.  Microwave on low for 30-60 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds until mixture reaches a smooth and flowing consistency.
8. When you are ready to eat, place your french toast on a plate and garnish with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and pecans.  With a spoon, drizzle the warmed strawberry preserves over the top of the french toast. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
9. Serve and ENJOY!

Need a french toast recipe to feed the whole family for brunch?

We’ve got you covered!  Try this…

Servings:  8-10
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking Time:  10 – 15 minutes

**Recipe requires mixture to chill overnight**

Ingredients:

For the French Toast Casserole:

• 12 -13 cups cubed Collin Street Pecan Bread ⭑
• 8 large eggs
• 3 cups whole milk
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 4 tsp good vanilla extract
• 1 jar maple syrup, for serving
• 1 jar Collin Street Blackberry Preserves
• 1 cup fresh blackberries

For the streusel:

• 2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• ½ cups unsalted butter, chilled and cubed (~1 stick)
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon

⭑ Pecan Bread only available for purchase only in Collin Street Bakery Bakeshops

Directions:

1. Prepare a glass or ceramic 9×13 baking dish by coating the inside and bottom evenly with butter.  Place all the cups of the cubed Pecan Bread inside the dish.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Whisk till well combined. Pour the egg mixture over the top of the cubed Pecan Bread and gently toss to ensure an even coating of all the bread.
3. **There will be a thin layer of excess liquid in the bottom of the dish – so don’t panic!**
4. Cover baking dish and allow to chill overnight in the fridge.  
5. The next morning, when you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. In a medium mixing bowl., combine light brown sugar, chopped pecans, chilled and cubed unsalted butter, and ground cinnamon.  Quickly, combine the mixture with your hands until it resembles chunky, damp sand.
7. Remove the unbaked Pecan Bread french toast mixture from the fridge.  Sprinkle the chilled streusel evenly over the top of the casserole.
8. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until topping is nicely brown and bubbly.  If the casserole begins to look too brown on top at the 45-minute mark, loosely tent with foil and continue to bake as needed.
9. Allow Pecan Bread french toast to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting.  
10. While french toast is cooling, place 2-4 tbsp of Collin Street Blackberry Preserves. In a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave on low for 30-60 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds until mixture reaches a smooth and flowing consistency.  
11. When you are ready to eat, place your french toast on a plate and garnish with fresh blackberries.  With a spoon, drizzle the warmed blackberry preserves over the top of the french toast. Serve with warmed maple syrup if desired.
12. Serve and ENJOY!