Baked Blueberry French Toast

Don't worry, your blueberry french toast is only exploding temporarily!

Here's what I brought to my friends place on Saturday before we headed to the PNE. I had a minor freak out when the french toast tried to escape the bonds of the dish (pictured above). Thankfully after stabbing it a few times (to check if it was done) and leaving it to rest a bit, it came back down to earth. Whew!

Do you have a bunch of friends staying at your place or do you need a recipe to bring to a brunch?

Look no further mes amis - this is the french toast to end them all. I usually am not a big fan of french toast the traditional way. My dad's version tastes too eggy and fried for a sweet dish (sorry dad)! This baked version removes the savory/sweet confusion. It's definitely on the sweet end and its custardy texture complemented with the tart blueberries cutting through the maple syrup makes this french toast a deliciously sinful way to start your morning.

Baked Blueberry French Toast
Recipe courtesy of Gourmet Magazine (slightly tweaked by Jenny C)

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 40 minutes
Inactive Time: 8 hrs to 1 day for absorption
Yield: 6-8 servings

1 (24 inch) baguette
6 large eggs
3 cups milk (I used 1%, original recipe calls for whole milk)
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg (I used cinnamon b/c I didn't have nutmeg)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 cup pecans* (optional: I left them out b/c of my amis' nut allergies)
1/4 cup butter plus 1 tsp* (for pecans)
1/4 tsp salt* (if you're adding pecans)
1 1/2 cup blueberries

Butter a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. Cut your bread into 1 inch slices and arrange in one layer in the baking dish. It's ok to smoosh the bread in order to fit more slices - pack it in there!

In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg (or cinnamon), vanilla and 3/4 cup brown sugar and pour evenly over bread. Chill mixture, covered, until all liquid is absorbed by bread, at least 8 hrs and up to 1 day.

*For pecans: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a shallow baking pan spread pecans evenly and toast in middle of oven until fragrant, about 8 minutes. Toss pecans with 1 tsp butter and salt.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Sprinkle blueberries and pecans (if using) over bread mixture. Cut 2 ounces (1/2 stick) of butter into pieces and in a small saucepan heat with remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, stirring until butter is melted. Drizzle butter mixture over bread, place baking dish on cookie tray to catch any overflow and bake mixture 40 minutes (the original recipe says "bake 20 min" but I've done that before and found it too loose still... if you like your french toast looser go for it), or until any liquid from the blueberries is bubbling.

Poke it if you're curious to see that the middle is cooked, then let rest a little & serve with maple syrup.

Enjoy!