Recipe Rescue: Frightfully Good French Toast Bake!

I was going to wait till next month when I begin my holiday recipe series, but had a change of heart. This recipe is going to make your life easier and your taste buds scream "holy flavor town Batman"! So jump on and let's hit the kitchen and start cooking.

What You'll Need:

For the French Toast Base
1 good sized french bread loaf
(when cut into 1" slices it should
fill a 9 x 13 pan)
8 eggs
2 cups half and half
1 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

For the Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup pecan pieces

Putting It All Together:

Here's why this recipe is perfect for holiday morning's, you assemble the base and refrigerate
it over night, pop it in the oven in the morning and 45 minutes later, it's breakfast time.
cut the french bread in diagonal slices and layer upright in a butter/sprayed 9 x 13 pan
mix together the eggs, half and half, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla then pour over the bread making sure to saturate each pieces even in between the slices sprinkle with the salt and cover with foil put this in the fridge overnight.  In the morning set the pan on the counter while you make the topping and preheat the oven to 350 mix together the butter, pecans and brown sugar and spread over the bread bake for about 45 minutes the bread will puff up, get golden and it will start to bubble, if the bottom seems to be soggy let bake for another few minutes then remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes-I took this time to make some scrambled eggs with cheese and scallions. Enjoy!