Blueberry French Toast Bake

This is one of my new favorites for breakfast . . . actually we had it for dinner. I made the French bread and used it as soon as it was cool enough to cut. It was a pretty dense bread. The original recipe calls for French bread that is twelve days old. If you're going to use a lighter bread, make sure it's a little dry.

Ingredients:

1 loaf French bread, sliced in thick pieces

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups of half and half

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Arrange bread in a greased 13 X 9 inch pan. In a bowl, combine the eggs, half and half, milk, 3/4 cup brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg; pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate a minimum of 5 hours.

2. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Turn bread slices over. Sprinkle pecans over bread. Combine butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar; crumble over top. Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with blueberries. Bake 10 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

* I made this a lot more unhealthy than the original recipe. I was trying to use up my half and half so I used it instead of 2 cups of milk. Then I also stirred 3/4 cup of brown sugar in with the butter instead of 1/4 cup. This was an accident. A delicious one! The sugar, pecans, and blueberries that top this French toast make the best streusel-like topping.