Orange-Pecan French Toast Casserole

Making this casserole saves you the trouble of standing over a griddle flipping individual slices of French toast. Assemble the dish the night before your gathering, and pop it in the oven the next morning. Be sure to serve each slice bottom-side up so the pecan mixture is on top.

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/3  cup  butter, melted
• 2  tablespoons  light-colored corn syrup
• Cooking spray
• 1/3  cup  chopped pecans
• 1  teaspoon  grated orange rind
• 1  cup  fresh orange juice
• 1/2  cup  fat-free milk
• 3  tablespoons  granulated sugar
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 3  large egg whites
• 2  large eggs
• 12  (1-inch-thick) slices French bread (about 1 pound)

Preparation

Combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup; pour into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle chopped pecans evenly over sugar mixture.

Combine rind and next 7 ingredients (rind through eggs); stir with a whisk. Arrange bread slices over pecans in dish; pour egg mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Carefully turn bread slices over to absorb excess egg mixture. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until lightly browned.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

293 (29% from fat)

Fat:

9.5g (sat 3.9g,mono 3.6g,poly 1.3g)

Protein:

6.1g

Carbohydrate:

43.6g

Fiber:

1.6g

Cholesterol:

49mg

Iron:

1.6mg

Sodium:

323mg

Calcium:

69mg