A combination of warming spices, ripe pears and toasted bread come together in one baking dish for a divine breakfast or brunch.

This easy french toast recipe will have you coming back for a second serving!

Are you a fan of brunch like me?

I absolutely love the weekend tradition of brunch and french toast is a favourite of mine.

So, I combined all of the flavours of the season like sliced pears and ground cinnamon into this baked french toast. And can I just say the spiced pears which are spread throughout this dish are just DIVINE.

The prep time for this recipe is fairly short and you can definitely make this ahead of time so it’s easy to bake in the morning.

What ingredients make a delicious baked french toast

Pears: Make sure to use ripe pears when preparing this recipe as they will bake more consistently within the french toast. Ripe Anjou pears are my favourite to use but Bosc or Bartlett pears would work too.

Bread: A day-old (or longer) french bread works perfectly in this recipe but you could also try brioche or a baguette. If the bread is fresh, cut into cubes and then toast in the oven (see instructions in the recipe notes below).

Spices: Ground cinnamon and nutmeg are the perfect warming spices to complement the pears.

Almonds: Toasting the almonds just lightly at first adds some seriously toasty flavour throughout the baked french toast and pairs lovely with the pears.

Milk & Egg Mixture: This custard-type mixture is whisked together with vanilla extract and maple syrup. Then, pour it over the bread mixture so it can be baked together.

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Spiced Pear Baked French Toast

Looking for fall recipes? This delicious spiced pear baked french toast recipe will be a hit at fall and winter brunches.

Course Breakfast, brunch

Cuisine American

Keyword french toast

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Author Jess

Equipment

• 9x13 baking dish

Ingredients

• 1 loaf day-old bread cut into cubes (about 10 packed cups of bread) french bread or brioche or a baguette
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted
• 2 ripe pears, sliced
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp butter, melted 
• 7 large eggs
• 2 ½ cups milk
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1½ tsp cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• butter for the dish and serving, maple syrup for serving

Instructions

• Turn your oven to low broil, place 1/2 cup sliced almonds on a baking sheet and toast 3-4 minutes until golden. Set aside.
• Generously grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter and turn your oven to 350F.
• In a bowl whisk the eggs, milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla extract and salt. Set aside.
• To make the spiced pears, melt the butter in a bowl and mix in the pears, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.
• In your baking dish, spread about half of the bread cubes on the bottom and then spread half of the spiced pears, half of the almonds.
• Next, spread out the rest of the bread cubes to make your final layer. Then, top with the rest of the pears and almonds
• Pour the milk mixture evenly over the bread cubes to cover everything evenly. Use a spatula to gently press down on the bread to make sure the milk mixture gets in all the crevices.
• Let sit for 10 minutes before baking OR overnight in the fridge.

• Bake the french toast covered with foil for 30 minutes. Then, uncover and bake for the remaining 15-20 minutes until golden on top. It should be firm and puffed up when it's fully baked and there should be no liquid left. (If you've let this sit overnight, take out of the fridge while the oven is pre-heating and it might require 10-15 more minutes baking time).
• Let the french toast stand for 5 minutes before serving. When you’re ready to serve top with butter and drizzle with maple syrup.


Notes

If the bread is fresh, cut into cubes and then toast in the oven at 200F for about 10 minutes to dry it out.

This is honestly how I want to enjoy every Sunday morning. Just give me a cup of coffee, a good book and this divine french toast!

What is the secret to this recipe?

• Make sure the bread is at least one day old. Bread that is more dried out works best as it holds up to the egg batter.
• Crunchy topping: Almonds add crunch to this french toast and help to create a golden brown topping. But, you could also try walnuts or pecans.
• Maple Syrup & Butter: Butter makes everything better so make sure to top this french toast with a dollop of butter and of course some maple syrup.

I hope this is one of those breakfast recipes that you’ll make once and then have in your back pocket to make again and again.

And if you love brunch like me, try my Brunch Board where you can substitute all your favourite seasonal ingredients. Or try my classic quiche recipe.

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

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