Pecan Praline Baked French Toast

When Dave and I were in Door County we ate at a Restaurant called Julie's Park Cafe for breakfast. Dave ordered this Pecan Praline French Toast and LOVED IT! So for Father's Day I decided to attempt to re-create it for him. He said this was right on! The kids LOVED it too! Which why wouldn't they . . .it's like eating dessert for dinner. Not so much healthy, but it's Father's Day!

Pecan Praline Baked French Toast

1 French bread loaf 
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted 
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3/4 cup chopped pecans
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup half and half
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Cut 10 (1-inch-thick) slices of bread. Reserve remaining bread for another use.

2. Stir together brown sugar and next 2 ingredients; pour into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

3. Whisk together eggs and next 4 ingredients. Arrange bread slices over pecans; pour egg mixture over
bread. Cover and chill 8 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake bread 35 to 37 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Twix!

It's no secret that I love chocoalte. . .and caramel. . .and cookies. . .and sweets in general. I saw an idea for these bars and had to figure out how to make them. So I started with a very basic short bread crust. It's buttery, and delicate, and VERY tasty. Topped it with a homemade caramel, and used an old stand by recipe for the topping. They are amazing! I hope you make them, eat them, and love them!

Homemade Twix Bars

COOKIE CRUST:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour

1. Mix together butter and sugar until creamy.

2. Mix in flour until course and crumbly, and then continue till it looks like a dough.

3. Press into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.

4. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

5. Cool completely.

CARAMELY DELICIOUS LAYER:
1 1/2 cups butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 Tbsp corn syrup
2 14oz cans of sweetened condensed milk

1. In a large pan, melt together all ingredients.

2. Once everything is melted, slowly bring to a boil. (STIR CONSTANTLY. . .if you don't, you'll have a very bitter, burnt, chunky mixture. Trust me on this one. Learned the hard way.)

3. Once mixture is boiling, let it boil for about 10 minutes, stirring the whole time. The caramel will slightly darken in color, and become very thick.

4. Pour over the top of the cooled Cookie Crust and refrigerate for about an hour and a half.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER TOPPING:
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup peanut butter

1. Melt all ingredients together and spread over caramel.

2. Let set until topping hardens, cut, and enjoy!