Honey Bun French Toast

Honey Bun Baked French Toast

4 tbs butter
4 eggs
3 tbs honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
pinch of allspice
2/3 cups orange juice
6 slices thick bread

Preheat oven to 400. Whisk juice, eggs, cinnamon, salt, and allspice together in a shallow bowl. Place butter and honey in a 13x9-inch glass baking pan. Heat in the oven until the butter is melted and the honey is bubbling. Do not allow the mixture to take on any color. Remove the pan from the oven, stir to mix the honey and butter. Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a skillet until fragrant. Sprinkle the pecans over the honey and butter mixture.

While the butter and honey are melting, dip one or two slices of bread at a time in the egg mixture, turning until thoroughly saturated but not falling apart. Arrange the soaked bread over the nuts in the baking pan. Bake until the top is golden brown and the bottom is bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes - This is from the Joy of Cooking. The original calls for apple cider, but we rarely have cider and always have orange juice. I think it's better with the juice and it is more tender. Be sure to let it soak for a bit, you don't want it to fall apart, but it needs to be pretty saturated. Be careful not to overcook this, the top doesn't brown as much as I expected it too. When it goes longer than 20 min, the syrup and pecans start to burn and the bread gets tough. This goes together really fast and is so yummy. Those who have a sweeter tooth will want a little extra syrup, but it's good without any extra. Enjoy!