A baked french toast with plenty of crunchy brown bits that is soft and custardy on the inside (not soggy!). Made with baguettes (french stick), it fans out like hasselback potatoes, creating perfect crevices to pour the maple syrup into!
“When you serve this, it fans out like “hasselback potatoes”, making perfect crevices to pour maple syrup into.”
I know the name of this recipe is a bit odd but I truly can’t think of a better way to describe it. This french toast bake is made using baguette (french stick bread) which is sliced almost all the way through then soaked with an egg mixture. It’s quite different to the usual method which involves cubes of bread or layering slices of bread in a baking dish.
The end result is also quite different because there is a higher crunch factor than usual french toast bakes which, after you get through the top layer, are soft and custardy underneath. Whereas with this Hasselback Baked French Toast, there are more ridges and surface area so you get more of the gorgeous crunchy bits (which, let’s face it, are the best bits of any dish!).
The thing that “seals the deal” for me is that when you serve it out, it fans out like hasselback potatoes (hence the name!). So when you pour maple syrup over it, it gets right into all the crevices so every bit is a perfect balance of sweet, buttery, custardy goodness coated with maple syrup and with plenty of crunchy brown bits.
“This french toast bake has a higher crunch factor than the usual because it’s not made with layers of bread soaked with egg mixture.”
The beauty of this dish is that you can make it for 4 or 12 people with little extra effort! Just multiply the recipe and use a larger baking dish. The baking time does not increase substantially because this bake is not as “soaked through” as with other french toast bakes. The bread itself is very custardy, but it is not sitting in a pool of egg mixture (does that make sense??).
The brown crunchy bits are always the best – and this french toast has plenty of it! 🙂 – Nagi
More cute spins on French Toast
We all love classic French Toast – but sometimes it’s nice to try something different!
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Hasselback Baked French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 baguette / french stick , 60 cm / 2 feet long (Note 1)
Egg Mixture
- 5 eggs
- 1 1/3 cup milk (preferably whole fat but low fat works just fine)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Butter Mixture
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or essence (optional)
Toppings (not optional!)
- Icing sugar (confectionary sugar)
- Maple syrup
Instructions
- Cut the french stick loaf into 3 equal pieces.
- Cut slices into each piece around 1.5cm / 0.5" thick almost through to the base (like hasselback potatoes / classic garlic bread).
- Place the Egg Mixture into a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Place the Egg Mixture and bread into a ziplock bag or plastic bag. Remove as much air as you can and seal. Set aside for at least 1 hour (or overnight), turning once or twice, or until most of the Egg Mixture has been soaked up by the bread. (Note 1)
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Place the bread into a baking dish (22 x 22 cm / 8 x 8"), cut side up.
- Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Place the Butter Mixture into a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until melted and combined, stirring occasionally. You could do this in the microwave too - around 2 x 30 second bursts, stirring in between.
- Remove the french toast from the oven. Pour the butter mixture over the french toast and return to oven. Bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes or until golden and crispy on top.
- Remove from oven and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Sift over icing sugar (confectioners sugar) and serve with maple syrup.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
I didn’t see comments from anyone that actually made it, so here I am to report! This was delicious! I was out of vanilla & used orange, which was YUMMY and a nice compliment to the cinnamon, but use a little less than 1/2tsp as it’s potent. Also, I would try PAM next time as it stuck hard to the pan and so I lost the presentation factor when serving. Otherwise, it was definitely a hit! -ps I found mini baguettes from trader joe’s and those were kind of perfect! (2 per person) And I cooked at 365 vs 350 and for a few extra minutes. This was a yummy & fun Christmas eve brunch choice!
Nagi. I notice that you say when bakingthe French Toast that it should be placed in the baking dish ” cut side up”. Is this correct? The photograph and the description suggest that the slices should be stacked upright so that they present like the potatoes. Would appreciate your feedback
Best. Martin
Hi Martin! Yes it gets baked with the cut side up so they present like hasselback potatoes! N x
Hi!
Will it still work if I put the bread in the baking pan, pour over the egg mixture, then pop the baking pan in the oven the next morning?
Or do you think it’ll come out too soggy?
Beth
Hi Beth! Nope, am sure it will work because of the way the bread is cut, much more surface area exposed to the heat to crisp up 🙂
Love this recipe! I almost gave up on finding a baked French toast that wasn’t soggy…. Finally found it!
And the Carmel sauce thats Poured over – makes it!
Thank you for sharing this!
Oooh, I’m glad you love it! And yes, I know what you mean about soggy baked French Toast…. 😉
I am sorry I forgot to write clearly I wanted to make only the taco shells so please tell me ingredients method of making
Oh! I’m sorry, I don’t have a recipe 🙂 I’ve never tried to make my own tortillas from scratch!
Where do you find this type of bread? We live in a smaller town and have Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee in a nearby town. Would they have it?
Hi Judy! I just checked Walmart online and it looks like they sell it! It looks like this: http://wm12.walmart.com/health-article/us/assets/food-guide/baguettes/~default
This is stunning Nagi! I love the simple ingredient list ~ simple and delicious is the best!
Thanks so much Sarah!! 🙂
I made the Hazzleback French toast for our New Years Brunch, we loved it, thanks for the great recipe.
Hi Norma, thanks so much for your lovely comment! I am so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Fabulous way to kick off 2015!!
I just made this and it’s amazing. Thank you for the yummy recipe
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Keshia!! Thank you for coming back to leave such a lovely comment! 🙂
Fabulous! Love the hasselback take on this french toast recipe. The crunchy texture sounds perfect!
Thanks Sandra!! I love the crunchy crust – my favourite part!! 🙂
The recipe looks great. But I have a question. After you combine the egg mixture in bread, do you refrigerate or keep at room temperature?
Gosh Sarah, I should have specified that in the recipe! I refrigerate it – because it’s egg and here in Australia, it’s summer so it’s really hot! But if it’s cool where you are and you are only “marinating” it for the minimum time, then it will be fine left out. Thanks for asking! I’ll update the recipe 🙂
This is such a clever idea! I love how the maple syrup gets down in there 😉 And the textures sound amazing- crunchy vs. custardy… What a perfect breakfast dish! Once again you’ve knocked off my socks!
Thanks Allie!!That’s something, coming from the Baking Queen!
Well this is stunningly gorgeous!! Who doesn’t want THAT coming out of the oven on Christmas morning?!? Genius as usual, Nagi.
Thanks Marissa!! I’m thinking this is a great post Christmas brekki!!
I can see myself going for extra crunchy baked french toast Nagi. Now I just need to show this to my husband, casually of course, and hope that he gets the message. 😉
Tell him you’ll add bacon!!
Nagi!!! wow!!! I’ve never had french toast like this!! Amazing!! I’ve made hasselback potatoes so love that you did this with french toast and love that you used a baguette for this!! brilliant!!! yes, this IS the perfect balance of sweet, buttery, custardy goodness coated with maple syrup. . oh my gawd, yes! love this!
Thanks Alice! I love using baguettes for french toast!!
I actually saw this on Pinterest before I made my way to your blog…I loveee this! I’m sure it’s as delicious as it is pretty! Pinned!
Ha ha!! That happened to me with one of yours recently too!! Can’t remember which one – was it a tortellini??
What a wonderfully awesome dish. Custard crunch and my favourite maple syrup
Thanks Tania!!
Whoa! Now THIS is French toast! I think preparing it like hasselback potatoes is brilliant! I love the idea of pouring the syrup into the crevasses of the bread – soaking up all of that yummy goodness! And they’re baked!? I can see where that would give the French toast a wonderful crusty outside while keeping the inside nice and custard-like!
Thanks so much Kathleen!! I know, it’s those crevices that made me think this one was worth sharing!!
I love that you used baguettes in this french roast bake Nagi Very creative and and I can’t wait to try it! Pinned!
Thanks Mira!! I know it’s a little different….but it was SO good! Very rare that “creations” of mine work so easily 🙂
WOW – that looks so good! Definitely finding an excuse to make this ASAP 🙂
Thanks Tara! 🙂
Beautiful photography – I feel like am right there , eating this scrumptious breakfast .But am not. Love it Nagi!
Thanks Imma!! I have to admit, it was super yum….I had it for breakfast AND dessert!