you're making mealtime meaningful.
We don’t often think to use the slow cooker for breakfast, and boy, have we been missing out! Because what are all the benefits of a slow cooker?
- 1) Convenience
- 2) Saves you time at the stove
- 3) Only one dish to wash (slow cooker insert)
- 4) Frees up your oven or stove space
- 5) Easy way to feed a crowd
… and at the end of all that (non)effort, you have a tasty meal! Those benefits are great any other time of day, but in the morning we’re always looking for convenient, easy, and delicious dishes, so this Slow Cooker Banana Pecan French Toast is a total dream come true.
We like to use a soft challah bread or brioche as the base here, because either one has a way of soaking up all those delicious flavors really well.
And then you top it with this trio… If there’s a better combination than soft bananas, crunchy pecans, and sweet brown sugar, we don’t know what it is. (Okay, maybe peanut butter and jelly. Or milk and cookies… Anyway. Point is, it’s a really, really great combo.)
And once the whole thing is done, a good quality maple syrup drizzled over the top really brings this home.
This is one of our favorite things to serve when we have company staying overnight. For holiday gatherings, it’s the perfect thing. We get up early on Christmas morning, pop this is the slow cooker and sip coffee as the kids open presents. After, we all gather at the table and eat this together, and no one had to step away from the festivities even for a moment! Now, that’s called bringing family together.
Banana Pecan French Toast
Yield(s): Serves 6-8
3-4 hours
you're making mealtime meaningful.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf challah or brioche, cubed
- 5 eggs
- 2 bananas, sliced
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- pure maple syrup, as needed
Preparation
- Lightly grease your slow cooker with non-stick spray, then place your cubed bread in the bottom of slow cooker insert.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Pour egg mixture over cubed bread, making sure each piece is thoroughly coated.
- In a separate bowl, toss sliced bananas together with lemon juice, then place bananas on top of french toast mixture in slow cooker. Top with chopped pecans, then drizzle melted butter over the top.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-6, until cooked through. Serve hot, drizzled with maple syrup.
Recipe adapted from Skinny Ms.