Spiced Pear French Toast Recipe

French Toast:
Vegetable oil or nonstick cooking spray
1 (1-pound) loaf cinnamon raisin bread, crusts removed
6 eggs
½ cup sugar
2½ cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Pears:
1 tablespoon butter
2 firm-ripe Anjou pears, cored and cut into chunks
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of grated nutmeg
¼ cup maple syrup, plus additional for serving

1. To prepare the French toast, oil a 13-by-9-inch baking dish or coat it with cooking spray. Tear bread into small pieces and scatter in the pan evenly.
2. Whisk eggs and sugar together in a small bowl. Add milk and vanilla; whisk well. Pour over bread and press down with a spoon to make sure bread is submerged. Cover with foil, pressing gently so that foil is on the surface of bread. Refrigerate overnight.

The Next Day
3. Keeping foil on baking dish, slide pan into a cold oven. Turn oven to 350F. After 25 minutes, remove foil. Continue baking until toast is puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.
4. To prepare the pears, melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pears; stir until pears are well coated. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Continue to cook until pears begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Pour in 1⁄4 cup maple syrup. Cook until bubbly. Remove from heat.
5. To serve, slice French toast into individual servings. Top with spiced pears. Serve with additional maple syrup if desired. Serves 12.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Carol Gordon’s Sleep On It (Hyperion, 2006).

Nutrition facts per serving: 240 calories, 7g fat, 9g protein, 38g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, 210mg sodium.