Caramel-Banana-Pecan Bread Casserole

For Huber's Christmas Breakfast Potluck, one of the items I decided to bring was Caramel-Banana-Pecan Bread Casserole.

Caramel-Banana-Pecan Bread Casserole

Ingredients

• Disposable slow cooker liner
• 1 12 ounce loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 9 cups)
• 2 cups half-and-half, light cream, or whole milk
• 3 eggs or 3/4 cup refrigerated or thawed frozen egg product
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped and toasted
• 1 recipe Caramel-Banana Sauce

Directions

1. Line a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker with disposable slow cooker liner.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking pan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until bread cubes are golden, stirring once or twice; cool. Place bread cubes in prepared slow cooker.
3. In a large bowl whisk together half-and-half, eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour mixture over bread cubes in cooker. With back of a large spoon, press bread down slightly to moisten cubes completely.
4. In a medium bowl, using a pastry blender, cut butter into brown sugar until pieces are pea-size. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle pecan mixture over bread mixture in cooker.
5. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove crockery liner from cooker, if possible, or turn off cooker. Cool mixture for 30 minutes.
6. Serve casserole with Caramel-Banana Sauce.

Caramel-Banana Sauce

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons light-color corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 banana, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a medium heavy saucepan combine brown sugar, whipping cream, butter, and corn syrup. Bring to boiling over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally; reduce heat to medium. Boil gently, uncovered, for 3 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour sauce into a small bowl; cool to room temperature. If desired, cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight. To serve, let chilled sauce stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Stir in banana.

I thought it was mighty good.