A quick, layered dish that chills overnight gives you more time the next day to spend with your guests! It is perfect for a gathering because this recipe yields a lot.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 9 hrs |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 20 servings |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 (29 ounce) can pear halves, cut lengthwise into 4 slices
- 1 (1 pound) loaf sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 ½ cups eggs
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Evenly distribute the butter cubes into the bottom of a 10×14-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter. Arrange the pear slices into the bottom of the dish. Arrange the bread cubes into a single layer over the pears.
- Mix the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract together in a bowl until fully blended; pour evenly over the bread cubes, assuring all pieces are evenly covered. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and chill overnight in refrigerator.
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and allow to warm while the oven preheats.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the top of the bread is golden brown and the eggs have solidified, 45 to 60 minutes. Top with the sliced almonds to serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 192 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 26 g |
| Cholesterol | 121 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 215 mg |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 7 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Great recipe! Made twice, using fresh pears both times. The first time the pears released a lot of liquid which pooled in the bottom, so the second time I reduced the milk to 1 cup, which helped. The second time I also made alterations: added 1/2 cup flax meal, cubes of cream cheese between the pear and bread layer, and mixed some sweet potato puree into the batter to increase the nutrition. Will make many more times!
This was a hit! I used fresh pears and it was amazing. I ended up using 11 jumbo eggs to get 2.5 c. I pulled it out at 50 min to add more pads of butter to the top and sprinkle on the almonds. Cooked another 20 min and it was pure magic.
Delicious! My B&B guests loved it. FYI, 2 ½ cups of eggs is equivalent to 12 large eggs. I used four fresh pears, peeled and sliced, rather than canned, and sprinkled the almonds over it about halfway through the baking so that they would be a bit toasted. Served it with lightly sweetened whipped cream with a touch of vanilla added, and no one went for the syrup! Next time (and their will be a next time!) I make it, I would use 6 to 8 pears. I’m also thinking it would be simpler to melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar, and spread it on the bottom, rather than cut the butter into tiny cubes and distribute them evenly! I might also add a bit more almond extract. That flavor did not come through very strongly. Do use sourdough … it’s great in this.
This was delicious! I followed the recipe exactly except increased almond extract to 1 tsp. Generously sprinkled almonds before baking. Baked uncovered for about an hour. Did not need to top with any syrup or powdered sugar. It was plenty sweet. Did not find the pears to be lacking. Used one 28-oz. can and it was plenty. Made a big 13×9 pan full. Hopefully the leftovers will reheat ok.
very easy, not too sweet or eggy (doug’s mom would like it), baked for 45 minutes in my oven in pyrex and perfect. Sprinkled almonds on before baking. Drizzled with a little honey before serving. I thought the almond was delicate in this and maybe could even increase to a full tsp (and increase the vanilla in this case too) but it was good as-is Doubled pears and extracts- yum! Maybe try some cornstarch on the bottom to help thicken the liquid (with extra pears it got pretty juicy down there)
I would make it again
This is a great recipe – I’ve made it again and again for large crowds as well as my family. And it freezes well. Definitely a keeper!
This is a great recipe – I’ve made it again and again for large crowds as well as my family. And it freezes well. Definitely a keeper!
Yummy! Fresh pears are a must….not too ripe/soft, a bit firmer is better! Press the bread down into the egg mixture to assure that it’s completely covered. I like to top it with fresh whipped cream and candied sliced almonds!
This was really good, but I thought it could use at least twice as many pears. Fresh pears would probably be better than canned, but it was still very tasty.
Made it exactly as is in the original recipe. Was a HIT. Thanks for sharing 🙂
My kids loved it! I had some stake French bread and some very ripe pears. It came out lovely. It wasn’t too sweet at all, which was perfect. But those who like it sweet may want more sugar in the egg batter.
I followed all of the directions, but unfortunatley this just did not turn out good at all and it sucks because I had made it to bring in for a work potluck breakfast and it was pretty horrible. 🙁 Definitely would not make again, not sure what happened.
This recipe was a big hit at a work potluck breakfast! This is really quite easy and the almond extract and almonds take this dish to different level of yumminess. I did not change a thing in the recipe, except to add a little bit more eggs and milk to cover all the bread. This will definitely be one of my “go-to” recipes. Thanks!
Easy to make, everyone loved it.
I took this to a brunch today and it was well received by all. I made half the recipe; used fresh pears, cinnamon swirl bread and cinnamon instead of the almond extract. Served 4 with some leftovers. Thanks for posting.
I use a lot more fruit on the bottom than it calls for. I’ve used peaches instead of pears and that was good too. Also added some nutmeg for additional flavor.
HUGE hit for family brunch! People were asking for recipe. Would give 6 stars if could! Quick to make the night before. Note my tweeks: double these things – pears, almond extract. Increase milk by 1/2 cup (I used Vit D milk), bread by 1/2 lb, and almonds so total amount is 1/3 cup (2 oz pkg). Use real maple syrup not imitation to drizzle over entire top when still warm out of oven. Melts in mouth.
Love this dish, I think the portion sizes are way off, more like a serving for 8 to 10 nowhere near 20. Seems not to freeze real well.
I thought this was very good and plan to use it for my Bunko breakfast this month. I followed the directions except I used sliced can pears and drained the juice out of it. The recipe didn’t say whether it did or didn’t. I put the almonds on before baking and used both the almond and vanilla extract. The picture looked like there was whipped cream on it but the recipe didn’t address that. I didn’t use it and it was great the way it was. I had a pear in every bite.
I used canned pears and found them to taste terrible in this recipe. Pears just dont go with almond extract. I also thought that there should be more sugar added – it tasted about as sweet as a popover. I doubled the almond extract which I thought was perfect. I will try making this with fresh peaches, more brown sugar on the bottom and a little more white sugar in the egg mixture.