Paula Deen? Fat, old, and Southern apply, but please don't call her a chef.

I can't remember her name but that fat southern older
woman chef has a great recipe for baked French toast. It is terribly unhealthy but delicious.

From my MIL, a big favorite whenever I make it:

Baked French Toast
Assembled the night before (or up to 24hrs in advance) so sauce can soak into the bread:

½ cup (1 stick) butter (recipe orig. called for unsalted, I prefer salted)
½ cup (packed) gold brown sugar
½ cup pure maple syrup
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
8 Large eggs
1-1/2 cups half and half
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1-pound loaf unsliced challah or other egg bread, cut into 1-1/4 inch thick slices
Additional butter and maple syrup for serving

Stir butter, brown sugar, and ½ cup syrup in heaving medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth. Transfer to 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle pecans over butter mixture.

Whisk eggs, half and half, cinnamon, and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Dip bread slices into egg mixture and arrange in single layer in prepared dish. Pour remaining egg mixture over bread slices in dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake French toast uncovered until golden brown and puffed and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces. Serve pecan-side up with additional warm maple syrup.

OP,

I'm so glad you posted this. I do have a recipe for "overnight French toast" in one of my cookbooks that I really loved. Unfortunately, I can't remember which one, so I found this online which is similar:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Overnight-French-Toast-2083

HAHA. good one.

Yeah, it makes me tired just thinking about it, too.

Does anyone have a tired and true delicious recipe?