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Hasselback French Toast

This baked Hasselback French toast with blueberries is the perfect way to make French toast from a baguette! It's such a fun way to prep and serve French toast, with juicy baked blueberries tucked in between each section of perfectly baked French toast slices. 

The top of this French toast is nice and crusty, the inside is perfectly soft, and you get sweet bursts of juicy baked blueberries in every bite. This baked French toast is not too sweet, making it perfect for topping with powdered sugar and lots of maple syrup.

Close up of baked Hasselback French Toast with blueberries
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What is Hasselback French toast?

"Hasselbacking" is a type of slicing and cooking technique where you slice something not all-the-way-through from the top-down, creating an accordion-shaped top. Hasselbacking is typically used for baked potatoes, but it is SO FUN to make Hasselback French toast!!

Hasselback potatoes are typically sliced thin, but for Hasselback French toast you have to get each section to be about 1-inch thick, so that the French toast does not fall apart.

Hasselbacking French toast creates an AWESOME texture of crispy tops and soft, sweet centers. It's so good that it inspired me to create this baked Baguette French Toast on my sister site Good in the Simple!

Fork with a piece of baked baguette French toast with blueberries

Related recipe: Peach French Toast Casserole

French toast from a baguette

Baguettes are not typically used for French toast, since most French toast recipes use brioche or Texas toast. So this baguette French toast recipe is a great one to keep in mind if you bought a baguette or made a homemade baguette and it got too hard before you had a chance to eat it.

A day or two day-old baguette is perfect for French toast, since you'll hasselback it and soak it in tasty French toast liquid to soften it up. 

Ingredients to make blueberry Hasselback French toast

Related recipe: Pumpkin French Toast

Ingredients

  • 1 baguette (about 21-24 inches)
  • 2 cups milk (you can get away with 1.5 cups, but I like to use extra to make it easier to soak the baguette, see tips below)
  • 4 eggs (you can get away with 3 eggs if using 1.5 cups milk)
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
  • Powdered sugar and maple syrup, for serving

Supplies and equipment needed:

Related recipe: Blueberry Oatmeal Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Recipe tips before getting started

A day old baguette is best, since it's dry enough to want to soak up lots of tasty French toast liquid. 🙂

Grab your baking pan (9x13-inch is best) before you chop the baguette and plan out how you will lay out the baguette in the pan. In a 9x13-inch pan, you should be able to find room to place 4 pieces of a 2-foot long baguette without crowding it. It is best if there is a little bit of room at the ends of all the baguette pieces to give yourself room to insert the blueberries.

How much milk and eggs to use: It is easiest to soak the baguette in a large bowl that has 2 cups of milk and 4 eggs in it. However, I always have a little over ½ cup of liquid left over, so I know that 1.5 cups of milk and 3 eggs is enough for this Hasselback French toast. If you want to reduce food waste, use 1.5 cups milk and 3 eggs (all other ingredients stay the same!). You might just have to use your hands to maneuver the baguette pieces in the bowl more to get it soaked in the liquid.

No blueberries? Use another fruit, such as finely chopped peaches or nectarines (fresh or frozen) or fresh diced strawberries. If you don't have berries, you can try adding a few chocolate chips in between each baguette section.

do recommend stuffing something in there, otherwise there really isn't a point in making Hasselback French toast. If you don't stuff the baguette, you'll miss out on a great texture because all the baguette sections will just stuck together and bake as a whole. It won't be bad, but it won't be as good.

Related recipe: Blueberry Delight

Instructions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper and spray with oil or brush with butter, including the sides.

Step 2: Cut the baguette into quarters or into thirds—whatever sizes will fit into your baking pan (see recipe tips above). "Hasselback" the baguette by slicing halfway through the baguette to create 1-inch sections, taking care not to slice all the way through. This is best done by placing large reusable metal straws (such as boba bubble tea straws), or 2 butter knives or forks, on each side of the baguette to make sure your knife doesn't slice all the way through. Chopsticks are not thick enough and your baguette will fall apart when soaked if you slice through to the chopsticks.

Showing how to Hasselback a baguette

Step 3: In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Bowl of French toast liquid: eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt whisked together

Step 4: Place the baguette pieces into the liquid and press down to get them to soak up as much liquid as possible. Use your hands and gently open each section to pour a few tablespoons of the liquid in between each section. Allow the bread to soak for about 5 minutes.

Pouring French toast liquid in between sections of Hasselbacked baguette

Step 5: Place the soaked baguette on the baking sheet. Carefully insert about 5-10 blueberries between each section, taking care not to break the baguette. Don't worry if it breaks, just push the pieces together and pretend it's not broken. 🙂 You might need to gently lift the baguette from the bottom to get it to open up enough to insert the blueberries. The more blueberries you can stuff in there, the tastier your French toast will be!

Hasselbacked baguette stuffed with blueberries ready to bake in a baking pan

Step 6: Pour another few tablespoons of liquid over each piece of baguette. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until the baguette is crispy on top, cooked through in the center, and the blueberries are starting to burst and release juice.

Baked Hasselback baguette French toast

Step 7: Allow to cool for a few minutes, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve with maple syrup and fresh berries on the side.

Hasselback French Toast on a plate with the baking pan near by

So what do you think?? Would you try it? 

Drinks to pair with blueberry French toast

Your favorite breakfast drink will go great with this French toast! Try a regular drip coffee, a homemade cappuccino, or get fancy with a homemade honey lavender latte or mocha dalgona coffee.

Related recipe: Savory French Toast

If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!

Close up of Hasselback French Toast on a plate
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4.89 from 9 votes

Hasselback French Toast

This baked baguette French toast is fun to make and even more fun to eat. Each section of the baguette is filled with tasty, juicy, blueberries. Read the notes for tips before getting started!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Servings: 6
Author: Kate

Ingredients

  • 1 baguette - (about 21-24 inches)
  • 1.5-2 cups milk - (see notes)
  • 3-4 eggs - (see notes)
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cups blueberries - fresh or frozen
  • Powdered sugar and maple syrup - for serving

Special equipment

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper and spray with oil or brush with butter, including the sides.
  • Cut the baguette into quarters or into thirds—whatever sizes will fit into your baking pan (see notes below). "Hasselback" the baguette by slicing halfway through the baguette to create 1-inch sections, taking care not to slice all the way through. This is best done by placing large reusable metal straws (such as boba bubble tea straws), or 2 butter knives or forks, on each side of the baguette to make sure your knife doesn't slice all the way through. Chopsticks are not thick enough.
    Showing how to Hasselback a baguette
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
  • Place the baguette pieces into the bowl and press down to get them to soak up as much liquid as possible. Use your hands and gently open the baguette sections to pour a few tablespoons of the liquid in between each section. Allow the bread to soak for about 5 minutes.
    Pouring French toast liquid in between sections of Hasselbacked baguette
  • Place the soaked baguette on the baking sheet. Carefully insert about 5-10 blueberries between each section, taking care not to break the baguette apart. Don't worry if it breaks, just push the pieces together and pretend it's not broken. 🙂 You might need to gently lift the baguette from the bottom to get it to open up enough to insert the blueberries. The more blueberries you can stuff in there, the tastier your French toast will be!
    Hasselbacked baguette stuffed with blueberries ready to bake in a baking pan
  • Pour another few tablespoons of liquid over each piece of baguette. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until the baguette is crispy on top, cooked through in the center, and the blueberries are starting to burst and release juice.
  • Allow to cool for a few minutes, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve with maple syrup and fresh berries on the side.

Notes

A 1-2 day old baguette is best, so it's dry enough to want to soak up lots of tasty French toast liquid. 
Before getting started, plan out how you will lay out the baguette in the pan. In a 9x13-inch pan, you should be able to find room to place 4 quarters of a 2-foot long baguette without crowding it. It is best if there is a little bit of room at the ends of all the baguette pieces to give yourself room to insert the blueberries.
How much milk and eggs to use: It is easiest to soak the baguette in a large bowl that has 2 cups of milk and 4 eggs in it. However, I always have a little over ½ cup of liquid left over, so I know that 1.5 cups of milk and 3 eggs is enough for this Hasselback French toast. You might just have to use your hands to maneuver the baguette pieces in the bowl more to get it soaked in the liquid.
You can soak the "butts" of the baguette, stuff them with a few blueberries, and bake those on the side! No wasted food. 🙂
The nutrition facts are estimated for 6 servings and will vary on the actual size of the baguette you use, though we usually eat this in 4 servings at home.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 198kcal (10%) | Carbohydrates: 30g (10%) | Protein: 8g (16%) | Fat: 5g (8%) | Saturated Fat: 2g (10%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 74mg (25%) | Sodium: 438mg (18%) | Potassium: 168mg (5%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 11g (12%) | Vitamin A: 189IU (4%) | Vitamin C: 2mg (2%) | Calcium: 117mg (12%) | Iron: 2mg (11%)

The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.

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