Maple Bacon Pull Apart Bread |Cooking With Amanda

I realize that I am the last person in the history of ever to get on the pull-apart-bread-recipe-bus [side note: that would be THE BEST bus ever]. I don't know what took me so long really, except that I kind of felt like all the awesome versions of pull apart breads had been done. Jalapeño popper bread? CHECK. s'mores pull apart bread? CHECK.

But then! I had this really terrific idea to make a breakfast pull apart bread - sort of like French toast sticks that you can grab with your fingers. It is one of my favorite ideas to date.

Battering random breakfast foods with an eggy French toast batter is kind of a calling card for me. It started with these berry blintz breakfast enchiladas and progressed from there.

This maple bacon pull apart bread though? With maple and bacon and all the extra fabulous breakfast things going on? I think it's my favorite French-toasted recipe to date.

I took a day-old Italian loaf and cut it into strips. leaving the thick bottom of the loaf intact. Then I turned the loaf and cut the opposite way, making the strips into squares that are attached to the bottom. I mixed up my favorite basic French toast batter (I use the same basic recipe in this French toast with warm vanilla bourbon syrup) and poured it slowly into each cut.

Then I baked.

What comes out of the oven is the warmest, most buttery, and completely amazing giant loaf of French toast, cut into perfect little bite-size servings. Drizzle it with maple syrup, sprinkle it with bacon, and grab a stack of napkins. You're gonna need 'em!

This maple bacon pull apart bread would be so fun for a holiday breakfast or brunch. OR!! You could serve it the morning after a slumber party and be the resident breakfast hero.

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Maple Bacon Pull Apart Bread Recipe

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Ingredients

1 loaf italian bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 slices bacon, cooked, excess grease drained

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and then butter the lining. You could also use nonstick cooking spray.
Cut your loaf of bread into 1" strips going one direction, being careful NOT to cut all the way through. Turn the loaf and cut across your first set of cuts yielding 1" squares, still being careful not to cut all the way through. Place your cut loaf on the prepared baking sheet.
Whisk together the melted butter and milk. Stir in the sugar and then beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Then whisk in the cinnamon. I like to mix everything up in a large liquid measuring cup - it makes the next step easier.
Slowly pour the mixture in between all the cuts in the bread. Use your fingers to gently pull each cut apart while you pour so the liquid will soak in all the way through. It's fine to coat the top of the loaf a little bit as well; it serves as sort of an egg wash turning the bread a pretty golden brown.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
When you take the loaf from the oven, drizzle the syrup over it. Crumble and coarsely chop the bacon and sprinkle it over the top. Serve warm.