#461: Cinnamon French Toast Bake

I made this for our family Christmas morning breakfast and I had very high hopes for this recipe.  How could I not, it combined Brian's two favorite things: French Toast and Cinnamon Rolls.  We loved the top half of this dish...the bottom however, was super, soggy.  None of us ate the bottom half.  We could literally pull apart the crunchy top layer and the soggy bottom.  I don't know how else I could change this to make it not get soggy, except to use half the amount of egg/maple syrup mixture. 

1/4 cup Butter, melted

2 cans (12.4 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing

6 Eggs

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup Fisher® Chef's Naturals® Chopped Pecans

1 cup maple syrup

Topping:

Icing from cinnamon rolls

Powdered sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup, if desired

Heat oven to 375°F. Pour melted butter into ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Separate both cans of dough into 16 rolls; set icing aside. Cut each roll into 8 pieces; place pieces over butter in dish.

In medium bowl, beat eggs. Beat in cream, cinnamon and vanilla until well blended; gently pour over roll pieces. Sprinkle with pecans; drizzle with 1 cup syrup.
Bake 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Meanwhile, remove covers from icing; microwave on Medium (50%) 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle.
Drizzle icing over top; sprinkle with powdered sugar. If desired, spoon syrup from dish over individual servings. Serve with the additional 1/2 cup maple syrup.