Coconut-Apricot French Toast Bake

I actually created this recipe using a couple of Cooking Light recipes as inspiration, but it's completely different from either one.  #1   #2  I decided to add the preserves instead of fresh fruit because I didn't think it would freeze and reheat well.  I intended to use pineapple, but my store only had apricot-pinapple and didn't have anything low-sugar with pineapple.  I couldn't decided between the apricot or an orange marmalade.  Might try the orange next time, but I did like the apricot.

16oz loaf of French bread, cubed   (I used only 13oz, should have used the full loaf -- but I'd eaten two slices already!)

1 can (~1.5cups) of lite coconut milk

¼ cup of sugar

4 eggs

80g sweetened shredded coconut, split into two batches

170g (10 Tbs) low sugar- apricot preserves

¼ cup toasted pecans

Cube the bread and place in a large bowl.  Lightly beat the coconut milk, sugar, eggs and half the shredded coconut.  Add the egg mixture to the bread.  Gently turn until all pieces are coated.  Add the preserves to the bowl and turn just a few times to distribute the preserves, but not completely mix them in.  Pour into a greased 9x13.  Sprinkle the top with the other 40g of flaked coconut.  Bake at 350 for approx. 20 minutes, until top is browned and mix is set.  Garnish with chopped toasted pecans. 

Serves 8.  Approx 335 cal per servings with 45g of carbs per serving.  I took the time to calculate the carbs because this is basically bread and sugar here... :)  I served with one 60-80cal turkey or veggie sausage. 

This smells AMAZING.  And the flavor is great – I wasn’t sure about the apricot with the coconut, but it was great.  The pecans are a good touch – could probably cut back there though.  Using only an eighth of a cup would shave 15 cal off each serving. Still needs a bit of tweaking… perhaps another egg?  Some skim milk?  I think it would be good at given ratios if eaten fresh, but reheats only okay.  Gets a bit dry.  Perhaps I microwaved too long?  Will have to experiment.  Could def cut back on flaked coconut to make calorie space for another egg.  Could swap out some of the coconut milk for a higher quantity of skim milk.

Edit: THis doesn't reheat from frozen perfectly.  It's still good and nice to have a different flavor.  But it does get a teensy bit tough.  Maybe I'm just cooking it too long.