Take french bread loaf and cut off the tip at both ends, discard ends. Begin slicing on one end of loaf about a 1/2 inch in from the end, but only slice 3/4 of the way down (do not slice piece off). Then move another 1/2 inch over and slice through, but this time, slice all the way down. What you should be left with is a piece of french bread that is approximately 1 inch thick across and has a slice in the middle that goes only 3/4 of the way down, creating a pocket for your filling. (see picture). Continue creating the french bread pockets until you are done with the loaf.

In a small mixing bowl, stir brown sugar and pecans. Take both bananas and slice.

Begin filling your pockets with 2-3 slices of bananas per pocket and then topping it with the sugar/pecan mixture, pressing down. Repeat for all french bread pockets.

In another mixing bowl, whisk eggs. Then stir in milk and vanilla. Dip french bread pockets into batter, coating each side of pocket. Repeat for all pockets.

Heat a small 8 inch saute pan with butter and begin to fry until golden brown on both sides and sugar has started to melt.

Plate with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, chopped pecans and maple syrup, if desired.