Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish with palm shortening or vegan butter.
Cut bread into 1 inch cubes. The goal is to have 12 cups. Place the bread and 1 cup of the pecans if you are using them in the greased pan
In a large bowl mix together the remaining ingredients. Mix until very well combined. If there are ribbons of eggs that have not been mixed again you will have pieces of “scrambled eggs” in your mixture. Pour the wet mixture over the bread in the pan, trying to cover the bread side to side.
If there are pieces of bread that are not saturated, grab a pair of tongs and mix together the bread and the liquid until well coated. If not, it will end up like a crouton- not ideal!
Cover mixture and bake for 30 minutes. If using foil, tent the foil a little so it doesn’t touch the bread. If it does it has the potential to stick. After 30 minutes I like to remove the foil or lid and cook uncovered for the last 20 minutes so the top pieces have a little crisp. If you don’t like this contract, you can leave it covered. The bake should not have any evident "wet" batter. If it does you can bake it for a few extra minutes.
In a mixer, whip the butter until light and airy. Add in all remaining ingredients and continue to mix on high speed until well combined and very whipped. If the mixture is still stable and you’d like the butter sweeter feel free to add a tsp of maple syrup at a time. If you would like it more spiced, you can do the same with the pumpkin pie spice.
NOTE: If butter appears to “break” or curdle during this process, turn the mixer on the highest speed and mix until it comes together and is nicely whipped. I promise, time and speed are your friend if this happens!
Use a small cookie scoop, spoon, or piping back and tip to put butter on each slice.
Cut into 6 or 8 pieces, depending on what else is being served with it!
Top the bake with the remaining pecan. Finish it off with a generous drizzle of maple syrup, vanilla yogurt or whatever else you would like!