Challah French Toast
So here’s the thing…I love a good breakfast. No, I REALLY LOVE a good breakfast. It’s something that I look forward to enjoying on Sundays, holidays, or any other day when I don’t have anywhere to rush off to and can just have a leisurely morning.
However, a problem that I have with breakfast is that it’s in the morning. This is usually a problem because I’m a slow cooker and not a morning person. A sit down breakfast made on the morning I’d like to eat it quite often becomes brunch at best. As a result, I’ve become used to making special breakfasts a day or two in advance and try to make enough so that I can have a special breakfast throughout the week.
One of my favorite breakfast items is French toast. A sugar and cinnamon toasted crust with a soft and warm middle is the perfect way to start a day. It’s something that I love making at home but never order when I’m out because few places if any make it just the way I like. (Not to mention that a lot of places use Eggbeaters in place of regular eggs and I can’t stomach the stuff.)
My French toast recipe originally consisted of quickly dipping slices of regular bread in eggs beaten with cinnamon and sugar. I don’t know where I first learned this method but I’d been using it since I was a kid. However, I began using thicker slices of bread to avoid what I consider “dreaded eggy middle” and switched to a custard of sorts after I saw Martha Stewart make French toast. Thus challah French toast was born.
This is my current basic challah French toast recipe. I hope you enjoy it. I don’t generally care for syrup on my French toast (or waffles or pancakes) but a bit of fruit, fruit syrup, and/or whipped cream are nice touches.
1 Challah loaf
4 eggs
3/4 – 1 cup (soy) milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
Cut the challah loaf into 1 ½-inch thick slices.
In a large bowl whisk the eggs to break up the yolks. Add the milk to the eggs and whisk until well combined. Add the remaining ingredients to the custard mixture and whisk until the spices are evenly blended. You don’t have to worry about thoroughly dissolving the sugar but be sure the whisk gets the bottom of the bowl so the sugar is blended throughout the custard.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grease a jelly roll pan or large cookie sheet.
Dip the challah slices into the custard taking care to coat both sides. Place the slices on the pan / sheet with space between and bake until golden brown. You’ll know it’s time to check the oven when you start to smell the warm luscious scent of nutmeg.
I’m not a big fan of French toast with an eggy middle so I don’t allow the bread to soak for too long. However, if you prefer your French toast to be eggy, you can make the slices thinner and leave the bread to soak for a longer amount of time.
Approx 4-5 servings
Tags: bread, breakfast, food, recipes