I confess I hold a special fondness in my heart for French Toast. It wasn't something which my mother made when I was growing up. In fact I had never heard of it until a friend at elementary school told me about it one day during recess. She said her mother made French Toast every Friday for lunch, and it was delicious.
It sounded incredibly exotic and delicious . . . even then as a child I was food obsessed. I can remember being thrilled one day when she invited me to go to her house for Friday lunch. Exciting stuff! First, I got to go on the school bus, and second . . . I got to finally eat this fabulous food!
I fell in love with it. My mother never ever did make it, but I made it often for my own children when they were growing up. We never had it for lunch or supper though . . . usually just for breakfast. Over here in the UK, they call it "Eggy Bread." The French call it "Pain Perdu." (Lost bread) It's a fabulous use for bread that's gone stale. In fact . . . stale bread is the best kind of bread to use!
I had a loaf of bakery bread that had gone a bit stale here today and I decided to make us some French Toast Sticks for breakfast . . . or as I call them . . . "Crunchy French Bread Toast Batons!" Which is just a fancy name for french toast in which the bread has been cut into sticks, soaked in the egg custard and then rolled in crunchy cereal, cinnamon and sugar, before baking in the oven.
Of course there is some butter involved . . . isn't there always? Nom! Nom! In any case these are crunchy, buttery little sticks, perfectly sized for dunking in maple syrup or apple sauce or melted jam, or whatever your little heart desires to dunk them in. Easy to make. Fun to eat. Delicious. Kids adore them, but I confess . . . there are two older people in this house that are mighty fond of them as well.
*Crunchy French Toast Batons*Makes 16 to 20 sticksPrintable Recipe
Children love these. Even the big ones! (Hubbies) They are crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and the perfect size for dipping.
4 to 5 thick slices of day old bread, crusts removed
63g of crispy rice cereal (3 cups), crushed1 TBS white sugar1 tsp ground cinnamon3 medium free range eggs, beaten225ml of whole milk (1 cup)1 tsp vanilla extract4 TBS butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 5. Have ready a large non-stick baking tray.
Cut each slice of the bread into 4 evenly sized strips. Combine the crushed cereal, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
In another bowl, beat together the eggs, milk and vanilla. Dip each bread stick into the beaten egg, turning to coat it well and allowing it to absorb some of the mixture without them becoming soggy. Drop into the cereal mixture and coat well on all sides.
Don't forget the ends! Place an inch apart on the baking sheet. Drizzle the melted butter over top.
Bake in the heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until set and golden brown. Serve warm with your preferred syrup for dipping. Apple sauce is also nice to dip them in.
