There are so many delicious and decadent French toast recipes out there. If your kids are like mine, however, the simpler the better. Adding nuts and new sauces to French Toast deters them quickly. Just the good old fashioned bread dipped in mixture and cooked on a skillet is all they need.
History of French Toast
This recipe is also fun to explore in origin. It is a little bit of a history lesson! Our family assumed French Toast was “invented” in France. Until my son asked me one day, “why is it called French toast?” and we did some investigating, I had no idea!
In summation, a version of French toast dates back to the Roman Empire. Soaking old bread in milk, eggs, and a variety of other ingredients to be able to use stale bread for some purpose without wasting it. In America in 1724, an innkeeper in New York named Joseph French began to make this with aging bread to avoid waste. He called it French’s toast, but because of a printing error, the apostrophe and s were missing. Therefore, this grammatical error resulted in the name, French Toast.
French Toast Ingredients and Variations
Let’s start with the bread. We use whatever bread we have at the house, which tends to be sourdough or some version of whole wheat. Thicker, denser breads tend to hold up better when you dip them in the milk and egg mixture. Another option is to use cinnamon swirl or cinnamon raisin bread.
In terms of the egg dipping mixture, adding vanilla and cinnamon to your taste gives an extra sweetness and flavor.
A fun recipe for kids to learn to do on their own, this Simple French Toast recipe is one of our family’s favorite weekend breakfasts.
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Simple French Toast
- Total Time: 25 minutes
Description
Shane’s Specialty
Ingredients
- 4 large, thick slice sourdough bread
- 1 T butter, divided
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1–2 tsp cinnamon
- Syrup/ butter to top
Instructions
- Wisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon.
- Heat griddle or skillet to medium and melt 1/2 T butter in pan (or if using large griddle, put all butter at once on griddle to melt)
- Dip each bread slice in pan, briefly soaking each side, just so all surface is covered in egg mixture.
- Cook in batches in skillet or all at once on griddle, until slightly browned on each side (about 3 min per side depending on your stove). If cooking in batches, remember to add butter each time to melt first before putting batter.
Notes
- You can use all types of bread, but denser varieties won’t fall apart as easily in the egg/ milk mixture. Also, try using cinnamon swirl bread on occasion. It’s delicious too.
- Be sure to add more cooking spray or butter to your pan in between batches, and monitor your pan for too high of heat. Try to keep it at medium throughout cooking.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
Great recipe, easy to make and kids loved it!
So glad you all enjoyed!