French Toast’s delicate mix of mild flavors makes it extremely sensitive to changes in texture. Some recipes I have tried over the years sacrifice the almost fried egg exterior and nearly bread pudding interior in an attempt to boost the flavor, but I’m not a fan of those.
The trick for nailing the batter is the ratio of eggs to milk. It has to be perfect. My partner and I landed on the recipe below as our favorite. We found it on page 754 of our first cookbook, “How to Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman.
Besides the batter, the temp of the gridle has to be spot on. Three hundred and ten degrees is the sweet spot for my cheap plug-in countertop model.
- Griddle or some other large flat cooking surface
- Spatula or other utensil suitable for flipping and manipulating bread on chosen cooktop
- Whisk (fork will work in a pinch)
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- 2 Whole Eggs
- 1 Cup of Milk
- 1 Pinch of Salt (1/8 tsp)
- 1 Tablespoon of Sugar (heaping if you have a sweet tooth)
- 1 Teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon (heaping if you are a cinnamon sugar fan)
- 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract (don’t waste real vanilla, it doesn’t make a difference here)
- 8-12 slices of most any bread
- bread type and dipping preferences affect the number of pieces drastically
- Dry stale bread actually works best
- Butter, Powdered Sugar, and Maple syrup or other toppings to taste.
Preheat your griddle to 300 – 320 and lubricate it with your favorite cooking fat (butter, oil, cooking spray, or etc.) Crack the eggs into a medium sized mixing bowl, poor in the milk, add all the other measured ingredients (-not the bread or toppings lol). Whisk the ingredients vigorously.
Seriously, put some effort into the whisking. Stop when the mixture looks like pale, frothy, thick, chocolate milk, and any evidence of un-mixed egg yolk is gone. The cinnamon takes a while to blend in, but it will eventually stop clumping up and disappear.
Now, dip each slice of bread into the batter. Coat both sides. I recommend being quick to prevent over saturating the dough. If you get the bread too wet, it will tear. Place each piece on the griddle after coating the second side. Be careful to avoid splashing the hot oil.
Cook until golden brown, which usually takes a few minutes. Then flip and cook the other side. Serve while hot. You can keep leftover slices in the fridge and warm them up in the toaster to prevent them from getting soggy in the microwave.
techbloggingfool.com 