Did you know that French toast doesn’t have to be boring and flavorless? Most people throw some milk and eggs together and think they’re done, but with a few more ingredients your French toast can be exponentially better.

Your Ingredients (enough for six slices of bread):

3 eggs

3/4 cup of milk

6 slices of bread

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla

zest of half a lemon or orange

pinch of kosher salt

butter

syrup (the real stuff)

Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, salt and zest in a 9×12 baking dish. Whisk together to combine the ingredients. That’s my cool flat whisk and it’s perfect for stove top tasks like gravies and sauces.

Soak each side of the bread for about two minutes. The softer the bread, the shorter the soak time. Leaving it in for two long will cause the bread to fall apart. We are a whole wheat bread household EXCEPT for when we make French toast. Whole wheat French toast? No thanks. Challah bread, French bread, or croissants would all be wonderful for this as well.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large pan or griddle. Please pretend that my griddle is not non-stick. I know it’s horrible and toxic but it was free and it covers two burners so I can cook several pieces of bread or six pancakes at once.  It’s VERY difficult to find a griddle that isn’t nonstick. You can absolutely just make French toast in a regular saute pan, you’ll just have to do it in several batches. Keep the heat on about medium-ish heat (4-5) and when the butter is melted and just starting to sizzle, add the bread.

The first side will take longer than the second. Check it periodically but probably five minutes on the first side and three on the second.

If you have some fresh fruit like strawberries, blueberries, or banana slices, throw them on top! Do yourself a favor and start buying real maple syrup instead of “pancake syrup.” Yes, it’s more expensive. But have you ever looked at the ingredients??

Real maple syrup ingredients: MAPLE SYRUP

Pancake syrup (Aunt Jemima and the like) ingredients: CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WATER, CELLULOSE GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, SALT, SODIUM BENZOATE AND SORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES), ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE.

That’s no joke, I took that from the Aunt Jemima website. Michael Pollan makes a great point in his books: spend the money on real food now, or on medical bills later.

Enjoy!