Fry
Holi-Day After French Toast
- Serves 3, but can be scaled up easily
Author Notes
I started making this to use up the leftover quick breads, pound cakes, Panettone, and various other miscellaneous breads that were too often being cast aside after a big holiday feast, and now it has become almost a tradition with my family. The day after the holiday doesn't start without the sweet smell of cinnamon and spice wafting through the house, stemming from a plate of freshly sizzled toast that revives those holiday meal flavors in crunchy, creamy, carb-y form! —Jr0717
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- For the toast:
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Leftover breads (leave out if possible to allow the bread/cake to dry out a bit), inclusive of soft rolls, croissants, muffins (cut length-wise down the middle), pound/bundt cakes, etc
-
2
Large eggs
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1.5 cups
Milk or cream (or even Eggnog!)
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1 tablespoon
Almond or vanilla extract
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1 dash
Nutmeg
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2 dashes
Cinnamon
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1 tablespoon
sugar
-
2 teaspoons
salt
- For the syrup:
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1.25 cups
Maple syrup
-
3 tablespoons
leftover mashed sweet potato, pumpkin puree, or other mashed squash
-
1 teaspoon
salt
-
3 tablespoons
butter, with more at the ready depending on the amount and type of bread used
Directions
- Slice the bread(s). For moist cakes or quick breads, you may opt to dry them out slightly in the oven at around 150 degrees for a couple of minutes, or pop them into the toaster briefly. Make the cake slices about an inch thick to keep them from breaking apart (a wide spatula helps immensely for transport to and from the wet ingredients); for biscuits, croissants or soft rolls, slice in half. Muffins do decently sliced length-wise and also benefit from a quick oven-dry out .
- In a large, shallow pie pan, whisk the milk/cream, eggs, extracts, and spices until well combined. Begin to soak the bread, allowing each piece to soak up enough of the cream-egg mixture to be moistened thoroughly, but use your judgement - too much of the mixture will make some cake slices or breads break down too much!
- Heat a large frying pan or griddle over medium-high heat, and when the slices have soaked up a good amount of the wet ingredients, add the butter to the frying pan and coat the inside of the frying pan well.
- When the butter begins the sizzle slightly, add your slices and fry on each side until golden brown and crisp. Remove each slice to a plate and sprinkle with additional cinnamon if desired.
- Make the syrup: Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pot over medium flame, whisking to combine. Serve hot with the toast
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