Bangin' French Toast

It's a new year! Time for trying new things and making resolutions.

Perhaps you made a resolution to bake fresh bread.

Or make breakfast every morning. Or both. In which case, this recipe is perfect for you. Because the first thing you're going to want to do when you wake up with fresh bread in your house, is coat it in custard, fry it up in some melted butter, and drown it in maple syrup.

Good thing we didn't resolve to lose weight.

Now, normally I'm not a fan of french toast. It's the eggs. I just can't stand egg-y french toast, but we're trying new things, remember! And this slightly thinner, sweet, vanilla-spiked custard is just right. I particularly love to use a sweet bread for this like challah, brioche, or even something with dried fruit in it like pannetone, but you can really use anything that's thickly sliced. I used Buttermilk Sandwich Bread and it was awesome. Dan Some might even call it... bangin'.

Bangin' French Toast
Yield: 2 Servings

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 thick slices bread
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
Warm maple syrup 

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla.
2. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add butter and heat until it is melted.
3. Dip each slice of bread into the custard mixture, coating both sides. Allow the excess to drip off, or use your fingers or a fork to remove any excess.
4. Add the bread slices to the saute pan and toast until golden brown. Use a small spatula to lift up the corners of the bread to check how they're cooking. Flip the slices and brown the other side as well. Serve immediately with warm maple syrup.

Recipe Notes:

• If you can't fit all 4 slices of bread in the saute pan at once, only use half the butter to start, and continue to add more as you add more bread slices.
• You want your bread to toast and brown, so if it seems to be browning too quickly, before the bread is really toasting through, turn the heat down to med-low and continue to cook until desired doneness.
• If making more than one batch, I stack the already cooked french toast on a plate and just leave them in the microwave. No need to turn it on; the heat from the warm toast will create a little oven!