Leite's Banana Bread French Toast

By stancec44

This behemoth stack of French toast, made from thickly sliced banana bread, is quick and easy and crazy satiating. It’s accompanied by a lovely vanilla-infused maple syrup, which almost rivals the banana bread French toast in ingenuity. (If you’re the lazy or uber efficient sort, you can make a bigger batch of syrup to keep on hand at all times. Simply split an entire vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into a bottle of maple syrup, close it, and shake it up a bit. It’ll be ready in a matter of hours or, for a more intense flavor, days. Keep it on hand for last-minute breakfast emergencies.)

Ingredients

• For the French toast
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 2 thick slices—like 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick --banana bread, preferably day old or really well dried out (or, if you’re gluten-free, try this banana bread)
• 1/4 tablespoon unsalted butter
• For the gloppy toppings
• Maple syrup, as much as you deem a glorious excess
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 2 to 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 20mins
Adapted from leitesculinaria.com

Preparation

Step 1

For the French toast
1. In a bowl, beat the eggs, milk, and cinnamon until well combined.

2. Thoroughly coat the slices of bread with the egg mixture, turning to coat all sides and allowing any excess to drip off. There’s no need to let the bread soak, as this recipe is all about instant gratification.

3. In a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium to medium-high heat until barely foamy. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side.

Make the gloppy toppings
4. While the French toast is in the skillet, warm the maple syrup and the vanilla bean—both the seeds and the pod—in a small saucepan over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Remove and discard the pod.

5. Then whip the lemon zest and sour cream until thick–really thick–so the cream won’t just melt into the hot French toast upon contact.
6. Stack the French toast on a plate and smother it with the maple syrup, allowing the syrup to drip down the sides of the stack. Glop a big spoonful of lemon sour cream on top. Grab your fork.