Deep Dish Banana French Toast on a Shoestring

By awright0511

Ingredients

• 6-8 slices of your poorest excuse for GF bread (save the good stuff)
• 3-4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk (any kind will do, even nonfat, if you must)
• 2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-4 ripe bananas, sliced (even nearly overripe will do)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup milk (again, any kind)
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

Step 1

In a 9″x12″ dish (or rough equivalent), whisk the eggs, 1/4 cup milk, cinnamon and vanilla until well-combined. Place the slices of bread in the egg mixture one by one, turning each one over once so both sides of the bread are covered in the mixture. Allow the bread to float around in there for about 15 minutes.

2. Once the bread is done floating, remove the slices, pile them onto a separate plate, and set the plate aside. Pour out the remaining egg mixture into a bowl. Do as I say and make scrambled eggs out of that later to serve with the toast. We’re on a shoestring and we waste not. Do not bother washing the 9″x12″ dish.

3. Arrange the sliced bananas in the bottom of the 9″x12″ dish, overlapping only where necessary. Arrange the egg-soaked bread atop the bananas, overlapping where necessary.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

5. Place the butter, sugars, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup milk in a small saucepan, mix to combine, and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon easily. Remove from the heat, and pour the mixture evenly over the top of the egg-soaked bread in the 9″x12″ dish.

6. Place the dish in the center of the preheated oven and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until the sugar has caramelized and thickened. Turn on your oven’s broiler and move the dish to the top rack of the oven, right below the broiler. Broil for no more than 5 minutes, until the bread has toasted around the edges.