Simple French Toast for busy mornings

French toast with leftover challah is one of my favorite school morning breakfasts for my kids. Most mornings when I call up the stairs "time to get up!" the best response is some moaning or whining since it means they actually woke up. The worst response is no response which they're ignoring me. 

But when I call up the stairs "French toast!" I hear feet hitting the floor within seconds. 

How do I have time to make french toast on a school morning? I try to make it once a week (if there's leftover challah) so I have it down to a pretty simple and quick routine. One trick makes the morning process quicker: Make the custard the night before and stash in the fridge. 

You can also slice the challah the night before and lay it out on a tray to wait but I don't usually bother. 

So the first step is to make the custard, either the night before or when I first come downstairs. 

The next step is slicing the challah and laying it out on a lined sheet pan. You want them all to fit in a single layer and just not touch each other. 

The aluminum foil lining is important because the next step is to pour about 2/3rds of the custard over the slices of challah on the sheet pan.

Yep, no dipping individual slices into the custard. It all goes on the pan. 

Get your nonstick frying pan ready with a tiny bit of butter over medium heat. 

Now flip each slice of challah over in the custard. 

At this point, you may need to add some or the rest of the custard or you may not. Your custard mileage may vary, depending on how thirsty your challah is that morning.  The pieces should be fairly saturated but not soggy. If some do get soggy, that's OK. Carefully - they're going to want to fall apart on you, move those to the frying pan first (I do this with my hands - I feel like I can keep it in once piece easier that way). If some pieces look like they're dry in patches, add some more custard. If you've run out of custard and they still look dry in spots, pour a little bit of milk. 

Time to fry.  

On my stove top with my frying pan, this is usually about a minute on each side. Peek at the underside after 30 seconds or so and assess how much darker you want them. Flip carefully! The soggy ones want to fall apart even after the first side is set. Still delicious.

 

Time to call the kids down for breakfast!

 

 Simple French toast recipe:

• 4 whole eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar (optional) 
• dash of ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups (approximately) milk (I use whole because that's what's in my fridge most often)
• 1 loaf challah bread
• butter for pan

Directions: 

• In a 4-cup measuring cup or bowl, whisk the eggs, salt and sugar (if using) until well beaten and salt and sugar have dissolved. Add the dash of cinnamon and vanilla. Add enough milk so the custard is about 3 cups total (I know the picture above shows 4 cups but I was making an extra large batch with multiple loaves). 
• Line a half sheet pan with heavy duty aluminum foil. Slice the challah into 1/2-inch thick slices and lay out in rows on the sheet pan. You want them in a single layer and ideally not quite touching each other but keeping it to a single layer is more important than not touching. 
• Pour about 2/3rds of your custard over the slices. Let sit.
• Rub a very thin, barely visible layer of butter on to the surface for your nonstick frying pan and put over medium heat. 
• Very carefully flip over each challah slice. If there are dry spots, pour additional custard. If you've run out of custard and there are still dry spots, you can use plain milk. 
• Go back to the first flipped slice - if it looks thoroughly saturated, carefully transfer to your frying pan. If it's super soggy it's going to want to fall apart on you. Fry until golden brown on the first side then carefully flip. The soggy ones are still going to want to fall apart so flip carefully and cook until golden brown on the second side. Transfer to a platter and serve to your sleepy children. 

Or eat by yourself standing over the stove - I won't tell anyone.