Toffee Chocolate Chip Banana Bread French Toast

I eat a banana a day. Sometimes with cereal, other times as a snack, but barely a day goes by when I don’t have one. They are sweet and creamy and satisfy my carb cravings. I am very picky though. They have to have black speckles and absolutely no tinge of green. At. All. It’s a fine balance. Maybe there are two to three days when they are perfect and then they go over the top mushy. That’s when a banana bread recipe comes in handy. This month I created Toffee Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Walnuts for TheDailyMeal.com as a simple Mother’s Day treat. Easy enough for non-bakers or for kids to make for Mom. I finished the photo shoot for the quick bread and was further inspired. What could I turn this bread into? In a more-is-more moment I thought, why not make French toast? Here I present to you how to make Toffee Chocolate Chip Banana Bread French Toast. The plain Greek yogurt tempers the sweetness. And, please, I’m a New Englander, so 100% pure maple syrup is a must. If you can find Grade B, which is extra dark and more maple-y, go for it. I get mine in bulk at Whole Foods.

Serves 4 to 5

1 loaf Toffee Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Walnuts, at least one day old, sliced into 8 to 10 thick slices
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup half & half or light cream
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt Unsalted butter for frying
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (I use 0% fat)
Maple syrup, at room temperature or slightly warmed

– Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

– Place rimmed baking sheet pan in the oven to get hot. Once it comes to temperature, turn oven off but leave pan in oven.

– Whisk the eggs, half & half (or cream), salt and cinnamon together in a bowl. Pour into a shallow dish such as a pie plate. Place a few pieces of bread in the mixture and allow to soak for about half a minute, then flip over and soak the other side.

– Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add some butter. You need enough butter to coat the bottom of the pan generously. Heat until butter sputters a bit.

– Add a few pieces of soaked bread, but don’t crowd in the pan. Cook until golden brown on the bottom, about 2 to 3 minutes, flip over and cook other side.

– Transfer cooked pieces to hot pan in the oven while you cook the remaining pieces. Repeat until all pieces are cooked.

– Serve hot with dollops of yogurt and pure maple syrup.

– Skip lunch; you probably wont be hungry for a while!