French Toast from Alton Brown

Tarteausucre's Note:

Alton Brown had a great episode on toast, and part of it featured French Toast*. This is our favorite french toast! For a healthier alternative, replace some of the butter with olive oil. You could also use whole milk in place of the half-and-half, though Alton would not approve. *http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/french-toast-recipe/index.html

• Total Time: 34 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 24 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 8.0 slices

• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 slices bread (1/2 inch, day-old country loaf, brioche or challah)
• 4 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan.
5. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side.
6. Remove from pan and place in oven on rack for 5 minutes.
7. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.

Reviews

[redjonesy]

i've been meaning to write this review for a while... My husband surprised me with this for mother's day. I came home from a half marathon training run to a spread of this with eggs, bacon, fresh strawberries, and mimosas. It was the most delicious breakfast I've ever had! There's a little extra prep time (from what my husband said) with this french toast recipe, but the final product was so worth it! French toast used to be like pizza for me; any french toast was good french toast, but this was OUT OF THIS WORLD YUMMY! I don't think I'll ever be able to eat sub-par french toast again.

[Miss Eve]

We had this for our breakfast this morning and my goodness it was way past delicious. I knew before hand that I'd have to double the recipe which I did. By the way, we moved to Bakersfield from beautiful New England (Ma.) five years ago. What was I thinking! Thanks so much for the recipe.

[muncheechee]

Wow! This is what french toast should tasted like. But of course it IS Alton Brown... we just love him. Dh made this for our anniversary breakfast using Bread Machine Challah and it was wonderful. We used 2 huge slices and the bread was so thirsty that the first slice soaked up more than half of the custard leaving the second slice a little dry in spots. Next time we'll double the custard part if we're using giant pieces of bread. Thanks for posting this recipe!