How to Make Banana Bread French Toast in Just 9 Minutes
Pass the vanilla maple syrup—which you also made in those nine minutes.
A simple, mouthwatering take on French toast, courtesy of Chef Douglas Keane of Cyrus in Healdsburg, California. Bonus: It only takes nine minutes to prepare.
Breakfast at home can be special without being complicated. I came up with this twist on French toast for a diner that I helped open outside Denver. Start with the slices of banana bread. Dried-out is better. Beat the eggs, milk, and cinnamon until well combined. In a nonstick skillet, heat the butter until barely foamy. Thoroughly coat the bread with the egg mixture (dripping off excess), add to the pan, and cook about two minutes on each side. Meanwhile, warm some maple syrup with the vanilla bean—throw the seeds and the bean in with the syrup. Top with a big spoonful of lemon sour cream—the cool tartness will balance the sugar.
Pro Tip: For a bigger batch of vanilla syrup, split and scrape a whole vanilla bean into a can or bottle of maple syrup, close, and shake a bit. After a while, it will be ready to go.
*To make lemon sour cream, add some grated lemon zest to sour cream and whip until thickened, so the cream won't just melt and fade away when it hits the hot bread.
Note from the Esquire kitchen: The sour cream is a seemingly fussy but potentially life-changing addition to this recipe.
- Yields:
- 1
Ingredients
- thick, 2-inch slices of banana bread
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tbsp. milk
- 1 pinch cinammon
- 1 Tbsp. Unsalted butter
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 1 spoonful lemon sour cream*
- maple syrup
Directions
- Step 1Beat the eggs, milk, and cinnamon until well combined.
- Step 2Heat the butter until barely foamy in a nonstick skillet.
- Step 3Coat the slices with the egg mixture (dripping off excess), add to the pan, and cook about two minutes on each side.
- Step 4Warm some maple syrup with the vanilla bean, including the seeds and bean.
- Step 5Top with lemon sour cream.
*To make lemon sour cream, add some grated lemon zest to sour cream and whip until thickened, so the cream won't just melt and fade away when it hits the hot bread.
Note from the Esquire kitchen: The sour cream is a seemingly fussy but potentially life-changing addition to this recipe.
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