The Easter Bunny brought cookbooks and DC2 has started making something every week along with DC1.
DC2’s cookbook is from America’s Test Kitchen and is called, “My first cookbook.” Technically it is hir second cookbook, but it is the first one zie has used with minimal parental help. Zie has made ricotta toast and avocado toast and chocolate dipped things. Next week zie is planning an oven roasted bbq chicken and broccoli one sheet meal, which we’re excited about (DC2 loves broccoli and dislikes cheese… I don’t understand but more power to hir).
This week’s was a revelation to me.
So basically the idea is you spray a jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Then you mix up the custard/egg stuff. Then… get this… you POUR THE CUSTARD INTO THE JELLYROLL PAN (!) (!) (!) Then, working quickly, you put 8 pieces of bread into the jelly roll pan to cover it. Then, starting from the top you turn them over. Then you wait a minute.
After a minute, the egg mixture has completely been soaked up into the bread(!!!!!!) This is AMAZING. When I first saw the instructions, I was certain this was going to be a nightmare to clean up after with egg baked into the pan, but it wasn’t!
Then you bake it for 10 min on the bottom rack and then you broil it on the top rack for like a minute until it’s brown on top. And you end up with perfect French toast. It’s not soggy in the middle. The bread is not dry. It’s not burned. It just works!
Here’s a version of their recipe online (since I’m not going to violate copyright). (But I will say you need another egg and 1/3 cup more milk if you use whole wheat or multi-grain bread instead of white bread. And their recipe really needs nutmeg, that they did not list.) If that link doesn’t work, here’s the google cache.
How do you make French toast? Am I the only person who did this the fussy way with dipping and frying and occasionally baking after?
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
May 19, 2021 at 4:47 am
I do it the dipping and frying way still, but my family prefers savory French toast so the dipping involves buttermilk. After the first side is fried, we sometimes add shredded sharp cheddar to the fried side and let it melt between two finished sides while the remaining sides cook. Like a cross between French toast and grilled cheese.
May 19, 2021 at 5:08 am
Yum!
May 19, 2021 at 5:09 am
The recipe sounds great! I had to look up what a jelly roll pan was. But it looks like it’s basically a cookie sheet with higher sides?
May 19, 2021 at 5:23 am
Yep!
May 19, 2021 at 5:15 am
We do it the fussy way too! PiC’s french toast always turns out perfectly and mine have been terrible. I have to give this recipe a try and see if I can redeem myself!
May 19, 2021 at 5:25 am
SAME. How does he do it, I have no idea.
May 19, 2021 at 5:40 pm
Ha! As kids, my brother was the one good at pancakes (I had hilariously bad aim with flipping them) and I was the one good at French toast (he let his soak too long).
Your method sounds good for families. I just make it for one, so I’ll still with the dipping and frying, which works fine except for when the egg white somehow isn’t mixed in right on the last slice. I use cinnamon rather than nutmeg and/or cardamom but would happy eat any of those. And i use no sugar at all in the batter, because I cover my French toast with melted butter and powdered sugar (= frosting, yes).
May 19, 2021 at 5:21 am
I don’t eat eggs, so when I make french toast, I just dip bread into a mixture of soy milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Then I cook in a pan. No eggs needed.
May 19, 2021 at 5:26 am
Interesting!
May 19, 2021 at 6:51 am
I am vegan, and I make my french toast using a 2:1 ratio of chickpea flour:cornstarch, mix in cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom, then stir in soymilk to the right consistency. The chickpea flour sets up in a shockingly eggy way. I love french toast!
May 19, 2021 at 6:58 am
Cardamom is the best.
May 19, 2021 at 12:05 pm
That sounds great! I will definitely try it. And I’ll check out the cookbook, too. The New Best Recipe is my favorite cookbook, so I suspect I’ll like the kid one.
May 19, 2021 at 12:39 pm
It’s got lots of interesting kid-friendly stuff like pupusas(!) So far everything has been good (though we haven’t made the pupusas yet).
My FAVORITE ATK book is Best Recipes Make-Ahead though.
May 19, 2021 at 12:41 pm
Ooh, haven’t tried that one either–i’ll check it out.
May 19, 2021 at 12:43 pm
Pretty much everyone who has gotten our “you just had a baby” casseroles from Make Ahead has asked for the recipes.
May 19, 2021 at 1:08 pm
I always do it the fussy way, but I might try this, since it would mean I could eat at the same time as the kids (who are always starving when French toast is on the menu!) instead of hovering over the stove to finish cooking. Also, French toast definitely needs nutmeg. I would skip the sugar, though.
May 19, 2021 at 1:11 pm
It was really amazing having 8 slices done at once and all hot! It’s definitely worth tinkering with the recipe while still using this technique.
May 31, 2021 at 9:44 am
I tried this method and it worked so well! Thanks so much for sharing I’m going to be telling everyone I know lol
May 31, 2021 at 9:46 am
Woooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#lifechanging !