Recently, a very special breakfast was in order.  It was our triplets’ 9th Birthday, and we always have a special breakfast on birthdays in our house.  Usually, it is my husband’s specialty of ‘Birthday Number Pancakes’, which we have blogged about many times.  But this time, I had plans.  I really wanted to make French Toast, and just like the kind I had had so many times growing up, at a particular restaurant. The crazy thing is, I cannot for the life of me (yet) remember, what restaurant that was! It’s one of those questions I’d love to ask my Mom, but can’t, because she is gone now.  : (  I know she would know. I have searched recipes all over the net, trying to find a recipe even close to the kind I had had, to no avail.  Alas….I decided, “What do I need a recipe to follow for? I can figure this out as I go!”  I decided I believed in me.

And what became of that fearless leap, is the best French Toast, we have ever had. (Quite equal to the mystery restaurant’s French Toast, if I do say so myself. Except their’s was like, a 1.5 inch thick slice of bread, cut corner to corner into a triangle.  The crust sides were the best.)

It’s important to note, I am pretty health conscience, for my family. But this French Toast was to be deep fried, which of course is why it is SO good. And it’s a treat! On special occasions, one needs to indulge. Still, I wanted to make this recipe as healthy as I possibly could, while still making it taste exactly like I wanted.   So, while we never really have white bread, we did for this.  The oil I was deep frying in, was the healthiest possible (I think): Canola Oil.  It’s what we always use to make donuts and such as well in the Fall. And as you read the few steps here you’ll find I had a few other tricks that made me feel better about the whole health thing in my mind.  You are going to need a deep fryer, for this particular how-to recipe. Ready?

Participating Ingredients, to have on hand:

(*Amounts depending…)

• Bread Slices (I used thickest white slices I could find.)
• Corn Flakes Cereal
• Eggs
• Milk
• Vanilla
• Cinnamon
• Canola Oil

For Table:

• Butter
• Confectionery Sugar
• Syrup
  

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*I say amounts depending, because it really depends on how many French Toast you need to make.  If you need more of a batch of anything, you just get a little more as you go.  No big deal.   Also, to keep things moving and producing quickly, it’s helpful to have a helper. {A} and I were a great team in the kitchen this particular morning. (And will be a gain soon. ; ).  So, the following is stations you want to have prepared before you actually begin cooking.

Dipping Mixture:  In a shallow dish, crack 3 eggs.  Add 3/4 cup of milk,  a few drops of Vanilla Extract, and a dash or 2 of cinnamon. Whip it up with a fork.

Bread/Toast: A key ‘trick’ here, to making your French Toast as good as it can be, is to pre-toast your bread. Trust me, it makes all the difference, as to not soak-up the mixture into the bread, but rather coat it as intended.  So for us 6, I covered 2 cookie sheets with tin foil, and put the bread slices in the oven at the lowest setting. Just watch them, until they are toasted a bit. Flip them if you’d like. Both sides don’t need to ‘look’ toasted, but just feel toasted on the surface.  Once they are all toasted, pile them all onto one sheet and cover the emptied sheet with a layer of paper towel.

Deep Fryer:  Fill fryer with Canola Oil to recommended level. Heat to 350 degrees.

Crunch Coating:  In a shallow dish also, have Corn Flakes cereal crushed up.  Little flakes are fine.  Don’t crush it to dust.

Now…..here goes the assembly line routine, which you can sort of see in the 2 photos coming up:

1) Put a piece of toast into the egg mixture, flip it over quickly with a fork to coat the other side, and take it out right away using a forl. Let it drip off as it hangs from the fork, and then lay it in crushed Corn Flakes dish.

2) Press the toast slice down a little into the flakes, flip over, and press again.  Neither side has to be completely covered with the flakes.  You just want some on there.

3)  Move the coated slice from the flakes, and lay it in one end of the deep fryer basket.  Then do a 2nd piece the same way:  Quickly coat both sides in egg, let drip, coat both sides in flakes, and lay in  free area of basket.

4) Now lower basket into oil, and immediately start counting to 1o.  The toast will float.  So when you get to 10, flip them both over, and count to 10 again.  Bring the basket up, and hook on the side.

Enter Trick # 1: I had to stand both pieces up after each set, as shown above.  In my mind, it best helps any excess oil drip off, instead of soaking into the toast.  And ultimately, makes it crispier. Then….I would put onto the paper-towel covered cookie sheet in the still warm oven.

Repeat sets of toast until you are done. We only had to make a little more egg mixture once, and crush up some more Cornflakes a few times.

Now, this was our Trio’s Birthday Breakfast, and so we had traditions to stick to. I managed to cut 9’s out of the top French Toast on each of their plates, and put it on the side. Of course, this was before we added the wonderful toppings! (Coming up.)

The Happy & Hungry, 9 Year Old Triplets!!

For topping, I just lightly butter, sift a little confectionery sugar on,  and then drizzle on the syrup.

I can’t even explain how delicious this French Toast is. My family was loving every bite. It’s filling, for sure. But it’s not heavy in your mouth or stomach, in the oily ‘ugh’ kind of way. It tastes light, and sweet, and it’s nicely crispy on the outside. Add some sausage or bacon on the side, with juice or coffee, and it’s a special breakfast, that’s worth the little production effort for sure. Consider trying it this weekend, and letting us know how you liked it!

I think we might be having it again ourselves.  😛

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