Serves 4
I mean, I don’t think I have to give you much more than the title of this recipe to convince you of its goodness. You’ve got buttered pan-toasted rich eggy bread, oozing with melted chocolate and melted marshmallows, and topped with luscious caramelized bananas – I’m just gonna go ahead and drop the mic right now, no need to say more.
Ingredients
1 loaf day-old egg bread (challah, or brioche)
- semisweet mini chocolate chips (or finely chopped dark chocolate)
- mini marshmallows
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, for cooking French toast
- grapeseed or canola oil
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 3 eggs, size large
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup graham cracker crumbs, plus more if needed
- 4 bananas, sliced 1/8 inch thick
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed from approximately 1-2 oranges
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar, packed (dark or light works, use what you have handy)
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 2 Tbsp dark rum (optional)
Method
Caramelized Bananas
1. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Once preheated, add the butter, brown sugar, orange juice and rum and stir well with a wooden spoon to combine. Slightly increase the temperature so that the mixture bubbles gently and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the sliced bananas and salt and simmer an additional 2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and reserve for service – may be enjoyed warm or at room temperature.
French Toast
1. Preheat oven to 275F/300F. Set aside a wire rack (the kind used for cooling baked goods fresh out of the oven), and keep it handy – you’ll need it to hold the cooked French toast slices warm in the oven.
2. Slice 4 loaf 2-inch slices from the loaf of bread. Use a sharp and slender knife to make a slit into each slice and create a pocket that goes almost to the edges without breaking through. Very gently while being careful not to tear the bread, fill each slit with chocolate chips and marshmallows – I filled mine with approximately 1 tablespoon chocolate chips and 15 mini marshmallows.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla until combined.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan (at least 10-inches in diameter) over medium heat. But if you’re a kitchen whiz like me (and I know you are!), heat two of them to speed things up and cook two at a time.
5. Spread the graham crumbs onto a small plate in an even layer and set aside. Working quickly, dip one stuffed bread slice into the egg mixture, flipping to coat both sides; you want them to be well moistened but not soggy, about 5 seconds of dipping per side. Place dipped bread onto the reserved graham crumbs and flip to coat both sides.
6. Add a pat of butter and a teaspoon of oil to the preheated pan – if your pan is at the right temperature the butter will foam gently without turning brown. Immediately add the dressed bread slices to the pan and cook approximately 3 minutes per side. 7. Transfer cooked French toast to the wire rack and into the preheated oven to maintain temperature until serving.
8. Serve French toast hot and dressed with the caramelized bananas.
9. Enjoy!