I don’t often have enough time for an overly ornate and decadent breakfast but when I do, I like to make overly decadent french toast! Lately, that’s taken the form of banana bread french toast.

Over the years, I’ve had a lot of fun coming up with new ways to enjoy french toast (remember that tower of sweets I called the french toast croissant sundae?) and I think this one is the perfect balance between drool-worthy and achievable.

I LOVE bananas (much to my husband’s chagrin) so I always have them on hand. I don’t always eat them as quickly as I’d like though so I often find myself with rapidly browning bananas on hand. Thank goodness for quick and easy banana bread recipes that use up my browning bananas and make me feel better about not wasting fresh fruit.

Banana bread french toast is much like regular french toast except you are using banana bread instead of bread. That part felt obvious but I had to say it in case you were confused by how easy this recipe is. As long as you have banana bread on hand (which I usually do), it’s just a matter of making the egg wash and popping the bread on the stove top. It’s kind of wild how EASY this breakfast is since it is so decadent and impressive.

What is French toast?

First things first, what is french toast! Well, it comes from France where they call it “pain perdu”, or literally translated, “lost bread”. Stale bread was dipped in an egg and milk mixture before being fried to make it edible again. Today, we still enjoy that technique and while some use it to revive stale bread, many of us just use regular bread. In this case, we’ll be using banana bread!

Does it matter what kind of banana bread I use?

Nope! What matters most is how thick you cut your pieces. I like my french toast nice and crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside so a thick cut of banana bread was essential to achieving this. If you cut your bread thinner, keep in mind that it will cook through much more quickly so keep an eye on it.

What can I serve with banana bread french toast?

Maple syrup. Although I’m Canadian so I’ve been known to try maple syrup on just about everything. In this case though, I think maple syrup on french toast is widely accepted.

Whipped cream. If you want to go real decadent, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and 2 tablespoons sugar to a stand mixer and whip until medium to stiff peaks form. Top your stack with a big dollop of fresh whipped cream. If you are going with all of the above, add the fruit, then the maple syrup and finish with the whipped cream.
Fruit. It’s a relatively heavy breakfast so consider pairing it with fresh fruit, either bananas or berries.

Banana Bread French Toast

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Ingredients

1 loaf banana bread
2 eggs
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, divided

Instructions

Slice banana bread into 1-inch thick pieces. Set aside while you make the egg wash. Whisk eggs, milk and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Add one tablespoon of butter to a frying pan and put the heat to medium high. Use a spatula to move the butter around and fully coat the pan. When it has mostly melted, lower the heat to medium and start making your french toast.
Place one piece of the banana bread in the bowl and flip it over a few times to completely coat it. Place in preheated frying pan. If you can fit two add two pieces but one at a time is fine too. Cook it undisturbed for about 4 minutes. Flip it and cook on the other side to make sure both sides are getting nice and crisp.
Set your oven to 350 and place the done french toast on a baking sheet. Place in the oven to keep warm until you are done cooking the rest of the bread slices. Repeat until all of your bread is used up.
Place french toast on plate and top with optional toppings. Enjoy immediately.

https://sweet-sundays.com/banana-bread-french-toast/