Banana Bread French Toast

WHY
have I never thought of making this before??!!
Some things seem so darn obvious it's pitiful.
It really, truly is.

I mean, it's like Post-its.
Why the HECK didn't I think of that??!!
I mean, back in high school/college about the time I remember first seeing them, I was forever taping notes to my mirrors, walls and the back of my bedroom door.
Another obvious yet missed opportunity.
I wonder, what else am I missing?

I now need to open myself up to all of the wonderful foodness (yes, it's a word, I just made it up ;-)  ), and just go with however I feel it move me.
I will become one with the food, knowing its' personality, hearing it talk to me about what I should use it for and how it will be best suited for eating, and feeling its' energy.
I will now be known as...

THE FOOD WHISPERER

*Googling*

Ok, no I won't.

There's already someone out there with a FB page and a blog with that name.

Well, it doesn't mean I still can't be one with the food.

Don't worry, I'm not going to get all goofy on you.

I'll still be the same ol' lovable Lynne you've all come to know and ah...love?

Where was I going with this?

Anyway, onto the recipe.

I adapted this from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Banana Bread French Toast - serves 4-6

Banana Bread

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

3 large bananas

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare a 9 X 5 X 3-inch loaf pan by greasing it with butter.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas.  Add the beaten eggs, sugar and melted butter.  Mix until combined.

Add banana mixture to dry ingredients and mix until just moistened (it will have some lumps - don't get all freaky on me).

Pour into prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow pan to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Remove bread from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Wrap tightly and allow to sit overnight before using in the morning.

French Toads - LOL!  I know the French like to eat frog legs, but no, we're not making toads for breakfast.  At least not today!

French Toast 

4 eggs

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

butter

maple syrup

freshly sliced bananas, if desired

In a medium shallow baking dish, beat eggs.  Add the milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix until thoroughly combined.

Preheat a griddle on medium-high heat.  You can also use a skillet if you don't have a griddle.

Cut the loaf of banana bread into slices between 1/4 and 1/2-thick.

Place some butter onto the griddle, allowing it to melt on the entire surface. (I didn't measure my butter here, just used enough to cover the griddle.)

Place a slice of the banana bread into the mixture and allow it to sit for 10-15 seconds.  Repeat with other side.

Allow the excess to drip off slightly (just so you don't have a massive drippy mess all over your stove) and place onto griddle.

Repeat with remaining slices.

Cook slices for about 5-7 minutes or until lightly golden.

Turn slices over and cook on the other side for another 5-7 minutes or so.

Remove from griddle and serve with maple syrup and banana slices.

We LOVE banana bread and we LOVE French Toast.

I have to tell you that the number one lover of French Toast, our #1 son, was not so nuts about this version.

Some things are just better left untouched with him, like this Baked Chicken Picatta.

But he did really like this Baked Cinnamon French Toast.

There's no telling with him.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and this Banana Bread French Toast earned 3 rolling pins.

It was extremely filling because the bread was so dense.  We all had about 2 pieces each where we're normally eating four slices of French Toast.

I was bummed that I didn't taste more of the banana in the bread, but the slices on the top were an added bonus, especially dipped in that pure maple syrple.

I give you BIG baking hugs and bananas!  I mean muffins!  haha