Homemade french toast sticks

I try to plan at least one easy meal once per week, so that I don't feel overwhelmed with all the cooking and cleaning. So, I was going to make some french toast today. I had to stop by the store to get some cupcake liners for my daughters birthday cupcakes for school tomorrow. While I was there I wandered to the frozen food section. My heart and mind were drifting towards french toast sticks, much more yummy than plain french toast. And then I saw the price $2.79/box and it would take at least 3 boxes to feed my family. No thank you.

NEXT!!!!!!



So, I walked out thinking I'm just going to make my french toast and move on with my life.

But the thought wouldn't leave me, so I got online and did some digging. Most people make french toast sticks that are literally just french toast...sliced into sticks. Where's the fun and deliciousness in that? I mean, you might as well just make regular french toast and skip the step of cutting it right?

In all the recipes I found, only one of them slightly resembled the heavenly bites my mother used to buy from the Swans man (am I spelling that right? I really don't know). So, I decided to play around a bit. Here's what I came up with.

Batter:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 T cinnamon (you can change this to fit your tastes)

Bread

Oil for frying in

Mix that all up! Surprise, surprise, I have made yet another mess of my kitchen!

Then take a pizza cutter and cut slices of whatever bread you have on hand into about 4 slices each (seriously, we don't have to use expensive bread here)

Heat some oil up on the stove top...make sure to watch this closely. I have a habit of starting fires...AND...I'm super surprised my phone didn't hop out of my hand and jump into the hot oil (I'm such a klutz). And again, note the mess, yes, I did a lot of goofing off in my kitchen this afternoon! It'll all be clean after dinner!

The oil doesn't need to be deep, just enough to about half-cover the sticks, so maybe a quarter of an inch, add more as needed. Dip the bread slices in the batter. Place in the hot oil. Fry for a couple of minutes on either side. And you should get what you see below!

I would describe these as a mix between a store-bought french-toast stick and a diner pancake. I'm happy with them. The kids are loving them (what do you think is going in their lunch tomorrow? I made WAY too much! :)

I also made some scrambled eggs with sautéed onions and peppers (grown from our garden). Serve with some syrup and you are ready to go!

Til next time,

-Sue