Crunchy French Toast

I adore french toast - if we go out for breakfast or brunch, 9 times out of 10 I'm ordering it. It's not that it's a hard dish to make at home, we just rarely make it. French toast is a fairly standard dish - egg soaked bread fried on the griddle until crisp and golden. Some like to top it with powdered sugar, fruit, and syrup. I'm a purist and am perfectly happy with some salty butter slathered on each slice and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. That sweet and salty combo is the BEST.

And now I'm wishing IHOP delivered...

This french toast was intriguing to me because it's from Cooks Country (always a good sign!) and promises to be sog-free. I mean, they call it crunchy french toast! After one of my favorite blogs tried it and gave it two thumbs up, it went on the menu.

Y'all, it's darn good. Sinfully good, really. It'll be hard to go back to regular french toast after having this version. It's crispy, and sweet, and the bread holds up so well. Since you bake it as one big batch, it would be the perfect addition to a family breakfast!

I found that the easiest way to crush the cereal was to put it in small batches in a ziplock, seal, and roll with a rolling pin. Small batches are key so your pieces are a consistent size. 

Crunchy French Toast

6 cups Cap'n Crunch cereal, crushed coarse

2 1/2 cups half & half

3 large eggs

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (12 by 5 inch) loaf challah bread, cut into eight 1 inch thick slices (day old is best!)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Adjust oven rack to middle position. Place a rimmed baking sheet on rack and heat oven to 450.

Set a wire cooling rack inside a second rimmed baking sheet and place on counter near work space. Place cereal in a shallow dish. Whisk half & half, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl until combined.

Working with a slice at a time, soak in half & half mixture until just saturated, about 15 seconds per side. Transfer soaked bread to cereal and press lightly to adhere. Transfer to prepared wire rack. Repeat with remaining slices.

Add oil to preheat sheet, tilting to coat evenly. Return sheet to oven and heat until oil is just smoking, about 4 minutes. Carefully remove from oven and arrange prepared bread slices in an even layer on sheet. Bake until exterior is golden brown, about 20 minutes*, flipping once and rotation sheet halfway through baking. 

Transfer toast to clean wire cooling rack and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. 

*watch carefully - they burn easily! 

Source: Cooks Country via The Bitten Word