F is for French Toast

Every weekend we try to have a cooked breakfast on one morning – usually Sunday.  Lately Bear and Bee’s favourite dish has been bacon, French toast and maple syrup.  Sometimes we substitute pancakes for the French toast.  Bear loves dipping the cubes of toast into the syrup one at a time.  Bee likes to start with the bacon.

Making French toast is a great cooking with children activity for the girls and not too difficult first thing in the morning.   Breaking eggs is Bear’s speciality while Bee takes control of the whisking and dipping the bread into the mix.

There are many variations of French toast available if you do an internet search and it’s a reasonably healthy recipe for kids.  Some include cream in the egg mixture or use fancier bread like brioche but we keep ours plain and simple (except for a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg!).

 French Toast Recipe (for two adults and 2 children)

6 slices of thick sliced bread (wholemeal or white but day old bread is best as it soaks up more of the mixture)

4 eggs

8 tablespoons of milk

Pinch of nutmeg

Butter or margarine 

Bear is getting better at not dropping shell in

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly.  Add the milk and the nutmeg and whisk again.   

Bee practising buttering the bread

Butter the slices of bread on one side (On reflection I am not sure why we do this.  My mum always did it this way when we were kids). 

Melt a small amount of butter in a frypan over medium heat.  Meanwhile soak a slice of bread in the egg mixture. Carefully turn bread slices over to make sure both sides are coated.  When butter is melted and foamy, add the soaked bread and fry on each side for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  While the one slice of bread is frying, soak another slice of bread.  It is best to do them one at a time or they will get too soggy and difficult to pick up.

Serve the French toast with bacon, maple syrup, honey, jam, vegemite etc. 

Pouring and Mixing

Aside from the cooking which is best left until they are older, children can help with most of the steps of this recipe.  Get them to break the eggs into a bowl and whisk them, pour in the premeasured milk or measure out the milk if they are old enough and butter the slices of bread.

Bee dipping the bread

A great start to your morning!

What is your favourite breakfast recipe to make with your child?