TracyFood

Recipe: French Toast Waffles. 2 September 2009 7:51 pm

Posted by Tracy in : breakfast,cooking,dessert,friends,kitchen gear,Morning Glory,pictures,recipes,vegetarian , trackback

So Morning Glory ran French toast waffles as a special back in March 2008, but I didn’t make them at home until last month, and I’m not sure Peter has forgiven my holding out on him for so long. That’s the bad news. The good news is, now the cat is out of the bag, and since this breakfasty treat combines great features of two favorites, I think we’ll be eating it a lot from now on. Behold:

French toast waffles.

I mean, you’ve got to admit those are pretty gorgeous. Like French toast, they’re easier to make than our favorite waffle recipe (separating and beating eggs isn’t hard, but it is a bit of a pain first thing in the morning, with getting out the stand mixer and having to clean it and all that), but like waffles, they can be made at the table, which is much more sociable than one person standing at the stove while the other eats, which is usually what happens with pancakes and French toast. What I’m saying is, these are awesome. They’re not perfect, because you need a waffle iron to make them, which means you have to clean the waffle iron when you’re done, but French toast waffles definitely pass the kitchen equipment test, namely: is this food worth the gear and its cleanup?

Anyway. Here’s what you need, and what you do. The French toast batter, by the way, is based on one in The New Best Recipe, and can be tweaked for different kinds of bread, but I highly recommend going the challah or brioche route if either is an option. Om nom nom more eggy goodness…

Ingredients

1 egg
2 TB unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup flour
2 TB sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional but delicious)

That makes enough batter for 1/3 to 1/2 loaf of challah or brioche, depending on the size of the loaf and how thick you cut your slices (I like it pretty thick, 1/2 an inch to 3/4). You can, of course, double up to make more batter — just make sure you’re using a batter container large enough to hold it all.

Equipment (besides the obvious waffle iron)

Cooking spray (optional, depending on how much you trust your waffle iron not to stick)
Pie pan or casserole dish — something shallow and big enough to soak a slice of bread in
Whisk or big fork
Tongs, if you’re squeamish about handling bread soaked in milky, eggy goo

Instructions

Pre-heat the waffle iron and give it a spray of your favorite non-stick substance if that’s how you roll. You can set this up right at the table where you’re planning to eat, as I mentioned before.

Break the egg into the shallow container of your choice and whisk it, adding the melted butter after the yolk is fairly well-blended. Next, add the milk and vanilla, then the flour, sugar, and seasonings. Keep whisking it until the batter is a nice, smooth consistency. Bring the batter out to the table and get ready for deliciousness.

Soak the bread one slice at a time (unless your waffle iron is way bigger than mine), about 30 seconds to a side, giving each piece a chance to drip off before putting it in the waffle iron. You may need to cut larger slices in half to make them fit in the waffle iron; I recommend doing this before they’re covered in batter.

Cook each slice in the waffle iron as if it were a waffle (follow whatever signs your machine uses to indicate that it’s done) and serve with the toppings of your choice.

Notes

Challah and brioche are fairly soft breads, so there’s flour in the batter to slow their absorption of the milk and egg. For denser bread, you’ll want to use less flour (but a little is still nice for thickness) and more milk, and maybe let it soak a little longer. But don’t stress it — French toast is pretty fantastically forgiving stuff, and chances are you’re serving this to someone who’s never had French toast waffles before, and will be impressed no matter how they turn out. Confidence helps. So does a sprinkling of powdered sugar and/or a dollop of whipped cream.

Liz

This has Saturday morning written all over it. Ryan’s a big fan of “wawa” these days, so I hope to trick him into liking French toast (which he will feed to some amazingly willing cats given the chance).
Peter Boothe

These were SO GOOD.
http://www.imho.com Greg Rae

I totally need a waffle iron.
cj

But it’s Wednesday?! Two doses of Tracy food in one week. Mmm…mmm…good!
Kim

Sooo goooood! My mouth was a bit confused at first, but it decided to stop overthinking and just go with it :-)
http://www.tracyfood.com TracyFood

Glad you liked it!