At our house, we eat a lot of breakfast. I grew up knowing it truly was the most important meal, and I’ve tried to impress that upon my own kids as well. So naturally, I try to cook something every morning. Sometimes it’s only eggs (with some fruit, toast, or bagel) and sometimes I really go all out with pancakes or waffles. But a trusty favorite for my kids is French toast. It’s easy, fairly nutritious, and always loved by my kids. Here’s what I do:

Make some coffee. This is a vital step to any breakfast excursion. I don’t know about you, but I can’t measure, pour, read, or speak properly until I’ve had some coffee. My current situation is a pour over of locally roasted beans. Yum.

Make the batter. Depending on how much French toast you want to make, you might need 2-5 eggs. These three eggs fed my toddlers and me, as a reference. Then add some milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. In this one I used coconut milk because I had some leftover from another project, but I’ve used cows’ milk, soy milk and almond milk, and it’s been great every time. I don’t put a whole lot, around 1/3 cup, unless I want to stretch it and don’t have enough eggs! I shake in a little cinnamon (however much you want, depending on how much you like cinnamon), and dribble in some vanilla (to your preference as well)… Sometimes people use nutmeg. I don’t like it much, so I don’t use it, but if you like it, throw in some nutmeg, too! Whisk it all together, and you’ve got enough batter for several full pieces of bread.

Cook it! I just put a little butter (or sometimes coconut oil to be healthier) in a skillet on low, and wait till it gets hot enough to melt and cover the pan. Then you take the bread, slice by slice (I use Pepperidge Farm Homestyle Oatmeal, and it’s a little bigger than a square loaf bread, so I halve the slices first), and soak it in the batter for a few seconds – just long enough to make sure that every part is covered in the batter, but not long enough that the bread is falling apart. Then put it on the pan, and let it cook for a minute or so on each side, just to make sure it’s good and hot, and the egg is fully cooked. This may vary a little depending on how “low” the low is on your stove. But I like it to still be soft!

Serve it up! My kids like it drizzled with maple syrup. My mom likes it sprinkled with powdered sugar. I like it dressed up with a little fruit spread. It’s good every possible way you eat it… I even eat it plain! It’s delicious, and much better for you than something like sugary cereal or a fried chicken biscuit. (Not that I don’t truly love Lucky Charms and Bojangles.)

By the way, it’s very important that you still use your Christmas dishes in March… Oops.

How do you like your French toast?