One of my favorite things about traveling is trying out the different restaurants we find on Yelp while we’re exploring someplace new. As much as I love to cook for my family, I certainly enjoy being waited on, eating whatever I’ve chosen off a menu, and not having to wash dishes. Actually I’ve become one of those “weirdos” that takes pictures of her food to add to our yearly scrapbook. Michael teases me, but it’s so we can remember the name of the place we loved so much in that one city. (And yes, I’ve totally gone back to look in a scrapbook to remember the name of a restaurant to recommend to a friend.) Seriously though, it’s nice to remember the memories we made on a vacation when we’re back home cooking up another new favorite dish.

This is a recipe we tried first in a little coffee shop in Downtown Scottsdale. We weren’t sure what to order so the waitress gave us her top sellers. “The French Toast is unique here. We top it with Frosted Flakes. It’s delicious.” We smiled and ordered that along with a roasted hatch chile omelette and I was secretly hoping that Michael would give me more than my fair share of the savory dish. Frosted Flakes? I don’t even eat those normally! Obviously the ending to this story is predictable. We loved both the omelet and their take on French Toast. After coming home I had to see if I could find a recipe that matched it.

I make French Toast almost every weekend. My family loves it. Honestly I’d rather have something savory in the morning, but it makes me happy to see how much they enjoy a slow morning and a big breakfast smothered in syrup. Since they request French Toast so often though, I have tried to find ways to spice up the Saturday tradition. A couple years ago we added Pumpkin French Toast to our rotation and now this will definitely be making a frequent appearance. The Challah bread was sent home with Michael this week. I had never had it before but read it made great French Toast. It sure does! I’ll definitely only use Challah for this recipe from now on because it truly sets it apart from our traditional Texas Toast. Michael and I prefer topping it with syrup, whip cream, and fresh fruit while Matthew only uses syrup and Lindsay only wants whip cream and strawberries. Dessert for breakfast anyone? Yum!

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 thick slices bread (I used Challah bread)
• 3 heaping cups crushed Frosted Flakes

Instructions

• Preheat griddle to 350 degrees F or or heat a skillet over medium heat.
• Crush cereal in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin, and place in a shallow pie plate.
• Whisk eggs, milk, flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon & vanilla into a separate pie pan. You’ll still see chunks of flour, but it’s no biggie.
• Cut your Challah bread into 1 1/2 inch thick pieces. There’s enough batter for about eight pieces.
• Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture on both sides and then press gently into the cereal, flipping to coat both sides.
• Melt a small piece of butter in a skillet or griddle over medium heat (or grease with cooking spray/oil). Place the bread slices on the hot skillet and cook for a few minutes until golden on the bottom and then flip and cook on the other side. I did find that this took longer to cook than your typical French Toast as the cereal kind of blocks the griddle from heating all the batter. I pressed down gently on each piece with my spatula to ensure all nooks and crannies were being cooked.
• Serve warm with your your favorite syrup and a generous amount of whipped cream and fresh fruit!

Recipe by Lauren Allen from Tastes Better From Scratch