Sunday Morning French Toast

It recently occurred to me that every time I make a family brunch, I ALWAYS use a tattered, ripped-from-a-magazine recipe for banana stuffed French toast. Last week, I realized that the recipe comes from Zoe Restaurant in Soho. I got the restaurant recipe from a decade-old Bon Appétit Magazine. And over the years, I’ve made small changes to the original that appear in myriad pen markings over the glossy page. I’ve also discovered that using the whole-wheat challah from Silver Moon Bakery on 105th Street makes the very best rendition. This recipe, though it seems tedious, can be split into night-before and day-of preparation, a huge bonus for morning meal prep. Usually, I toast the almonds, prep the bananas, and make the dry sugar-oat mix the night prior to my big brunch.

Ingredients: for 6 big servings.

2 tbsps plus ¼ cup unsalted butter

2 tbsps plus ½ cup sugar

2 large ripe bananas

1 loaf of challah

2 cups whole milk

6 large eggs

1 tbsp cinnamon

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cup thinly sliced almonds—toasted

¼ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup minute oats

2 tbsps all purpose flour

1.Heat 2 tbsps. butter in a skillet; add 2 tbsps. sugar and water. Stir until it foams.

2.Slice in the bananas and cook until tender. Transfer to a small bowl; cover and chill.

3.In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, oats, flour, and 2 tsps cinnamon. Add ¼ cup butter and incorporate.

4.Preheat oven to 350º. Slice bread into 2-inch-thick slices. Slit a pocket in the middle of each slice. Stuff each bread slice with the banana mixture.

5.Whisk milk, eggs, 1 tsp cinnamon, vanilla, and ½ cup sugar and pour into a baking dish. Soak bread slices for 10 minutes, and then flip them and let sit for another 5 minutes.

6.Remove bread from egg mixture. Coat both sides of each piece with toasted almonds. Place the bread on a baking sheet and drop clumps of the brown sugar butter on top of each slice.

7.Bake for about 25 minutes and serve hot.