BAKED BANANA CHOCOLATE FRENCH TOAST: National French Toast Day

Today is French Toast Day. I love French Toast aka Pain Perdu. This wonderful food used to be a way to use up stale bread by dipping it in eggs and milk and frying it. I make French Toast with Challah, Brioche, or Sourdough, but I've been known to try other breads. And, my breads are usually fresh. We don't have a lot of 'leftover' bread at my house, ut it all works.

Today in honor of National French Toast Day, I'm sharing an easy recipe for Baked Banana Chocolate French Toast! I love Chocolate and Bananas, and this is a great make-ahead French toast recipe! OK, this French Toast is not fried, and it's a bit like a bread pudding, but it's still fabulous! You could always fry it by following the directions and putting the chocolate between two pieces of the bread for stuffed French Toast.

BAKED BANANA CHOCOLATE FRENCH TOAST

Ingredients
4 ripe bananas
4 eggs
3/4 cups half and half
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 loaf of Challah (or Brioche) cut in thick slices
1/2 cup dark chocolate, 65-75% cacao, chopped 

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Butter a 9" x 13" baking dish.
In large bowl, mash bananas. Add eggs, half and half, melted butter, 3 tablespoons sugar, and vanilla; mix until well beaten. Add bread and turn to coat.
Layer bread in prepared baking dish. Pour remaining mixture over bread.
Sprinkle with chocolate chunks and remaining tablespoon of sugar.
Bake 18 minutes, or until set & golden.

S'MORES FRENCH TOAST: History of French Toast and Recipe for National French Toast Day!

Today is National French Toast Day. French toast is not actually French at all. It predates the founding of France. According to the Apicius, a collection of recipes from the early 5th century AD, the dish we now know as French toast existed as early as the age of the Roman Empire. In their style of French toast, called Pan Dulcis, Romans would soak bread in milk (and sometimes also egg) mixture, then fry it in oil or butter.

In the 15th century English court of Henry V, a version of the French toast called "pain perdu" or "lost bread" was the culinary rage. Then, it was called "lost" bread because the recipe called for soaking hard or stale bread in a mixture of milk and egg, then frying it. Pain perdu is what the French call French toast today. So, if the French did not invent the modern French toast, who did? According to legend, it was an Albany, New York, innkeeper named Joseph French who created the dish in 1724, and advertised it as "French Toast." Maybe. Whatever, it's delicious.

Here's an easy recipe for S'mores French Toast. I love s'mores. The good news? You don't have to be in the woods to make S'mores French Toast. You can make this on the stovetop. It's a great brunch treat. There are many versions of this recipe, but I tend to like the marshmallows and chocolate within the bread. Some people like marshmallows on top. Some people use Marshmallow Fluff. Maybe you'll come up with your own version!

Bookmark this recipe for the holidays, too!

S'MORES FRENCH TOAST

Ingredients 
6 slices Brioche (or any good egg bread)
4 eggs lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 cup graham cracker crumbs
unsalted butter
7 large marshmallows cut in half
4 full-size Hershey bars broken into rectangles
Fudge sauce

Directions
In shallow bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt.
Dip bread into egg mixture, coating each side.
Press both sides of bread into graham cracker crumbs.
Melt about 1/2 tablespoon of butter on griddle (or skillet) for each slice of bread.
Cook until brown and crispy, then turn over, adding more butter to pan first.
While still hot, for each serving, stack 3 slices of french toast, layering marshmallows, and chocolate in between.
Repeat with second stack.
Drizzle with chocolate sauce