Deluxe French Toast

Here's a quick yet special spin on the typical french toast recipe. Most people just whisk together an egg and add a splash of milk and soak some sandwich bread in there, then they pan fry it in some oil and douse it with syrup. And it's really not bad, but this recipe is just something else. We're going to be using french bread, some spices, a thinner egg mixture, and an extra cooking step that will give us a great crust on the outside and a beautiful, soft, spongy interior.

Ingredients:
3 slices of french bread (day old bread works best)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tbsp sugar
Small pinch of salt
Butter

Steps:

-Preheat oven to 400° F (to finish the french toast cooking)

-In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, cinnamon, milk, sugar, and salt until well combined.

-Toss the bread in the mixture and let the bread soak it up.

-In a cast-iron skillet, melt enough butter to coat the surface evenly.

-Once the butter is melted, add the bread into the pan and cook until surface is light brown (the french toast will darken in the oven)

-Flip the pieces over and brown the other side as well. The bread should not be in the pan for longer than a few minutes.

-Once your bread is browned on both sides, stick the pan in the top rack of the preheated oven for about 5-7 minutes or until the bread puffs up and the surface of the bread has achieved a darker crust.

-Top with anything you want, syrup, powdered sugar, fresh fruit, maple butter, or any combination thereof. Enjoy!