Why This Recipe Works

This recipe is less fussy AND less messy than your typical French toast, and makes enough to serve four people all on one baking sheet! Instead of dunking each slice of bread in custard and cooking on the stovetop, kids pour their custard directly onto a baking sheet, place the bread in the mixture, and allow the bread to soak up all the custardy goodness. Use this recipe to teach your child about absorption. Before placing the bread slices in the custard in step 4, have them observe the bread up close. Point out that it's full of tiny holes, or air pockets. After baking, have them observe again—what looks different? Can they still see those holes? (Probably not.) When the bread gets dipped in the liquid custard, the holes act as channels, sucking up the custard and filling the air pockets, which makes the bread moist—and delicious—after baking. If you have a dry sponge handy, kids can submerge it in water and see how much liquid it absorbs. The sponge soaks up water just as their bread soaked up the custard for their French toast!

Before You Begin

We developed this recipe to work with a very specific kind of bread: supermarket presliced white bread that measures 4 by 6 inches and is ¾ inch thick. (The size of the slices is the key to soaking up the right amount of custard on the baking sheet.) If you want to use whole-grain sandwich bread, you will need a little more custard. (Whole-grain breads are drier, so they absorb more custard.) To use whole-wheat, oatmeal, or multigrain sandwich bread instead of the white bread: Use 4 eggs and increase the milk to 1⅓ cups. Make sure the slices measure about 4 by 6 inches and are ¾ inch thick to ensure that they soak up all the custard on the sheet before baking.

Instructions

Adjust 1 oven rack to lowest position and second rack 5 to 6 inches from broiler element. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray baking sheet well with vegetable oil spray.

In large bowl, whisk eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt until well combined and sugar is dissolved, about 30 seconds. Add milk and melted butter and whisk until combined.

Pour egg mixture into greased baking sheet.

Place bread slices in 2 rows on baking sheet. Working quickly, flip each slice in same order you placed them on baking sheet. Let bread sit until slices absorb custard, about 1 minute.

Place baking sheet in oven. Bake on lower rack until bottoms of slices are golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

Ask an adult to use oven mitts to transfer baking sheet to upper rack. Heat broiler and broil until tops of slices are golden brown, 1 to 4 minutes (watch carefully to prevent burning!).

Ask an adult to remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack. Serve.