Making Delicious French Toast

French toast is a pretty quick and simple dish you can make for any meal. In fact, I know teenaged boys who make French toast for themselves, and they don't even need to ask for a recipe!

Basic French toast is made by simply whisking together 1/4 cup milk with one egg, dipping pieces of bread in the mixture, and frying the coated bread on a hot griddle or skillet. This will make three to five pieces of French toast, depending on the size and texture of your bread. You can multiply the amount of eggs and milk you use if you need to make more pieces.

Spice up your French toast recipe by adding 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract to your milk and egg mixture (also multiply these amounts if you're using more than one egg). These little additions make a huge difference in the flavor of your toast, creating a truly sophisticated taste in something relatively simple.

For another change, try making your French toast from something other than white bread. Cinnamon swirl and raisin bread are my two favorites for French toast, but any kind of sweet or neutral bread would work well.

Do you throw away then ends of your loaves of bread? Bread ends make great, sturdy French toast. You can even keep a supply of bread ends in a plastic bag in the freezer until you have enough for breakfast. Just add bread ends to a bag in the freezer as you finish each loaf.

You can also use bread that's getting a little stale for French bread instead of throwing it out. Soak dry bread in the egg and milk mixture for 10–20 seconds on each side before cooking it. Dry bread takes more of the liquid than moist, fresh bread, so make sure you have enough eggs and milk on hand, and cook it thoroughly.

Most people top their toast with butter and store-bought maple syrup. What if you run out, though? There are lots of alternative toppings you can use when your syrup is out or when you're craving a new flavor. Try some of these:

• Corn syrup
• Powdered sugar
• Cinnamon sugar
• Fresh fruit
• Chocolate shavings or chips
• Whipped cream
• Yogurt
• Cream cheese