New Mom Starting From Scratch: Oatmeal Crusted brulee French Toast w/ Sour Cream Strawberry Syrup

I always wanted to make french toast with french bread...you may ask "really, you haven't?" I have only used french bread once to make french toast over the past 20 years. So when I saw my french bread on the counter this morning, I said "ooooooooo I'm making french toast, finally!!!" I was going to use the french bread for a yummy sandwich, which I still will because I have half of a loaf left.

Honestly there is not "real" recipe here. With this type of cooking I find I don't need exact measurements. So you can adjust to your tasting.

Warning: If you have a little one, they may want to eat your ingredients...not a bad thing! I gave my Little Cupcake the job of mixing the cinnamon with the oats. Lets say she was obsessed with eating the oats LOL So I was not going to get more, my suggestion...maybe put extra in the plate in-case your little one eats them up. Actually the past hour she has been eating them and once she is finished she asks for more.

Bread: I used french bread. However I have always used sandwich bread for this. How tasty would raisin cinnamon bread be? Yummy! So you can use what you have on hand, or make it extra special and buy french bread.

Cream: Milk or cream? I'll let you decide. I prefer to use half and half because I stock a lot in my fridge for my coffee. But please feel free to use what you have. I will say the reason I prefer cream is because of the thicker coating. I find milk is more runny and causes my french toast to be soggy faster.

Oatmeal: Whole oats or quick oats? I decided to go with the quick oats however if you have whole oats only, please don't run out to buy quick oats for this recipe. Of course I think its a good idea to stock your pantry with both, just in-case!

Sour Cream & Strawberry Jam syrup: There is no wrong way to make this. Just use whatever jam/jelly you have, I have strawberry. Mix portions to your taste buds. I got this idea when I was thinking of how My Mr.Tasteful and his sisters would go to Ihop and order the tutti frutti pancake breakfast. They would get the strawberry compote and instead of whip cream, ask for sour cream. I thought it was strange! But no, it was good! In fact my mother in-law would make a yummy desert mixing fresh berries and tossing with sour cream and honey or sugar. So why not make a syrup?

Brulee: Ive tried this a couple times, my best tip is do not mix brown sugar with the oats. It will just burn!!! You will need to do this in stages that I will explain below. You don't have to do this step. I will warn you you need to work fast!

1/2 loaf of french bread, equal 6 slices
2 eggs
4 tSp of half & half
1/2 tSp of vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon
1/2 cup of quick oats
dash of salt
1 tBs brown sugar
3 tBs sour cream
2 tSp strawberry jelly

Slice your french bread into 6 slices (use your serrated knife for this)
In a shallow bowl combine egg, cream, vanilla, dash of salt and a dash of cinnamon (to your liking)
In a separate plate, place oats and another dash of cinnamon and combine
In a separate bowl combine sour cream and jelly and mix together then place in the fridge.
using a non stick pan or your cast iron skillet (any pan works, just butter it well) turn temp to high, then turn down to a medium temp.
drench 2 or 3 slices of bread into egg mixture, coating both sides.
then dip bread into oats and coat both sides
take a nice slice of butter into skillet let melt
place bread into pan and let simmer for 2 min
flip bread to other side. Then spread a thin layer of butter on top, and then sprinkle top with brown sugar
Once the other side cooked for 2 min, flip brown sugar side down. Add a thin layer of butter and brown sugar on other side. Cook for 30 seconds and then flip to other side for another 30 minuets.
Then place done french toast on a wire rack to let cool for 1 min. This will allow coating to get hard. If you place directly on plate it will not harden on the bottom.
Drizzle your sour cream & strawberry syrup over french toast. If you have strawberries add some. Serve immediately and enjoy!

mix egg, cream, vanilla, salt & cinnamon to create egg custard mixture

separate plate for oats

dip bread into egg on both sides

then dip into oats

add butter to your hot skillet

let bread cook for 2 min then flip

flip bread, add a thin layer of butter and sprinkle with brown sugar

once both sides are done, place on a cooling rack to harden

This was a challenge recipe...only becasue I was trying to take pictures. You need to work fast through the brulee portion. Well I had my hands full with my Little Cupcake. She was eating the oats, then dumping them on the floor...then well, no clean way to say this...she needed her diaper changed. Don't worry I washed my hands! So my brulee portion of the pictures reflect all the distractions I was dealing with as I was cooking. Yes, I burnt it. It still tasted good to me. It reminded me of eating a oatmeal cookie.