Challah for your breakfast (:

At the Culinary Institute of America, baking students take a class called Specialty Breads class in their second year.  This class makes many different breads including sourdough, multigrains and best of all enriched doughs like Challah.

At the end of the day, we can often bring home loaves that are excess and that will either be snacks or some creation for our weekend meals.  This past weekend, my friends and I decided to make French Toast but with a spin on it.  I wanted to make Banana stuffed French Toast with a Struesel Topping.  I found the recipe from Restaurant: Zoe, NYC.

This is my friends helping to soak and make the the streusel topping for the french toast.

Banana-Stuffed French Toast with Streusel Topping

Serves 6

2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 large ripe bananas, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds

1 1-pound unsliced loaf egg bread, ends trimmed, bread cut  into 6 slices (each about 1 1/2 inches thick)

2 cups milk (do not use low-fat or nonfat)

6 large eggs

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced almonds, toasted

1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1/4 cup quick-cooking oats

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Maple syrup

preparation

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water and stir until sugar dissolves. Continue stirring until mixture is foamy, about 2 minutes. Add bananas; cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer to small bowl; cool. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Using small sharp knife, cut 2-inch-long slit in 1 side of each bread slice, cutting 3/4 of way through bread and creating pocket that leaves 3 sides of bread intact. Divide banana mixture equally among pockets in bread. Whisk milk, eggs, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl to blend. Pour into large glass baking dish. Place bread in egg mixture; let soak 10 minutes, turning occasionally.

Place almonds in shallow bowl. Carefully remove bread from egg mixture and coat both sides with almonds. Place bread on heavy large baking sheet. Mix brown sugar, oats, flour and remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon in medium bowl. Add remaining 1/4 cup butter and rub in, using fingertips, until moist clumps form. Sprinkle topping over bread.

Bake French toast until topping is golden brown and filling is hot, about 25 minutes. Transfer toast to plates. Serve hot with maple syrup.

Unfortunately, this is the final picture of the french toast, a picture that was taken right before they went into the oven.  When they came out, they were devoured too quickly for me to snag a picture. (: 

This was a winner, which definately means that as a group, we're doing apple stuffed french toast next weekend.  (:   Winning!!!

Tips:

*Cut the slices of the unsliced bread to a thickness of at least 1 1/2 inches or the slits will break and be less easy to fill.  If they break however, they will go back together in the baking process.

*Be sure to spray the pan that you bake the french toast in, they stick to the pan really easily.  

* If it's not possible to get a bread that doesn't come pre-sliced, you could always use the banana filling as a topping instead, but use less butter because it's a bit too much for a topping! 

Bake Love, Not War <3