Make-Ahead Back-to-School Breakfast: French Toast Sticks

I’m not sure about you, mama, but I am absolutely counting down the days until school starts. Here in the Cypress area, we have a start date of August 26th, seems like a lifetime away. All of us are ready for school to start! I am happy to say that all school supplies have been bought, and we are mostly ready. I just have to get a new backpack for Jace. So, since we are almost ready, it is time to start getting the food items prepped. I like to start with breakfast because we all know those first few weeks of back-to-school can be a rough start. My kids’ favorite back-to-school breakfast is french toast sticks. They are so easy to make and store, and bonus the kids can reheat them, themselves.

I make a big batch, and keep half in the refrigerator for the upcoming week and the other half in the freezer for the next week. My kids can reheat both types, although Lily likes to eat hers cold. Strange child, but hey, she eats them! You can also use half the custard for french toast sticks and the other half for a french toast bake, which also freezes well.

Here’s what you need for the french toast:

1 cup Milk

1 cup Heavy Cream

6 Eggs

¼ cup Powdered Sugar

1.5 tablespoons Cinnamon

½ tablespoon Vanilla

Butter

2 loaves of Texas Toast, or any thick-cut bread

Let’s get baking.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut your Texas toast slices into thirds. I find that’s a good size for french toast sticks. Place the sticks into the oven while you prepare the rest. You are looking to dry out the bread a little bit to help keep the sticks whole and not ending up soggy.

Combine the first six ingredients into a bowl. My favorite way of combining them all is using a stick blender. I find that it evenly incorporates all the ingredients, but if you don’t have one, a hand mixer works just as well.

Heat your skillet to medium, and melt some butter in the pan. Once your skillet is hot, drop 4-5 toast sticks into the batter for 30 seconds and place in your pan. You don’t want to soak them all at once or you will end up with soggy sticks. Cook on each side for 30-60 seconds a side, depending on the heat of your pan, until they are golden brown on both sides. Place on a cooling rack while you proceed with the rest of the sticks.

Once they are cooled, they can be placed into a large bag and refrigerated for up to a week. If you are going to freeze them, place them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze for 30 minutes. Then you can transfer to a freezer bag, this way they won’t stick together during the freezing process. They will be good in the freezer for about a month, if they last that long.