A French Toast Pancake

One of us looks forward to a savory weekend breakfast, and the other clamors for either pancakes or French toast. So an agreement has been reached via the invention of the French toast pancake, which is super-fast to make. There's no agonizing wait for the egg-and-milk mixture to soak into the bread, it's very hands-off since it cooks in the oven, and the whole thing is done in two quick steps. (I love the addition of orange zest and vanilla, which somehow makes it taste fancier than it really is.) 

French Toast Pancake


2 cups torn bread
6 eggs
zest of one orange
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup whole milk
a pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon cane sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons butter


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put everything except the butter in the food processor and pulse until there are no big chunks of bread left. 


Heat a 10-12 inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Place butter into the hot pan; allow it to melt completely and coat the pan. Pour egg and bread mixture into the pan. The hot pan will help the pancake to start cooking and should prevent it from sticking. 


Place the pan into the oven for 10 minutes or until the center is set. To serve, cut pancake into wedges and top with macerated fruit, butter, powdered sugar, and maple syrup. 


*For the kids, make a bunch of silver dollar French toast pancakes by pouring the batter into silicone muffin tins instead.