Bananas and French toast... a good match!

I had to grab some more bananas at the market today - between those banana bars yesterday and tonight's dinner, I ended up using all of the ones I had set aside getting ripe to throw in the freezer!

I know we just did breakfast-for-dinner a few nights ago, but it has been forever since the last time we had French toast and Jeff asked if we could make it sometime this week. Since you actually mash the bananas on the bottom slice of bread for this Baked Banana-Stuffed French Toast, you will want a hearty type for this - we used a medium-sliced whole wheat bread. If you use a softer bread, be sure to mash the bananas in a bowl and spread them on the slices instead.

Since our bananas were very ripe, I didn't add anything to them - if you still want to make these and your bananas are not as sweet as you would like, add a sprinkle of brown sugar when you mash them. The assembled toasts are then dunked in a mixture of eggs and milk that is spiced up with vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of fresh grated nutmeg. They are briefly cooked in a pat of butter just until both sides are golden - the toasts then slide into the oven to continue baking until the banana filling is warmed through.

Firm and not soggy, you can dress these golden stuffed French toasts in a couple of ways - they were just fine with a dusting of confectioners' sugar as seen above. But, below, a drizzle of warm pure maple syrup brought a tempting whole new dimension to them.

Recipes
Baked Banana-Stuffed French Toast