French Toast with Toasted Pecans

This post is 2 for 1 special - how to make french toast and how to toast pecans - then put together for a warm, buttery, nutty, crunchy, sweet and tasty breakfast. Yum! Pecans are a great food with tons of health benefits! The contain monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E, antioxidants, fiber, B-vitamins, and tons of minerals like potassium, iron and calcium. Adding them to your breakfast gives your morning a big boost of nutrients.

To start you need to make the egg batter to soak the bread in. I made 6 pieces of french toast with this mix. I put 4 eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract. The almond extract is totally optional, you can stick with just the vanilla. I used it for no other reason than I had it in my cupboard and I thought it would be delicious. It was, so if you have it by all means use it cause it definitely gives it a little something extra. I've also heard of people putting a small splash of orange juice in their egg batter so if you are big fan of orange flavor you can do that too. 

 Whisk the egg batter together. This can be done with an actual whisk, or a fork, or an immersion blender. This part is one that causes great conflict for me. It is easier to whisk the batter in a deeper bowl so it doesn't spill but it is easier to soak the bread in a shallow and wide bowl. You can whisk it in one and pour it into another but I absolutely hate doing dishes and this creates another bowl to be washed...so you can see how this becomes an issue. Today I went with the shallow bowl, and I whisked it with a fork very carefully.

Place a slice of whole wheat bread into the egg mixture and press is down a little so it really soaks into the bread. Flip the slice over and do the same on the other side. Then place the soaked slice of bread onto a preheated skillet. I have an electric one and I had my set at 325 degrees. You want the bread to cook all the way through without burning it. 

My oldest daughter was helping me make French Toast by soaking the bread slices for me. Try and get your kids involved in making food as often as you can. Kids enjoy being able to help out and the more they can participate in preparing food the more likely they are willing to try it. This is especially important when the food is something they may be resistant to tasting, so obviously not French Toast, but maybe a new vegetable. 

 Cook the bread for about 5 minutes or so on each side, or until it is a beautiful golden brown. 

While the French Toast is cooking we can make the toasted pecans to put on it. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1/2 Tablespoon of butter and then stir in 1/2 cup of pecans to coat them in the melted butter. 

 Spread them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. This will prevent them from sticking to the sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes. Keep a close eye on them at the end because you want them to get toasty without burning.



Once the French Toast is done sprinkle it with the toasted pecans and drizzle with real maple syrup. If you normally butter your french toast there is really no need to with the pecans since they add a nice buttery flavor to the toast.

Cost Break Down!!

A loaf of bread cost me $1.79 and there about 20 slices in a loaf which $0.09 a slice so 6 slices cost me $0.54. A dozen eggs is $1.60 so the 4 I used in the batter $0.53. A gallon of milk cost me $3.26 so 1/4 cup costs $0.05. Cinnamon is $5.78 for 8.75 oz. so 1 teaspoon is $0.11. Almond extract cost me $1.69 for 1 oz, 1 oz is 6 teaspoons so half a teaspoon costs $0.14. Vanilla extract is $2.40 for 1 oz so half a teaspoon costs $0.20. A package of butter cost $2.50 and has 32 Tablespoons so 1/2 Tablespoon is $0.04. 10 oz. of pecans cost me $4.95. 1 oz of pecans is about 1/4, so 1/2 cup costs $1.00. 

All together 6 slices of French toast with toasted pecans cost me about $2.60 which is $0.43 a slice. Drizzle a slice with a Tablespoon of maple syrup and each slice is then $0.66! Way cheaper then you would spend if you went out to eat for breakfast.