I realize that admitting this is akin to high treason, but I've never been a big fan of french toast.  (Can we still be friends?)  Something about soaking thin slices of Wonder bread in a weird eggy mixture just didn't do it for me.  Any time someone would make it for me, I would wind up pushing it around my plate willing it to be a little less, you know, French. 

I have recently come to recognize the error of my ways, however (or perhaps, more accurately, the error in my bread).  My Culinarily Inclined Significant Other whipped up an absolutely delicious french toast using challah bread and his own favorite recipe and I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's one of the Best. Breakfasts. Ever. 

Challah bread, a braided Jewish bread, is a denser, sweeter bread with a soft shiny crust (you can find it most grocery store bakeries).  The texture creates the perfect medium for soaking up the egg, vanilla, honey and orange mixture and you're left with a french toast that's moist, thick and infused with flavor.  It's so wonderfully rich, in fact, that half the time I don't even bother to top it (though it's pretty amazing either way). 

It has become one of our favorite special occasion foods, and this week we'll add some crispy bacon, fruit salad, coffee (and with any luck, mimosas), and ring in the New Year right.  (I'll start my resolutions after breakfast...)  :)



Ingredients