Waste Not, Want Not French Toast (And How To Freeze It)
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I hate to waste food. Now for those of you who have been reading Southern Plate for a while, I am likely sounding like a broken record on this point but I can’t help it, wasting food bothers me.
I’ve heard too many stories from my family about how scarce food has been in the past and children going hungry (in my family) to be able to take it for granted. I’ve mentioned a few times before but it bears repeating as it is a point which has impacted my life: I am the first generation in my family never to have known hunger.
This did not come easily, there were many times growing up when my parents would pretend they were busy while my brother, sister, and I ate so they could be sure we got enough, then they’d eat whatever was left. People have sacrificed so that I would never know hunger and I’m not about to go willy nilly tossing food in the trash when I can recycle it into something yummilicious with just a few added ingredients.
With Memorial day coming up, we’re all liable to have leftover buns. Rather than let them sit on the counter until they finally get thrown away, we’re going to turn them into a WOW dish. I’m not kidding on the wow part, either. This french toast is TO DIE FOR. It’s so good, in fact, that I sometimes go and buy buns just to make it.
Now the ingredients are surprising but not nearly as surprising as the fact that this will likely make the best french toast you’ve ever had. The texture and flavor are absolutely perfect. This is a recipe I love to make. I take whatever hamburger or hot dog buns are going bad and whip up french toast out of all of them. What we don’t eat that day, I place on waxed paper lined baking sheets and put in the freezer until hard. Once hard, I take them off and slip them into gallon sized zipper seal bags and return to the freezer. To reheat, just place a slice in the toaster on two cycles, turning after the first one (this may vary for your toaster).
Make your own toaster french toast at a fraction of the price with flavor that blows the rest out of the water. If you’d like to read how I got started (and got my family firmly addicted) with making this, check out my old post on Depression Bread Pudding, another recipe using leftover buns. Sure is lucky for me that frugality is in vogue right now! Well, it would be lucky if I cared all that much about being in vogue…
Your favorite french toast batter can work here but I’m gonna show you mine as a starting point.
I like to keep things simple. Life is complicated enough.
You’ll need: Milk, eggs, cinnamon, and two hamburger or hot dog buns.
Place eggs, milk, and cinnamon in a bowl.
Beat it ’til it cries uncle.
dip each side of your bread into the batter.
Like so.
Make sure you just dip the slices and then take them out. If you leave them sitting in there it’ll get all soggified. 
Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat it to medium heat. You can also just toss some butter or margarine in it if you’d rather do that instead of the cooking spray. It depends on my level of laziness on any given day. Today, I went with the spray. I was craving a Diet Dr Pepper and didn’t want to delay that gratification any longer than necessary.
I keep my Diet Dr Peppers in my old fridge in the garage. I have to walk through the house and down a flight of steps to get to them. It is better this way. Were they nearer or more convenient, y’all wouldn’t ever hear from me as I’d be sloshed over in a corner with a straw all day.
Note: I know I am going to get a few emails (at least) today about how unhealthy Diet Dr Pepper is and all that. Y’all are so sweet and I love you for it! Its my vice, though, and I’m stickin’ with it. I don’t curse, I don’t drink, and I don’t smoke. I don’t rob banks and I’m not a terrorist. I have never done anything illegal. I don’t even litter. I always vote and I drive the speed limit. I stand up for the pledge of allegiance. I don’t wear blouses that are too low or skirts that are too high. I feed wild birds and I let squirrels sunbathe on my back porch (see below). I don’t pick flowers from public landscaping and I don’t put sugar in my cornbread (but if you do it’s fine by me).
I drink Diet Dr Pepper. I’m cool with that.
This is the dangdest thing I ever saw
It wasn’t dead. It was sunnin’. Flat on it’s belly, all sprawled out.
I think old Bountiful has been sharin’ a few too many pecans with old Henry.
(Henry is the name of all of our squirrels)
Wait, I had a point somewhere. Oh, yeah..
Here’s a recap.
You got:
Bank Robbers..
Litterers…
People who curse excessively…
and me drinking my diet dr pepper.
I think I’m pretty good here.
Anyone tells you otherwise, tell ‘em I said to get off m’tractor.
Dude, your french toast is almost done….
(I don’t really say things like “Dude” but it worked here)
Cook over medium heat until browned on both sides. This will just take a few minutes on each side.
This is awful. It tastes bad, its horrible. Tell everyone in your house that as they salivate so you can keep it all to yourself!
~grins with a mischievous twinkle in her eye~
honest…bad.
Bad!
You don’t wanna eat it!
~whimpers~
Oh…alright.
~slides the plate over to you as her face softens~
Have at it, I’ll fix ya some coffee.
Ingredients
- 2 hamburger or hot dog buns
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 c milk
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Beat together all ingredients except buns with a fork until well blended. Dip in each side of bun.
- Place buns in skillet which has been sprayed with cooking spray and heated over medium heat.
- Cook a few minutes on each side, until browned.
- Serve warm with syrup.
To freeze: Place freshly cooked french toast (which has been cooked all of the way) on waxed paper lined baking sheets and put in the freezer. when frozen, remove from sheets and place in gallon sized zipper bags. Store in freezer. When ready to serve, put each slice in toaster and run for two cycles, or until heated through and crispy again.
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“May you be the kind of person your dog thinks you are.”
Submitted by Southern Plate reader, Don. Submit your quote here!
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on May 22 2009. Filed under Breads, Breakfast, Quick&Easy.
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I’ve done this before…but used leftover heavy cream instead of milk. Gotta use all your leftovers….right???
We use leftover hot dog and hamburger buns for garlic bread too!!
Great idea! I’ve made garlic toast out of them. Yesterday, I cleaned all buns and bagels out of my freezer and made wonderul croutons out of all of it.
This sounds great christy! We love French Toast and I usually do it with my homemade sour dough bread leftovers (if there are any!). Question though…
Do you make your own homemade syrup or do you go store bought? I make my own and we love it! I use equal amounts of brown & white sugar and an equal amount of water. Stir and heat well until it cooks down a bit, then add a tsp of maple flavoring if you want (we do!) Put in a small pitcher for serving…. Eazy Peazy! Goes great with pancakes (from scratch!) or french toast! LOVE all your recipes! Any more cookbooks in the works yet????
Hugz
Sandy
This is great! I would not have thought of this and my Mom just gave me 3 partial bags of buns! I know what I am having for Sunday night supper!
You are going to love them Lana, they are so good. Now I am wanting some!
Thanks so much for the tips on using leftover hamburger buns for French Toast. After camping for the last 3 weekends, we had 3 partial bags of hamburger buns and 6 hot dog buns. I made them all into French Toast and put them in the freezer for when school starts. We have big birthday parties for our 3 children and have family that uses French Vanilla Creamer in their coffee. After each party, I am left with an almost full bottle of creamer, so I use that to make the French Toast instead of using milk. It’s so yummy!
Great idea for the french toast buns!! And I have to tell you….just 1 hour ago my 2 year old was asking me “What’s the name of this squirrel?” (on a coloring page we picked up from Trader Joe’s. I have to come up with names quick because she asks the the names of all the animals we see when we are out and about. You know what name I came up with for her squirrel?? And this was BEFORE reading your post here. HENRY! So funny that I would then come across this post just one hour later and learn that all your squirrels are names Henry!
Another advantage of using hot dog buns is that you can take it on the go and use those cups of syrup and just dip it in. YUM
Great recipe and I loved your story!!! You sound like a fun gal … this page made me smile & grin from ear to ear
LOLOL. My daughter walked up and saw your pic as I was drinking MY Diet DP and she said “Look Mom! She’s like you!” Hahaha, too great. I am down to drinking only one a day. I am good with that! Smart choice putting them far away. At least you get your exercise as you go get your drink.
Neat idea. Never thought of doing that with left over bread especially buns. Thanks for sharing this. Have a fun weekend.
Amen, amen, and amen! (About your Diet Dr. Pepper…) I have said almost the exact same thing about me and my Diet Coke. : ) I tell people I don’t drink, smoke, curse, or do drugs. You have given me more ammo. LOL! Thank you for your sweet blogs and great recipes. This southern girl is right at home with your pages, nodding in agreement as I read. God bless !
I got this recipe in an email from southernplate just a couple days before coming into a large quantity of leftover hamburger buns (long story.) So, I whipped up a batch for the kiddos this morning. Instant hit. Even my picky one loved it. It really does make lovely French toast. Thanks for the idea!
Christy… diet dr pepper is also my vice… I am now hooked on cherry diet dr pepper… I could sip on one all day long but try not to…but it is soooo good
Christy I understand about your diet Dr. Pepper. Mine is the Starbucks Frappuccino Mocha. Funny thing is I don’t like coffee but I LOVE these. I try to hide them but I remember where I put it. I’m not very good at remembering things. Oh well. Like you I don’t have very many vices. so go ahead and have you Dr. Pepper. Enjoy! Just try to drink other things, too. Try a Starbucks. Love ya.
sounds so ease &mm good will try it right away
I will have to try this! I’ve made buttery toast with leftover hot dog buns and it was just fantastic with homemade jam! Thank you!