Sometimes the best kitchen discoveries aren't because of a fancy new pan or the latest addition to your cookbook library. Sometimes they happen by pure accident. Some of a chef's most cherished recipes probably came about from a careless error or minor mishap. That's what happened with the case of my English Muffin French Toast—a delicious mistake I will happily make again and again.
My fiance is currently working crazy long hours on set for a television show shooting in our area. He's up at 4 AM and sometimes not home until after midnight, so Monday through Friday we are like ships passing through the night. The maternal side of me hates he isn't getting 3 square meals or regular sleep. In an effort to nurture, I at least try to have the coffee maker set and fresh fruit and vitamins nearby, in hopes he will actually eat them.
A few Saturday's ago I decided to make him a proper breakfast to make up for all the ones missed during the week. He requested creamy grits, fried eggs, and bacon. Thinking that wasn't enough, I decided to throw French toast in for good measure (I needed some sweet to balance the savory). I started the oil, whipped up the batter and then, much to my horror, discovered my new bakery bread was already spoiled. Not ready to admit defeat, I assessed the pantry and went with the next best option: English muffins. I wasn't expecting much but figured it was better than nothing.
Then I took a bite. Sweet hallelujah! Turns out, English muffin French toast tastes mighty similar to a funnel cake, of all things. A seriously amazing funnel cake at that. All those nooks and crannies yield an unmistakable airiness, and the heavy-handed vanilla in the batter adds another flavor dimension that regular bread just can't do...
So a happy accident brought about a new favorite recipe in our house. One I can't wait to enjoy for many years through.
English Muffin French Toast
Serves 6 (recipe can be easily halved)
Canola or peanut oil, for frying
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons good-quality vanilla
6 English muffins, split in half
Powdered sugar and pure maple syrup, for serving
Turn oven on warming setting. Pour about 1/4 to 1/2-inch of oil into a large cast iron skillet (or heavy, flat-sided pan) and heat over medium-high until hot but not smoking.
Thoroughly whisk the milk, heavy cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla together and pour into a shallow bowl (I use a cake or pie tin). Add 4 English muffin halves to the batter and soak, flipping frequently, until thoroughly saturated with liquid, about 1 minute.
Add the muffin halves to the hot oil. Cook on the first side for about 20-30 seconds, flip and continue cooking until muffins are golden brown. (Reduce or increase heat, as necessary, to keep oil temperature hot but not smoking.) Gently shake excess oil from the muffins and place on paper towel lined sheet pan. Pat with additional paper towels to remove excess oil, if necessary. Hold cooked muffins in warm oven while continuing with remaining muffins.
Serve French toast English muffins with powdered sugar and warm maple syrup. Leftover muffins can be stored in a Ziplock bag and reheated in the toaster oven.
Related: Recipe: Browned Butter Butterscotch Pie
(Images: Nealey Dozier)
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Comments (46)
I went through an English muffin phase a few years ago, and I haven't eaten one since then. I think it's time to get back on the horse!
I've made french toast using crumpets. All of those nooks and crannies soak up the egg and milk mixture splendidly!
English muffins can be divided into two types: Thomas' and non-Thomas'. Which did you use? (Note: I'm a huge Thomas' fan!)
Looks amazing, all! Will have to try. :)
Entente cordiale at its best! I know what I'm making for Sunday breakfast.
Whoa. Yum.
Very interesting - Thanks for the idea!
manjar, I just finished reading a delightful book called Make the Bread, Buy the Butter, in which the author performed many kitchen experiments to determine what can be made better at home for less - or not, as the case may be. You'll not be surprised that she couldn't come close to a Thomas' in her kitchen, and advocates buying them :)
@manjar – I would actually divide them into three categories: Thomas', non-Thomas', and fresh from the bakery. The middle one is obviously not worth bothering with, but fresh from the bakery is a good (albeit very different) option, one that I might actually try for this recipe (especially because I can buy just one or two instead of six).
Bay's are MUCH better than Thomas. I love English Muffins, trust me on this.
Cheers
irina
What's with that Thomas thing?
Wow, when you fry up french toast, you really fry it! Is it standard to make french toast by practically deep frying it? I've always just kind of pan-sauteed in a couple of tablespoons of oil...I'm sure this tastes great, though!
I'm with Babygrace; I make french toast like I make pancakes: with an oiled pan or griddle. A half inch of oil constitutes frying, in my opinion. That said, it does sound delicious! I'm going to try to adapt with less oil and whole milk instead of heavy cream.
Those look like crumpets not English muffins..
Yes, Bays are MUCH better. Once you've tried them you won't settle for anything else.
Coconutandberries, "English muffins" is our name for crumpets on this side of the pond.
As someone who recently tried out homemade whole wheat English muffins I can offer a whole-hearted, resounding MEH. Maybe it was the recipe I used... but yeah. Thomas for the Win.
@Christine M., Thomas is a brand of store-bought English muffins in the U.S. :)
Hey y'all, I too only used just a bit of oil until I tasted a friend's version a few years back, in which he pan-fried it in about 1/2-inch of oil (he's from Augusta, GA and learned from his mama. He's got good taste, I swear). It was so delicious that I've never gone back, but please feel free to adapt the recipe to your taste. I'd love to hear about the results!
~Nealey
I've made French toast for years using English muffins, originally because of a similar moldy bread reason. Never used that much oil but I might have to try it next time.
And as for which brand is best, this came across my email tonight from Cooks Illustrated: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=18660&Extcode=L2DN4AA00
Nuh-uh. Bays are too fluffy and "white bread" tasting, with smaller crannies. They are still superior to the average store-brand English Muffins, but give me a Thomas anytime, preferably sourdough.
Wolfermans have the same issues as Bays but cost twice as much.
I think the amount of oil used for frying in this recipe might have a little something to do with the resemblance to funnel cake.
Crumpets and English muffins are not the same thing. I've had both.
@LauraJane : thanks for the info. In Canada, pretty much every baking company has its own version of english muffins and none particulary stands out. And we *also* get crumpets, which are a totally different beast. :)
Forget the English Muffins and go for English Crumpets. Vons sells them here in Vegas. You can't beeat a hot hosted crumpet with butter and honey dripping though the holes
Should have read " Hot Toasted Crumpet"
Gorgeous, fantastic! Can't wait to try it!
Jillian, www.zestandhoney.com
I cook my French toast in butter. Never thought of using English muffins and it sounds terrific.
Faith, why aren't your blogs and recipes available for Pinterest? We'd be able to share them with even more people that way!
For those who are looking for a good from-scratch English Muffin recipe, try King Arthur's sourdough english muffins! They are fantastic, flavorful, and freeze SO well! We'll never go back to store bought, at least not for sourdough flavor!
You had me at funnel cake. I now need to try this asap!
Wolferman's is an entirely different thing. You won't think of english muffins in the same way.
This sounds interesting.
We too make our French toast on pan with a bit of oil or butter... but I have had deep fried French toast and it is totally out of this world. Never make it that way at home, but my oh my is it delicious. This recipe is nearer to the deep fried variety, and I can imagine it would be fantastic with English muffins.
I am starving, it's breaky time here! Right now... off to make this, yes they look like crumpets, but you can't split a crumpet in half... Hubby came home with truckloads of bread from a friend who has a bakery, this'll be a great way to use some of it up! Oil & butter in your pan prevents the oil from getting too hot and the butter from burning. Happy days!
@Manjar: I had the same thought. I love Thomas', but the top is always smaller/thinner than the bottom. Not a problem when sopping up egg yolk from the plate, but I doubt they'd work for this recipe.
I like Wolferman's, but agree they're expensive. And I want to make my own English Muffins. Just have to buy the rings.
I have Wolferman's in the freezer...got a boatload of the mini ones for Christmas from a daughter. So I'll be trying this with mini Wolfermans...can't see how that wouldn't work just dandy.
We had this for dinner tonight using a batch of homemade english muffins I made yesterday (so I could make this recipe). Everyone loved it... and it really does taste similar to funnel cake. Looking forward to making it again soon and blogging about it. Thanks! :)
Bay's is da bomb.
Tried crumpets, so not impressed. They were ok, but just not all that.
Gardenstater, no need to buy rings: just cut out the top and bottom of a tunafish tin.
Agreeing with those who say that English muffins and crumpets are not at all the same thing.
Wow! Thank you for the yummy idea! :) I will surely be making these tomorrow for my boyfriend and I! I'm a Thomas girl but going to use Trader Joe's MultiGrain as I'm not picky and this is what I have on hand. And PS-Thomas's slogan is actually from the Original "nooks and crannies " Regardless I dont think it much matters what you use, I think we all got the point from the recipe. Recipes are just guidelines so thank you again. I cant wait to try them!
I clicked on this post, hoping to discover the recipe for making the muffins themselves! Honestly, I'm English and yet I know not how to make muffins - Oh, the shame, the shame!
Where can I purchase Bays ? I've never heard of it ?
OK i'll take the bait and ask the obvious questions: what do they call "English" Muffins in England? What do they cal "French" Toast in France?
Well, in England, a muffin is a muffin! Actually, looking at the images in this post, those muffins look a little like crumpets... could it be that, in America, crumpets are English muffins....? Which ever they are, I haven't got a recipe for making either!
@ACROSSTHEPOND An "English Muffin" is different from a crumpet (in the U.S. we have both available in bakerys and supermarkets. The "bubble holes" that you see in the picture are internal in our "english muffin"; you would see them only when the muufin is "fork split" or sliced. The crumpet would have those "nooks and crannies" on the outside.
I lived in the U.K. for several years in the ate '70s/early '80s. I never saw an "english uffin" while I was there; but I wasn't looking, either. I wonder if you have a similar product, but by a different name.
An English Muffin, as I understand, is an American product that got it's name because the originator was an immigrant from England.
In England they are just called "muffins" (even though the cake kind have the same name) or sometimes "toasting muffins".
E.OLIVER You have crumpets too? :) I've got to admit, muffin or crumpet, as soon as it has popped out of the toaster it's swiftly dispatched to my tummy so, I've never really looked that closely at my muffins! I wonder if you were lucky enough to venture into Staffordshire when you lived here and eaten Staffordshire oatcakes (very, very different to the Scottish oatcake, which is a dry savoury biscuit thing) and pikelets? Both have the texture of crumpets but pikelets resemble thick 'dollar' pancakes and oatcakes are more like thin, large and floppy! Traditionally, oatcakes were made on site at the oatcake shop, by pouring the batter straight onto a large hotplate, resembling a large table. Great when stuffed with say, grilled mushrooms...mmmmmm!!
@E.OLIVER In France, French toast is called "pain perdu," meaning lost/wasted bread. Basically, it's a recipe for stale bread.
Funny I've seen this same debate on another food site. I am an American expat in London.
- they sell "English muffins" here. They are called toasting muffins. Here they are: http://www.warburtons.co.uk/breakfast/product/4-toasting-muffins
- crumpets are different. The muffins in the picture have deep nooks but they don't look like crumpets to me. Crumpets are usually much thicker and completely flat on the top with deep holes