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Healthy French Toast Sticks

French Toast Sticks

Author: Heidi Boortz
Servings : 24 sticks

Ingredients

Bread

  • 2 1/2 cup water divided
  • 3 1/4 cup 100% whole wheat flour pastry flour preferred
  • 2 tsp vital wheat gluten
  • 1 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp bread machine yeast

Batter

  • 10 egg
  • 2 cups milk unsweetened dairy free milk is fine
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp honey

Instructions

Bread

  • Heat 1 1/2 cups water until warm but not boiling (about 1 minute on high in the microwave). Add warm water, flour, gluten and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. (See notes for hand kneading.) Add yeast.
  • Fit mixer with the dough hook attachment. Mix on low speed 3-5 minutes or until a dough ball is formed and cleans the sides of the bowl.
  • Preheat oven to 450.
  • Grease 9X9 baking dish with cooking spray. Press dough as evenly as you can into the dish, pressing out to the edges and keeping the top flat.
  • Bake bread at 450 for 20-25 minutes or until browned. Tapping on the surface of the bread should produce a hollow sound when done.
  • Allow to cool completely before slicing. In fact, day-old bread works best for this recipe.
  • Turn baked bread out onto a cutting board. Using a long serrated bread knife, cut bread evenly into 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch by 3 inch "sticks". (an be made larger or smaller if you prefer, but try to make them equally sized.)

Batter

  • Combine all batter ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk until well combined.
  • Place "sticks" into a 13 X 9 baking dish. Pour batter into dish. Cover and let sit, refrigerated, 30 minutes. Turn sticks over and re-cover. Return to fridge for 30 more minutes. Almost all the batter should be soaked in before you start cooking.

Cooking the Sticks

  • Heat large skillet or griddle (we used an electric griddle) to 400 degrees (medium high heat). Spray with cooking spray, and add sticks. Cook 2 minutes per side (all four sides) or until cooked through. Serve with pure maple syrup, for dipping.

To Freeze

  • Allow french toast sticks to cool completely. Store in an airtight freezer container or freezer bag. (I stored 4-5 of them in several quart sized freezer bags, so they could be a grabbable breakfast for one person.)
  • To heat after freezing, microwave 1-2 minutes, if just making a few. For a larger batch, bake in a 350 oven for 10-12 minutes or until hot. Another method is to put the frozen french toast sticks in a slow cooker on low for 1 hour. (This is great if your group is not all eating at the same time!)

Notes

To knead dough by hand:
Add flour, gluten, and salt to a bowl.  Mix well.  Add warm water and stir until the dough is too tough to stir, then mix with your hands until a manageable dough ball is formed.  Turn dough ball out onto a work surface slightly dusted with flour.  Knead 10-20 more times.  Follow shaping directions as above.