Baked Pumpkin French Toast Sticks

I hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving weekend. As much as I have to be thankful for, I must say that coming down with the mother of all head colds the evening before the holiday is probably not at the top of my list. By Thanksgiving morning I was in bad shape. Fortunately I had already prepped, cooked or baked almost everything so all I had left was to wrestle the bird out of its brine and into the oven.

Somebody was tired after eating a lot of turkey... :)

Speaking of which, this is our first year brining and it was so worth it.  This was undoubtedly the most juicy and flavorful turkey we've ever had and everyone helped themselves to seconds and thirds. OK, all I could manage was to nibble on some stuffing but my guests ate and raved and ate some more. By the evening, when everyone finally left, I collapsed into bed with no ability to deal with anything else. Brian was a love, though, and stayed up late to clean. Not just dishwasher loading, he scrubbed pots and roasting pans, cleaned tables, wrapped leftovers and generally made it hard to tell there had been a mess. I woke up on Friday morning to a clean house and nothing to do except go back to my sick bed, moan and complain.

By Saturday I was strong enough to come out to the living room couch with my blanket and tea so I could moan and complain out there. I really hate being sick. By Sunday, though, I figured I should lower the level of moaning and maybe make Brian the post holiday breakfast he should have had on Friday. I had bought challah bread to make him his favorite, French toast, and I was planning to put a pumpkin and cinnamon spin on it. But I would need a pan for bacon and a pan for eggs and at least two pans for the bread and it all seemed a bit much for me. So I decided to lighten my load and try something creative by cutting the bread into strips and baking the toasts in the oven instead.

When they were done, I sprinkled the baked French toast sticks with cinnamon, drizzled them with maple syrup and handed the plate to Brian as he was reading the paper. He happily munched away, not initially realizing what it was. But when I came back into the room, he said 'hey, these are really good.'  Enjoy!








Ingredients
4 Slices challah or other egg bread, cut into 2" wide "sticks"
1 Egg
1/2 Cup milk
2 Tablespoons unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 Teaspoon sugar
Dash of salt
Dash of cinnamon

In a shallow bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, pumpkin puree, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Place the bread slices in the egg mixture for a couple of minutes on each side and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, flip the slices and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Serve topped with cinnamon sugar or maple syrup, if desired. Makes 2 servings.