How to Make Banana Bread French Toast

Alex is a self-proclaimed Disney expert who enjoys expanding her culinary skills in her free time.

If you are like me then you like banana bread. I have been making banana bread for years, mostly with the same recipe with very little alterations. But, one day I thought about stepping it up a notch. Ever since my boyfriend got me a bread machine, I have been making my own bread to make french toast. I love it. I just set everything up the night before, set the bread machine to delay start and in the morning I have freshly baked bread. Fresh bread for french toast is absolutely amazing.

One morning I was making banana bread and I had an idea to make it in to french toast. But, I wasn't sure how it would turn out and I didn't want to waste the banana bread trying. Banana bread is so dense that I wasn't sure how it would turn out. That morning we had banana bread. But, I still thought about banana bread french toast.

My mom knows of my desire to make as many of the recipes I can from my Disney cookbooks and she got me a knew one. I was flipping through the pages and I saw a recipe for banana bread french toast with bananas foster sauce. It was perfect. It was from Disney. And I was going to try it.

Cook Time

Instructions

• 2 cups flour, I used all-purpose wheat
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup for the bread 1 1/2 cups for the bananas foster sauce
• 1 cup butter, 1/2 for the bread 1/2 for the bananas foster sauce
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 7 eggs, 2 for the bread 5 for the french toast
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 for the bread 1 for the french toast
• 1 cup mashed bananas, About 2 bananas
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1 1/2 cups sliced bananas, About 1 large banana
• 1/2 Tsp rum or rum extract
• 1 Cup milk
• 1/2 Tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl cream together the butter and brown sugar. Then alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk, making sure to start and end on the flour mixture.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla, and mix well. Once incorporated, stir in the mashed bananas.
5. Pour in to the greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Then cool in the pan for one hour, turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. For the bananas foster sauce combine the brown sugar and water in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue to boil until a candy thermometer reads 340. That is the soft ball stage.
7. Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the butter.
8. Returning the pan to the stove add in the sliced bananas and cook on low heat for two minutes.
9. Lastly add the rum and mix well. If you would like to can smooth out the sauce by putting it through a food processor.
10. For the french toast cut the banana bread into ten slices.
11. Combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until the sugar is dissolved.
12. Heat a griddle or large pan over medium heat. For a nice brown french toast add a little butter to the pan.
13. Coat each slice of bread in the egg mixture one by one and add to the pan. Cook until golden brown on each side, adding more butter as needed for each batch.
14. Take the finished pieces of banana bread french toast and plate them as you like, drizzling with bananas foster sauce.

The Banana Bread

The dry team: flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

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What I Wish I Had Known

Normally, I make sure that I am at least somewhat familiar with a recipe before I make it. I have made banana bread many times before. I made the mistake of assuming that this recipe would be like what I have made before. But, that was my first mistake.

My regular banana bread bakes for about an hour and I've never really let it cool. I typically eat it and then divide out the rest for the freezer and use the rest of the week. But, this recipe wanted the bread to bake for an on hour and twenty minutes. And then on top of that the recipe specifically calls for it to cool in the pan for an hour and then on a rack until fully cool before using.

Needless to say the perfect picture of breakfast in my mind quickly turned in to a reality of brunch. Which was fine. But, I felt really silly having not realized how long this meal was going to take. If I had read the recipe in advanced I would have made the bread the night before. Oh well, we learn from our mistakes and next time I will make this bread the night before I want it.

Also, I wish I had known how much bananas foster sauce this made. Don't get me wrong. I love bananas foster sauce. But, this recipe makes more than enough for drizzle over 10 pieces of french toast. The banana bread itself is sweet. Making it into french toast makes it even sweeter. Adding the bananas foster sauce over it makes it almost too sweet. It is a wonderfully amazing meal that is perfect for a special occasion. Or maybe just a morning that you want to make extra magical.

The Banana Bread

This was not the same recipe for banana bread that I usually make. But, I was excited to try it because it called for buttermilk. Normally I don't have buttermilk on hand because I don't have much call for it. But, I happened to have made orange muffins recently and I needed buttermilk for that so I had plenty leftover. I decided to try the Disney recipe instead of my tried and true recipe and it was well worth the risk.

The bread tasted just like my regular banana bread but had a creamier texture. It was very nice. I wouldn't mind having it again for breakfast by itself. I do think the next time I made it I will add a couple of spices to give it a little more depth of flavor, but aside from that I wouldn't change a thing.

The Bananas Foster Sauce

The sauce starts with water and brown sugar.

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French Toast

This should look familiar: eggs, milk, sugar, and cinnamon.

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The Whispering Canyon

If you want to try this dish where it was created you are in luck. The Walt Disney World Resort is home to some of the finest dining in the world. I know the Wilderness Lodge doesn't exactly bring to mind fine dining, but trust me there are some gems here. The Whispering Canyon is one of the most interesting restaurants at Disney. At dinner it is loud and busting. The waitstaff can be snarky and just know that if you ask for ketchup just know that you will get ketchup. All of it. Its a place where you can have fun and enjoy great food.

At breakfast it is a little calmer. Guests can dine on traditional American breakfast fare. One of the items on the menu is house made banana bread french toast. And, it is served with bananas foster sauce and a side of bacon. Sounds like a great way to start off a busy day at the parks to me.

The Final Product

Did You Like It?

Comments

Alex (author) from Virginia Beach, VA on May 03, 2018:

@Larry It is amazing! And very sweet. So far, this has been my favorite recipe from the Disney cook book. I recently made it again and the french toast pieces turned out a little better. I had let the banana bread loaf sit a little longer to cool before cutting. I was able to get smaller pieces and they were much more manageable in the pan. Best of luck!

Larry W Fish from Raleigh on May 03, 2018:

I love banana bread and I love french toast, so what an interesting recipe. This sounds delicious and I know it will be something my wife and I will be having. Thanks for sharing.

Alex (author) from Virginia Beach, VA on March 27, 2017:

@Dora, I agree. This was a very rich dish. I know the next time I make it I will forgo the bananas foster sauce. While it is amazing and I did enjoy making it, I felt that it was just too much for breakfast. Some of the leftovers I had without the sauce and they were just fine on their own. What's even better is the bread is sweet enough that I didn't need any syrup!

Dora Weithers from The Caribbean on March 27, 2017:

The banana bread french toast looks and sounds appealing. Thanks for the recipe. Bananas are healthy but can be very sweet so perhaps we can decided to use more or less (both mashed and sliced) according to taste. Good instructions!