Aye Aye Cap'n (Crunch) French Toast

When the hubs and I were dating and first got married, we would meet up for lunch about once a week.  There is something so sweet about taking a break from your hectic work day and enjoying each others company.  Since having kiddos, and no real lunch breaks for me, being able to go and have lunch with just the hubby is a rare treat.  We were able to get away this week and have one of those special dates.  We went to an Irish Pub we had been eyeing a while.  According to their sign, they were still serving brunch.  Among the sausages and potato dishes sat a menu item that made me giggle.  Captain Crunch French Toast.  While I have NO idea what Captain Crunch has to do with Irish Cuisine, I could not stop thinking about it!  So, to the store I went to buy some Captain Crunch.  Now, we have not had sugar loaded, aka crap cereals, in our house for a LONG time, so when my sweet blue-eyed boy saw the box, he wasn't sure what it was.  I told him it was "Captain Crunch", and to that he yelled "Aye Aye Captain!"  Gotta love Jake and the Neverland Pirates, eh?!  So, to that, I present

Aye Aye Cap'n (Crunch) French Toast

• 1 loaf Challah Bread, sliced into 1 inch slices
• 3-4 cups Captain Crunch Cereal, crunched up a bit to create 1-2 cups of crumbs and some larger chucks
• 8 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk or half and half
• 1/4 cup Italian Sweet Cream or Vanilla Creamer
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 TBSP butter
• Liquid Gold (click on link or see recipe below) or Maple Syrup for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a shallow dish, beat together eggs, milk or half and half, creamer, vanilla, and salt.  In a second shallow dish, place crunched up cereal.  Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat and coat with some butter. Place a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray close to your work area. Coat 4 to 6 slices of bread in egg mixture, depending on the size of your griddle, then coat bread in cereal. Cook slices 2 minutes on each side and transfer french toast to prepared cookie sheet.  Repeat with remaining slices and transfer french toast to oven. Bake 12 minutes, serve with Liquid Gold or Maple Syrup.  ENJOY!

Liquid Gold

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp maple flavoring (found with all the extract flavors in the baking aisle)

In a medium pot over medium-high heat (you need enough room for this to boil), bring all ingredients to a rolling boil for 2-3 minutes. Watch very carefully so the mixture does not over boil all over your stove.
This recipe serves about 5.   Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator, simply reheat in the microwave.


This recipe has been linked up at:
Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
This Chick Cooks
Simply Sweet Home
Tidy Mom