This Elvis French toast recipe has all the ingredients loved by the King of Rock n’ Roll: peanut butter, banana, and bacon–and yes, it gets even more decadent when you top it all off with a little powdered sugar, maple syrup, and maybe a little whipped cream—just to make sure this brunch dish is just as over the top as Elvis himself.
(Of course, if you’re currently on a diet, you might wanna bookmark this for a rainy day.)
In our last road trip post, we stopped by New Orleans, where we got the inspiration for our classic Shrimp Étouffée. From there, we then pushed onto Texas for a long and peaceful visit and rest with our friends in Austin. From there, we were getting homesick and pushed on to Memphis, Nashville, Ashville and made a beeline to Philly to pick up little Barley from Kaitlin. For our sixth and final post from Judy and Bill’s Road Trip series, we’ve got a seriously over-the-top, you-may-feel-a-little-chest-tightness-just-from-looking-at-it Elvis French toast recipe!
I don’t make French toast very often, let alone an Elvis French toast, but we had to celebrate Elvis in some way, since we did drive through Memphis without visiting Graceland. I grew up with Elvis, subjected to viewings of Girls Girls Girls and Blue Hawaii on our RCA black and white television, which my oldest sister controlled on Sunday afternoons!
All you Elvis fans are probably gasping that we skipped over Graceland, but Judy and I were ready to head home, sleep in our own beds, and wake up to our own coffee with some homemade peanut butter banana toast sitting at our breakfast table.
So let me share this Elvis French Toast we had the first Sunday we got home and properly sunset this road trip series. Don’t forget to keep scrolling at the end of the recipe for some of our pictures from the last leg of our trip. Here’s to Elvis!
Elvis French Toast: Recipe Instructions
Beat together the eggs, milk, half-and-half, and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Spread one tablespoon peanut butter on one side of each slice of challah.
Slice the bananas into ½-inch thick slices, and arrange them around the edges of two pieces of challah, leaving a circle in the middle. Fill each little well with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter…
And place the remaining two slices of challah over the top of each banana covered-slice (peanut butter side down). Set aside any remaining banana to top off the French toast after it’s been cooked.
Dip all sides of the challah sandwiches into the egg mixture, making sure to coat the entire sandwich evenly. For this recipe, you want the egg and milk mixture to saturate the bread, but be careful not to let it soak too long. Otherwise it will fall apart, and you’ll have a soggy mess on your hands.
Heat a cast-iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat, and melt a tablespoon of your butter. Carefully place the first sandwich in the pan. Brown the French toast on all sides (including the edges), making sure to keep the heat at medium or medium-high (this process takes about 5 minutes). Once all sides are browned, you can set it aside and repeat these steps with the second sandwich.
Once the second piece of toast is cooked, return both pieces to the skillet at low heat and cover for about 3 minutes. Then flip and cook covered for another 3 minutes. This method allows the French Toast to bake in the skillet. It gets cooked through, and the peanut butter gets all nice and gooey! Good stuff.
Cut each French toast sandwich in half (this recipe serves four). Top with the reserved banana slices and the crispy bacon along with maple syrup.
If you feel particularly decadent, you can top with a light dusting of powdered sugar and a dollop of whipped cream.
We did.
