Wait! Stop! Don’t drool directly onto your dumb iPad! Shit’s expensive, dude.

Summer may be on its way out, but there’s still plenty of time left for grilling before November hits (yes, that’s right word of God states November is officially the end of grilling season). We recently decided to toy around with something that’s a bit of a missing link in the culinary chain. Grilling is great, and throwing stuff on the grill that doesn’t normally get grilled results in awesome things. Hell that’s one of the reasons why grilled desserts ended up becoming a thing. Yet, despite all that has been done with grilling, breakfast has mysteriously remained outside of the barbecue loop… Sure, you may once in a while hear about people grilling bacon, but it’s usually on the side of lunch or dinner. We decided to jump headfirst into this mystery, and came up with something magical.

French toast is an all-time classic when it comes to breakfast foods. We recently purchased some good ol’ challah bread to make some legit, thick, formidable-ass french toast at home, rather than having to head to a diner for the thick-cut variety. The wheels started turning at that point and we realized if the bread were that thick it would actually be able to stand up to the delicious cooking gauntlet known as grilling. I’d probably grill everything it were possible, admittedly. That nice crispness and grill-y flavor enhances everything. Fortunately, this experiment was a success.

Grilled French Toast

• 4 slices of thick-cut bread, such as challah or Italian bread
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp confectioner’s sugar (OR substitute regular sugar if you must)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• Cinnamon sugar

1. Preheat your barbecue grill to a medium flame. If your bread wasn’t already cut, slice it into 1″ – 1 1/2″ pieces.
2. Begin beating your eggs with a whisk or a fork until they are, well, beaten. Add the milk, sugar, and vanilla into the egg and stir thoroughly until it’s blended.
3. Grease your grill, and begin dipping each bread into the egg mixture one at a time. Turn the bread to ensure it gets completely soaked with the custard, and place onto the grill. Immediately sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of the breads and cover your grill.
4. Allow the bread to grill for approximately 3-5 minutes. Check on it every minute or so to make sure it does not burn. After the bottom has nice grill marks on it and the egg seems cooked, flip them over with a spatula and sprinkle cinnamon sugar onto the other side. Cover grill and cook once again.
5. Cook the french toast on this side for another 3 minutes or so. When it seems cooked on the bottom, flip it over once more, and then cover your grill once again. Allow it to cook for another minute to crisp everything up and ensure the custard cooks completely through.
6. Remove your toast and serve with maple syrup, confectioner’s sugar, butter, or anything else your heart should desire.

Everything about these was literally as good as it can possibly be. The bread gets a nice crispness around its edges from being grilled, and everything gets that awesome smoky flavor to it. Yet the custard and sugar ensures the bread remains sweet and moist on the inside. Actually, one of the best parts about this recipe is it managed to go faster than regular french toast. Not only does the bread cook faster on your grill, but also you can cook all the breads at once instead of in batches. This legit is one of our favorite recipes we’ve come up with. Just be careful, you might never want to go back to regular french toast again…

Pro Tips

• As always, when barbecuing, try to wipe down your grill with oil before it turns on. If you must use nonstick spray (we’re all guilty of it, I’ll admit) just make sure to spray it onto the grill on a low flame, since it catches fire easily.
• If you unfortunately don’t own a grill, you can make due with either a stovetop grill pan, or if you’re feeling nostalgic you can whip out your George Foreman Grill! (Unfortuantely there’s not a ton of fat it will be able to knock out here, but I’m sure Mr. Foreman will understand)
• Don’t forget, you can easily make cinnamon sugar at home without having to run out and buy it.