Heart Shaped Challah Bread French Toast Bites

 Heart Shaped Challah Bread French Toast Bites Recipe

Valentine's day is almost upon us and what better way to celebrate the person/people you love than these cute bites of love?! 

Usually whenever I make French Toast, I let the bread sit overnight in the fridge in the egg mix, but I tried that with this recipe and it caused more issues (the bread falling apart).

So, I highly recommend against using the  latter method and recommend frying your heart bites immediately after dipping it in your egg/milk batter while utilizing the low and slow method. 

The low and slow method for me is cooking on a high temperature initially and lowering it to medium or low to slowly cook your bites while continually flipping them.

^This is what happens when you don't utilize the low and slow method. You get blobs instead of hearts. I was impatient initially because I was excited and this happened to me 😒 

^Patience is a virtue and will yeild beautiful results like this! You can use any shape you want or have, but please take your time. You can do this, I believe in you! *fighting* 

화이팅!

Ingredients:

- 1 Loaf of Day old Challah Bread (or any bread that you have that can maintain its shape and not fall apart) 

- 3 Eggs

- 1/4 of a cup (60 g) of Coconut Milk (or any dairy of your choice)

- 30 g of Sugar

- 3 pinches of Cinnamon (3 g)

- 2 pinches of Nutmeg (2 g)

- A pinch of salt (1 g)

- 4 g of Vanilla Bean Paste (or Extract)

- 10 g of Unsalted Butter (to cook)

Optional Toppings:

- Powdered Sugar (to dust Heart Bites)

- Fresh or Frozen Berries/Fruits of your choice

- Maple Syrup 

- Orange Zest 

Utensils:

- A Heart Shaped Cookie Mold or Cutter.

- A Cutting Board

- A Frying Pan

- A Couple of Trays (For Bread and Batter)

- One Large Bowl

- A Whisk

Cooking Directions:

1. Cut your day old bread into Texas Toast sized slices (about 3-4 inches per slice, we want each slice to be THICC).

2. Use your heart shaped mold to cut out cut loving bites. This can be a bit tricky, so be patient and trace each one slowly and then set aside once you hsve about 15-20 hearts.

3. Whisk together: Eggs, Sugar, Coconut Milk, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Salt and Vanilla Bean Paste until thoroughly mixed. Then set aside.

4. Gently place your hearts into Egg mixture and flip to ensure each piece is covered throughly.

5. Preheat your Pan on the Stovetop to high and once your pan starts to smoke, top with butter and lower the temperature to medium. Please ensure that your pan is well coated evenly with butter prior to adding the bread.

6. Slowly and carefully add one heart at a time and flip them continuously as they cook to ensure that the shape is maintained. Cook until golden brown.

7. Remove from the pan and place on plate and top with your desired toppings and enjoy!