French Toast with Peanut Butter Maple Syrup

Last week of June. The days are as long as they're going to get — sun up before five, dark past nine, the long Montana summer light that just keeps going. In some ways the long days are harder. More hours of being awake. More hours to manage.

The ranch work is steady — maintenance season, past the main calving rush. Dad is less mobile but still knowing everything happening on all eight hundred acres. He asked Tuesday if I'd noticed the fence along the creek had a soft spot near the cottonwood stand. I hadn't. I went out and found it — post rotted below grade, wire technically holding but not for long. I reset it that afternoon.

I drove into Roundup Wednesday for supplies. Ran into a guy from high school, Jake Frender, at the feed store. He shook my hand and asked how I was doing. There's a specific way people ask veterans that question. They know something happened. They just don't know how to ask what. Jake asked and I said fine and he said good and we moved on. A conversation that happens a thousand ways and always ends the same.

Mom made biscuits and gravy Thursday morning — real country gravy from breakfast sausage drippings, heavy on the black pepper, poured over the biscuits that have been her recipe longer than I've been alive. I ate standing up at seven before heading out. Sometimes the best meals are the ones you eat on your feet because there's work to do.

The whiskey has been worse this week. I know I'm using it wrong. I know there's a line somewhere and I'm getting close to it. Knowing the signs is not the same as stopping. I know that too. I know that and I keep pouring anyway.

Mom’s biscuits and gravy on Thursday morning stuck with me — not just the taste, but the fact that something that simple could cut through a week like this one. I’ve been thinking about breakfasts that do that, meals that don’t ask anything of you except that you show up and eat. This French toast with peanut butter maple syrup isn’t the same as her recipe, but it’s got the same idea behind it: warm, filling, made from things already in the kitchen, good enough to eat on your feet before heading out the door.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

8 thick slices bread (Texas toast or brioche preferred)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, plus more as needed
Powdered sugar, for serving (optional)
Peanut Butter Maple Syrup:
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon warm water (to thin, as needed)

Instructions

Make the syrup. In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together the maple syrup and peanut butter until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes. Add warm water one teaspoon at a time if the syrup is too thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
Mix the custard. In a wide shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon until fully combined.
Heat the pan. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Swirl to coat evenly.
Dip the bread. Working in batches, dip each bread slice into the egg mixture, letting it soak for about 10 seconds per side so the custard absorbs into the bread without falling apart.
Cook the French toast. Place soaked slices in the hot skillet and cook 3—4 minutes per side, until each side is deep golden brown and the center is cooked through. Add more butter between batches as needed.
Serve. Plate the French toast and drizzle generously with the warm peanut butter maple syrup. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serve immediately — this one’s best hot off the pan.

Nutrition (per serving)

French Toast with Peanut Butter Maple Syrup — Some Mornings You Just Need Something That Feels Like Home