Don't waste the Bodo's

Every Sunday I head to Bodo's to pick up the weekly allotment of bagels. That usually consists of five whole wheat bagels for me to have with almond butter for lunch every day, a couple of plain, and four or five cinnamon-raisin for Brad to nosh on when he's hungry in the evening. After a day or two, we stick what's left in a ziplock bag in the fridge. Nuke a cold bagel for about 15 seconds in the microwave and you're surprisingly good to go.

Lately, Brad hasn't been getting through his full complement of cinnamon-raisin bagels every week. I hate throwing any kind of food away, but it's especially painful to see those Bodo's bagels go to waste. This week, there were three leftover cinnamon-raisin bagels, and I couldn't bear to pitch them. I looked at them sorrowfully for a few moments, but then the light bulb went off. 💡  Pain perdu. All of you French students know that literally means "lost bread." But it's also the term for French toast, which is what the French do with their stale bread rather then throw it away. So I decided to try making French toast out of leftover cinnamon-raisin bagels.

When I tested a few recipes for the French toast episode, we all liked the Cook's Illustrated recipe best, even though it is, as usual, a little fussy. But we also liked another recipe by local chef Tim Burgess from his short-lived cooking blog. That one is much simpler than the Cook's Illustrated recipe, and has less added flavors, which I thought would work well with the leftover bagels, since they already have cinnamon in them. And, in fact, Brad and I both liked these a lot. So now we have a way to salvage Bodo's bagels that would otherwise be at the end of their useful life.

Leftover Bodo's Bagel French Toast

Adapted from Tim Burgess via In the Weeds

Cinnamon-raisin bagels are best for this use, because they already have cinnamon in them and this batter doesn't have any added cinnamon or vanilla for flavor. If you have leftover plain or wheat bagels, you can add some cinnamon and vanilla to the batter. This makes more batter than you need for 3 or 4 bagels. You can probably get away with making only half the batter, or you can get out some regular bread to use up what's left.

3 or 4 Bodo's cinnamon-raisin bagels, a few days old (see note)
2 eggs
1 cup (232 grams) half-and-half (or heavy cream, almond milk, soy milk, whatever)
1 tablespoon plain yogurt
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
pinch of salt
juice from 1 clementine (optional)
unsalted butter
real maple syrup and confectioners' sugar, for serving

    1. Very carefully trim off a thin slice from the top and bottom of each bagel, then cut each bagel in half.
    2. Whisk the eggs, half-and-half, yogurt, sugar, salt, and clementine juice, if using, in a medium bowl.
    3. Melt a good pat of butter (about ½ tablespoon) in a 12-inch cast iron or stainless steel (not nonstick) skillet over medium heat. (You can also cook the French toast on an electric griddle set to 350 degrees.)
    4. Submerge 2 bagel halves in the batter and hold down until moistened throughout but not falling apart. This may take longer with stale bagels than regular bread.
    5. Swirl the butter to coat the bottom of the skillet. Pick up the soaked bagels, allowing any excess batter to drip back into the bowl, and transfer to the hot skillet. Fry until golden brown and crisp on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. At some point, you may have to turn the heat down a notch or two. Repeat with the remaining bagels.
    6. Serve warm with maple syrup and a dusting of confectioners' sugar.