Breakfast: The Most Important Book About the Best Meal of the Day

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I love breakfast foods. I would happily eat breakfast three times a day. If I go to a restaurant that serves breakfast all day, it’s pretty much a guarantee that I will ignore the lunch or dinner choices and get an omelet, or a scramble, or French toast, or Eggs Benedict. When I’m home alone, dinner is usually oatmeal, or yogurt and fruit, or a breakfast burrito. So when the publisher of Breakfast: The Most Important Book About the Best Meal of the Day asked if would be interested in reviewing it, I didn’t hesitate. YES! Send me the book, stat!

This book is by the editors of Extra Crispy and I am happy to report that I love it as much as I love breakfast. It is interesting and inspiring and well-written, and packed with gorgeous photography of mouthwatering dishes I cannot wait to try. It’s a strange book, definitely weird and quirky, but in the best of ways. It is not quite a cookbook, though there are plenty of recipes. It reads more like a cooking magazine, with personal essays by a wide variety of authors sprinkled between culinary facts, random information, and breakfast recipes. The book is divided into six chapters: Building Blocks of Breakfast; Coffee, Booze, and Other Life-Enhancing Drinks; Regional Meats; Baking for the Easily Intimidated; Advanced Breakfast Studies; and Frankenfoods and Mash-Ups. As I said, it’s a strange book. 

As I read through Breakfast, I put bookmarks at every recipe or idea I want to try. There were bookmarks in every chapter, but far more in Advanced Breakfast Studies than in the other five chapters. Next was Building Blocks of Breakfast, then Baking for the Easily Intimidated. The fewest, by far, were in the drinks section (I don’t like coffee, barely tolerate tea, don’t drink cocktails in the morning, and prefer my fruits and vegetables in salad form rather than as a juice.) That said, I do love a good smoothie and there were some fun ideas I want to try. 

The first breakfast I made from Breakfast: The Most Important Book About the Best Meal of the Day was from the Building Blocks of Breakfast chapter. The article was called, “How to Make Perfect French Toast Every Time.” I already make really good French toast, but I was intrigued by a casual reference to adding creamy peanut butter to the custard before soaking the bread. I’ve added different things to French toast custard, but never peanut butter. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Right!

I mixed up some custard with a big spoon of peanut butter (no, of course I didn’t measure). 

After whisking the custard, I cut thick slices from a loaf of Dutch Crunch*, soaked them, then fried them in butter. While they cooked, I mixed thawed berries and their juice with some raspberry jam to make a pseudo syrup. 

*Apparently Dutch Crunch is not common outside Northern California. This is a tragedy.

My peanut butter (and jelly!) French toast was amazing. What a fun variety on a breakfast classic! I definitely plan on making this again. I can't wait to try more unique recipes. I highly recommend Breakfast: The Most Important Book About the Best Meal of the Day if you enjoy breakfast as much as I do. It would also make a great gift for the foodie on your list!