Flattened bread, pepperoni and cheese are rolled into a log, dipped in egg and fried in butter. These French toast roll-ups make a quick breastfast or snack.
That’s French toast? By definition, bread dipped in egg and fried is French toast.
When I first published this recipe in 2007, a regular reader commented that I could have coated the egg-dipped rolled bread in bread crumbs before frying. I could have but I chose not to. Adding another layer that need to be cooked to crispness means longer cooking time. And there’s the risk that the cheese would melt, seep out and drip into the oil before the surface of the bread was golden and crisp.
What type of bread is best for this recipe? For ease of rolling and keeping the fillings in place, loaf bread is ideal. It can be sourdough, whole wheat or just plain white loaf bread from the grocery (the latter was used here). Whichever type you use, make sure to cut off the crusts. That’s the only way you can roll the slices snugly. But what about the crusts? You can use them to make pudding.
Muffin-sized milk bread pudding
Stale bread is soaked in custard overnight, dried cranberries, pumpkin and sunflower seeds are stirred in, the mixture is spooned into muffin liners and baked for 20 minutes.
If you’re thinking that bread crumbs will give the bread better texture, I’m sure they will. But you will need to choose a cheese variety that will not start melting fast as soon as the bread hits the pan. Aged cheddar would be a good choice, as opposed to Monterey Jack which was used in this recipe.
Does the meat have to be pepperoni? No, it can be ham, salami, bologna… any thinly sliced, pliable and highly seasoned meat will be good for making these roll-ups.
If your meat is very salty, you might want to balance that with with a not-too-salty cheese. I’ll leave it to you to decide what meat and cheese combination to use.
Pepperoni and cheese French toast roll-ups
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 slices white loaf bread
- 6 slices pepperoni
- 2 thick strips cheese Monterey Jack was used here
- 1 egg lightly beaten
Instructions
- Set the stove to medium heat. Start heating the butter in a frying pan.
- Cut off the crusts of the bread slices. Reserve the crusts for another use (like making bread pudding).
- Flatten the bread slices with a rolling pin. You can’t skip this part; if you do, the bread won’t be pliable enough to fill and roll.
- Lay three slices of pepperoni, in slightly overlapping fashion, on each slice of bread.
- Place a cheese strip on one side. Roll up the bread as tightly as you can without squishing the cheese inside.
- Dip the rolled bread slices in egg.
- Fry in hot butter or oil, rolling them around for even browning.
- Drain the bread rolls on paper towels.
- As soon as they can be handled, cut into slices about an inch and a half to expose the delicious filling of pepperoni and cheese.
