Cinnamon Toasts
Adapted in part from Orangette

Ingredients:
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter, cubed, or 1 cup (8 oz) whole milk
6 slices white sandwich bread, or more if needed
½ cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper – it makes clean up a cinch.

Melt the butter in the oven and keep an eye on it – you don’t want to darken, you just wanted it melted. If using milk, pour the milk into a dish.

Stack the slices of bread and cut them diagonally into quarters. You will now have 24 triangles.

In another small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon, and then turn the cinnamon-sugar mixture out onto a flat plate.

If using butter, when it’s melted, remove it from the oven. Take your bread and brush butter onto both sides of a triangle of bread, applying the butter generously, leaving no spot uncoated. If using milk, dip your pastry brush into milk and brush the bread with it. You want both sides of the bread to be wet and slightly soggy, but you don’t want the bread to be soaked through. The bread should feel a little heavy in your hand, but it should feel laden. Dip both sides of the bread into the cinnamon-sugar and lay it on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pieces of bread.

Bake the toasts for about 25 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a rack to cool for half an hour. The toasts will crisp as they cool. When cooled, store in an airtight container at room temperature. They taste pretty good on day one, but on subsequent days, they’re even better as the flavors develop.

Yield: 24 pieces