The bread I buy has enough fiber to give me 15% of my recommended daily intake with two slices and has enough seeds in the crust to make a bird caw with excitement. It’s a practical bread I eat for the whole grains and the ability to say I’m eating healthy to my doctor. But it’s not one that makes a decent French toast.

Thankfully, Kellogg’s has its Eggo Thick & Fluffy Classic French Toast that doesn’t require me to whisk eggs, dip UPS driver uniform-colored bread in an egg mixture, and cook it in a skillet. It’s currently available in three varieties — Classic, Blueberry, and Cinnamon Brown Sugar. My local Target only had the Classic one made with Madagascar vanilla.

Using Madagascar vanilla is nice, but this could’ve had New Jersey vanilla and I wouldn’t know the difference between what comes from the coast of Africa or the shores of Jersey. But the vanilla itself is not enough to eat this topping-less.

It needs butter and something gooey on it, whether it be honey, cheap store brand pancake syrup (which is what I used), or pure maple syrup from a small farm in Vermont that costs $25 for 4 ounces. Okay, it’s not as if it tastes like plain bread slices, but pre-lightly sweetened or flavored it is not. It looks like a nice piece of French toast with the appropriate char and eggy color, and it has a nice soft and fluffy texture, but it lacks a flavor that makes it taste as if it’s gone through an egg mixture of any kind. That’s weird to me.

But who eats French toast without any toppings? Certainly not the French. And, as IHOP and Denny’s can attest, most certainly not Americans. When store brand syrup and cinnamon is added, it’s a tasty part of a complete breakfast.

The only issue that truly irked me was the recommended toasting instructions that say to heat it at the lowest setting and two cycles may be necessary. But whether I was toasting one or two, I needed to light up the heating elements more than twice to get the pieces all warmed up. Of course, toasters differ so your results may vary.

Even with that problem and the lack of flavor when plain, Kellogg’s Eggo Thick & Fluffy Classic French Toast is still a fine product. Think of it as an easy to prepare canvas for your sane and insane French toast ideas.

Purchased Price: $4.49
Size: 6 slices/box
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 slice) 140 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 220 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.