Make The Best French Toast
Pro tip: Apple or banana breads make fantastic French Toast!
Growing up, breakfast foods were always my favorite kind of meal. I particularly liked when we’d travel and eat in restaurants that served breakfast all day, where I could order silver dollar-sized pancakes or waffles with dozens of tiny squares to fill with 8 kinds of syrup. I also grew up adoring French toast. Custardy toasted bread, topped with fresh berries, banana slices, and a river of syrup - to me, this is the definition of breakfast perfection.
There is something magical about French toast and its baked counterparts - the strata and French toast casserole - that are far greater than the sum of its parts. French toast is usually just made of bread, eggs, and milk, but when those kitchen basics are combined, they create a rich decadent masterpiece.
My mom made a Gingerbread French toast casserole for me recently (delicious!) and it got me thinking that other breads could be used to create an inspired French toast. So, purely in the interest of science, I made an apple cinnamon cake this week, specifically to make French Toast with it.
Tips for making amazing French toast
Choosing your bread
Sturdy, slightly dry bread will soak up the custard, cook all the way through, and have a bit of a crispy exterior, preferably cut about ¾” to 1” thick. If the bread is very thin or too moist, it will tear apart when you lift it out of the custard. If it's too thick, the center doesn’t cook through. Rich, eggy breads like challah or brioche that’s a few days old are a great choice.
If you are using sweet bread made with gingerbread, apples, pumpkin, zucchini, or banana, either toast the slices or put them in a 200 F degree oven for 30 or 40 minutes to dry them out.
The custard
A perfect custard for French toast has a high ratio of eggs to milk. Using too much milk (or cream) results in soggy, undercooked bread.
A splash of vanilla, cinnamon, or cardamom would all be excellent additions,
Make sure the custard is well combined before adding the slices of bread. This will prevent your custard from becoming fried eggs with lumps of cinnamon baked in.
Go easy on the sugar. If you will be finishing with a drizzle of syrup or a dusting of powdered sugar, you don’t want the custard to be too sweet.
Soaking the bread
The difference between French toast that had a quick dip in the custard and a long, luxurious soak is night and day. A quick dip turns out French toast that is eggy on the outside and mostly dry inside. Giving your bread time to soak up the custardy goodness allows the entire slice to become infused resulting in a soft, flavorful center. Plan for a total soaking time of 10-15 minutes with a gentle flip halfway through. Choose the shorter total time if your bread is still a little moist. Moist bread, plus a long soaking time can equal bread that falls apart.
In the pan
Be sure to thoroughly pre-heat the pan. If custardy bread goes into a cooler pan, the custard can spread out, leaving an eggy footprint. A hot pan ensures that the custard starts cooking as soon as it hits the pan and doesn’t have time to ooze.
Finding the right temperature is key. Cook your French toast over medium heat for 3 or 4 minutes per side. A too-hot pan leaves you with burnt outsides and soggy, undercooked insides. A too-cool pan will cause your bread to dry out, leaving a one-texture unremarkable slice.
Use a combination of butter and oil in the pan to prevent the butter from burning, and be sure to wipe out the pan after each batch before starting again with another round of oil and butter. Wiping the pan removes any blackened bits of butter and egg from the pan and prevents them from sticking to your next beautiful bunch of French toast.
Make it fancy with extras
French toast is great on its own but truly shines when you top it with something to make it “extra”. Here are a few suggestions:
Apple butter
Butter - regular or plant
Peanut butter
Almond butter
Nutella
Berries
Banana
Apple slices
Applesauce
Dulce de leche
Salted caramel
Pumpkin butter
Cream cheese - plain or flavored
Jam
Chocolate - chips or melted to drizzle on top
Mascarpone
Maple syrup
Fresh fruit
Toasted or caramelized nuts
Brown sugar
Lemon curd
Whipped cream
Cinnamon
Honey
If you’d like the recipe for the Apple Cake, reply to this post and I’ll be happy to send it to you. And if decide to make French Toast (please do!), let me know how it goes. I;d love to hear from you!
With love and French toast ~
Chelly
The Best French Toast
Ingredients
4 Servings
8 ¾"- 1” thick slices of sturdy, dry, or toasted bread of your choice
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream, milk, or plant milk
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Pinch of salt
Flavorings of your choice
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, for cooking each round of bread
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, for cooking each round of bread
Directions
Whisk eggs, milk, brown sugar, salt, and any flavorings together. Pour into a shallow dish. Lay the slices of bread into the egg mixture in a single layer, turning gently to coat both sides. Let the bread soak for 7-10 minutes.
Carefully turn the bread over and soak the second side for an additional 7-10 minutes.
Heat 1 Tbsp. each butter and vegetable oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, gently lift the slices of bread from the custard and place them in the hot skillet. Cook, turning once until golden brown, about 3 or 4 minutes per side.
Serve French toast warm with syrup, powdered sugar, and any additional toppings.
