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2012Perfect French Toast
My 9-year-old son came home from his first year at sleep away camp last week. Ever since, I’ve been spoiling him rotten with all his favorite foods, like French toast.
This isn’t your everyday French toast — the kind you might throw together with some sandwich bread, eggs and low-fat milk. It’s made with challah (or brioche) and a rich custard flavored with honey, vanilla and lots of cinnamon. To me it’s the perfect French toast: golden and slightly crisp on the outside, delicate and creamy on the inside.
Using cream in addition to milk makes the French toast taste decadent, almost like bread pudding. Just be sure to use good bread — plain ol’ supermarket bread will not give you the same delicious results as bakery-quality bread.
Begin by whisking together the eggs, milk, cream, honey, vanilla, salt and cinnamon in a large baking dish.
Soak the bread in the custard until saturated but not falling apart, 1-2 minutes. If you like your French toast extra moist, soak it a bit longer.
Pan fry the soaked bread in equal parts butter and vegetable oil until golden brown on both sides.
Serve hot with maple syrup.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 3/4 cup low-fat milk
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 loaf day old challah, brioche or other good bread sliced 3/4-inch thick
- Unsalted butter
- Vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Set wire rack on baking sheet and set aside.
- In a large baking dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.
- Place half of the sliced bread in the custard and let soak, flipping occasionally, until saturated but not falling apart, 1-2 minutes depending on how moist you like your French toast.
- Heat 1-1/2 tablespoons butter and 1-1/2 tablespoons oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Cook the first batch of soaked bread until golden brown, 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to the wire rack and place in the oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining bread. Wipe the skillet clean with paper towels. Soak and fry the remaining bread, using butter and oil as necessary, until it's all cooked. Serve hot with maple syrup.
leslie
Cinnamon frech toast is the best! So are cinnamon pancakes!!
Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes
French Toast is my favorite!! Thanks so much for this post, I will be trying the recipe out
Jaye @ Just Tryin' to Make Cents of it All
Call me weird but I’ve always eaten my french toast with salt and pepper. No sugar and definitely no syrup! After all, it’s more of an egg than a pancake, don’t ya think?
Jenn
Hi Jaye, I’ve actually seen recipes for savory French toast made with fresh herbs…works for me!
Vaniljekjeks
This reminds me of French Toast my mother made me when I was a child. I have to do this one night. My husband will love it!
Marcia
My family loves this french toast! Perfect!
Andrew
This really was the perfect french toast! I made a whole loaf and we ate it on saturday and sunday. I used half of the vanilla and substituted almond extract for the rest (my wife loves almond flavor) and it worked great. We debated which worked better, the pieces that followed the soaking directions, and the ones I forgot about and let soak longer. The longer soaked ones were more flavorful and moister, but didn’t caramelize as well. Either works based on your preference, I suppose.
Winston
This is how I make my french toast except for the heavy cream. I always use challah because I like the way it tastes. I’ll be trying the cream for my next batch. Also, I always use clarified butter (no oil) for pan frying as butter has a tendency to burn, You won’t be disappointed.
Bryan
I love your recipes and how your pictures have organic fresh ingredients. Thanks Iram for sharing this site with me.
Eh
I’m French, and i never eat that :p
Tami
I teach 7th grade cooking. We use this recipe in class and it works well. Some kids say it’s too creamy and eggy, so we decided not to let it sit in the egg mixture very long. Overall, it’s a hit.
Colleen
Haven’t made French Toast in years but this got me going again. My recipe was close but the honey in this one just bumped it up a notch. Thank you!
Winston
I used a 1/2 day old baguette which I trimmed the crust off and it turned out great. I was careful not to let it get too soaked and finished in the oven to make sure it was completely cooked through (browned on all 4 sides, then into baking dish with foil pressed directly to the baguette, 350 for 5 mins).
Karen
I too made these for my son…aren’t they fun to spoil. This was good, easy and basic, but the flavor was so perfect. My french toast was never anything special, but now that I use this recipe, it is! I didn’t change a thing!
Marcia
This is my new french toast recipe. I have made it 4 or 5 times now. I have never used challah before for french toast and we loved it! The cinnamon and honey make it so yummy too!
Elly
we have a big sunday brunch almost every Sunday. this was a great change to an old favorite. Will definately be appearing again on the table. Thanks!
Jennifer Marcus
What a difference a little bit of honey makes. Don’t skip. My children raved about this recipe. I did not have heavy cream handy so I substituted more milk. Worked just fine.
Sri K.
This is my go-to recipe for French toast. I make a big batch on the weekend and freeze the leftovers. Then I just toss 1 or 2 in the toaster on weekdays for the kids’ breakfast. They love it!