Perfect 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 so much more special. Made with challah and a rich custard flavored with honey, vanilla and lots of cinnamon, it cooks up slightly crisp on the exterior and creamy on the interior, and tastes 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!
Perfect French Toast
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.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 4
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Wonderful recipe, as always! I used challah bread–it was the perfect consistency. I messed up on the first batch by letting them soak too long (2-3 minutes). For the second round I just did a quick soak/flip (10 seconds per side) and it turned out PERFECT! This was a wonderful treat for our Father’s Day breakfast.
The challah is the perfect density for this recipe. We loved it. A very special breakfast dish!
The best French toast recipe,
Thank you!
I can’t find brioche or Challah bread in my local store. What would you recommend?
While I think this turns out best with challah or brioche, you could try it with Hawaiian bread. If you’re anywhere near a jewish deli, they’re likely to have challah.
I took your advice and used the Hawaiian sliced bread. I couldn’t put my fork down. I really enjoyed it. Thank-you so much!
I have been searching the web to find out how to make Challah bread myself. I really like to cook and bake. 🙂 I will definitely be making this again this weekend. I’m tired of making pancakes.
This is my favorite French Toast recipe. It comes out perfect every time and is really, really yummy.
WOW! I substituted sandwich bread and whole milk for the challah (please forgive me). Halved the recipe for six slices. Happy Thanksgiving. #happykidshappylife
Your recipe is EXACTLY the same as mine EXCEPT I use pure maple syrup instead of honey. I’ll have to try your version next time – maybe Sunday for Mother’s Day.
Definitely the Perfect French Toast recipe ever. I really liked your tips on using good bread (now I know how to use challah )!
Your recipes have never failed me! This one is yet another example! The first time I made this I ignored your warning about using plain bread (mainly because I only had plain bread available – and too lazy to go to the store.). Note to reader: Definitely heed her warning on the bread! The second time I made it though, with the right bread, it was perfection! The best french bread I’ve ever eaten.
French toast can be tricky…if you leave it in too long, it’s too soggy or not long enough and it’s kind of like eating “bread” with syrup. I was a little skeptical because I have never made it with heavy cream or honey before, but thought, hey all the other recipes I’ve made from this site have been amazing. My husband, the ever picky, over critical person, said “This is really tasty!” And he was right. I followed the recipe exactly, it’s everything you want French toast to be, especially with real maple syrup and some berries.
I am normally not a big fan of French toast. It is often too eggy for my taste.
BUT, this recipe was so ridiculously good that I didn’t even notice the eggs. Very decadent, but highly recommended.
I used this step by step recipe to teach cooking skills to my 7th grade students. The pictures were very helpful and they loved the final product.
Made it. Loved it. Wanted to eat more! I felt like I was having a restaurant brunch but in my living room in front of my tv. It was magical! Thanks, Jenn!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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).
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!
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.
I’m French, and i never eat that :p
I love your recipes and how your pictures have organic fresh ingredients. Thanks Iram for sharing this site with me.
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.
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.
My family loves this french toast! Perfect!
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!
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?
Hi Jaye, I’ve actually seen recipes for savory French toast made with fresh herbs…works for me!
French Toast is my favorite!! Thanks so much for this post, I will be trying the recipe out 🙂
Cinnamon frech toast is the best! So are cinnamon pancakes!!