French Toast
Delicious cinnamon french toast with a slightly crisp outside and fluffy middle – Perfect for Sunday breakfast treat or special occasions! Made with just a few simple ingredients and in under 25 minutes.
I always think of french toast as a ‘special occasion’ type of dish: anniversary, valentines... However, this easy french toast uses just a few ingredients and less than half an hour of your time to whip up fluffy cinnamon french toast and is now a firm breakfast favourite of mine. You can then serve this alongside fruits and berries, or several other toppings of your choice
Within this post, I’ll take you through my quick and easy method for how to make french toast, as well as what ingredients are best, the best bread choices, and topping options. Plus, my recipe notes include how to customize this easy french toast recipe to your tastes/needs.
THE BEST BREAD FOR FRENCH TOAST
The bread is the key to perfect french toast. However, as long as the slices aren’t too thin, you can use lots of different bread varieties for french toast (including sandwich bread). But, there are a few bread varieties to turn to for a superior french toast experience – usually those with a dense crumb. The oldest the bread the better. You that one that you can't use for toasting anymore? That is going to be the best one because is more dense and doesn't suck the custard to much.
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Brioche – The golden standard for french toast. This bread is sweet and fluffy, soaking up the custard with super-ease (for super fluffy french toast).
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Baguette – while ‘tinier,’ this bread has a firm crust for keeping the eggy bread together. However, it takes a bit longer to soak up the egg custard. Use pieces around 1/2″ thickness.
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Pullman – sandwich bread. This bread isn’t as dense as brioche so it won’t be as ‘creamy.’ However, it still works – it’s best to buy a whole loaf and slice the pieces yourself to around 1/2″ thickness.
TIPS FOR PERFECT FRENCH TOAST EVERY TIME
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Don’t dip the bread in the egg mixture for too long (or too little). If it becomes fully saturated, then you will end up with uncooked, soggy centres. Diping 20-30 seconds on each side is usually more than enough;
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Don’t use just butter for cooking the french toast. Due to its low smoke point, this doesn’t always turn out well. Instead, use a mixture of 50:50 butter to neutral oil or omit the butter altogether;
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Be sure to mix the egg custard properly. Otherwise, you can end up with bits of plain egg white over your homemade french toast – which doesn’t look very good;
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Make sure to season well. Using just eggs and milk is perfect for a savory ‘eggy bread.’ However, for this sweeter cinnamon French toast, you need the additional flavour and sweetness;
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The pan needs to be hot before you add the first bread slice! If it isn’t, you run the risk of soggy (and spread) egg mixture over the pan. Preheat the pan and wait until its hot, so the egg can’t spread;
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For a super ‘custardy,’ but not ‘eggy’ mixture, omit the egg whites and just use the yolks;
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Use a powdered version of whatever sugar you want to use. This will dissolve more evenly into the mixture. Just pop your sugar into a blender/spice grinder and grind into a fine powder.
HOW TO MAKE FRENCH TOAST
Mix – In a shallow dish or bowl whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, and seasonings (use vanilla extract or vanilla seeds) until thoroughly combined, with no bits of egg white throughout. The spices will rise to the top of the mix when resting.
Heat – Heat the pan with a teaspoon or so of coconut oil over medium heat. If the temperature is too high, then you’ll cook the outside of the french toast, but will have soggy, raw middles.
Soak – One slice of bread a time, dip bread into the egg mixture for around 30 seconds on each side.
Fry – As soon as it’s soaked, transfer your first piece of bread to the hot pan. Fry in the skillet on medium until golden brown and slightly crispy on both sides. This takes me around 3-4 minutes per side – but may vary. For a little extra sweetness and browning, sprinkle a little bit extra coconut sugar onto the slice when frying.
About a minute before your french toast is Cooked, add the next slice of bread to the egg mixture to soak. And repeat.
Ingredients
1 Cup of milk
2 Eggs
4 Slices of bread
1 Tbsp of sugar (any choice of sugar)
1 Tea Spoon of Cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp of of Nutmeg (optional)
1/4 Tea Spoon of crushed vanilla (Optional)
PLUS
A handful of strawberries raspberries, pomegranate, blueberries and blackberries, or your favourite fruit;
1 Tbsp coconut oil for frying or similar oil, of your choice
Icing sugar to decorate (optional)
Honey to drizzle (optional)
Raw honey has been used as a folk remedy throughout history and has a variety of health benefits and medical uses. It is even used in some hospitals as a treatment for wounds. Many of these health benefits are specific to raw, or unpasteurized, honey.
Most of the honey you find in grocery stores is pasteurized. The high heat kills unwanted yeast, can improve the colour and texture, removes any crystallization, and extends the shelf life. Many of the beneficial nutrients are also destroyed in the process.
If you are interested in trying raw honey, buy it from a trusted local producer.
Notes
Some Recipe Notes & Possible Variations
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The choice of milk it is up to personal choice. I prefer to use whole-fat milk, for a creamy but not too rich result. However, you could also use heavy cream, half and half, Dairy-free milk: Including Coconut milk, Oat milk, and Almond milk (bear in mind that they will affect the flavour differently);
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Whether you are happy to use sugar or was a refined sugar-free option, you have some choices. Again, the flavour will change slightly depending on which you use.
There are a variety of ways to flavour your classic french toast , such as:
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Add a few tablespoons of Liquor - such as Orange Liqueur, Port, Sherry, Baileys - to the egg mixture;
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Add orange/lemon zest to the custard or to top the French toast;
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Use additional spices - such as nutmeg, or even pumpkin spice.
To serve with your homemade French toast, the list is vast to your imagination:
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Butter or honey butter
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Maple syrup or Honey
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Turmeric honey
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Fresh berries
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Grilled fruits - like peaches or apricots, or Pineapple
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Other fruits: banana, apple, etc
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Fruit compote: made by combining the fruit, sweetener, lemon juice, and water to a pan and simmering till thick and 'jam'-like.
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Nutella or melted chocolate
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A drizzle of Nut Butter
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Powdered sugar
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Extra cinnamon
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Lemon juice
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Shredded Coconut (to sprinkle over or even dip in pre-frying)
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crushed nuts
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Yogurt
Enjoy your combination!
