French toast, french toast, french toast.
Is there anything we don’t love about you?
Nope. You’re buttery. You’re custardy. You’re breakfast, you’re dessert, you’re delicious. We love everything about you.
But, but…when you’re bad…it’s really bad. What if there’s not enough batter and you’re just dry bread in the middle? What if you’re over cooked and really rubbery? What if you just taste overpoweringly of egg? It’s not good.
BUT HAVE NO FEAR! For I have unlocked your secret, Monsieur Pain Perdu. I have discovered the perfect ratio for custardy, tender, crispy on the outside and moist in the middle french toast. And here it is…
For every 2 pieces of inch-thick toast, you need:
1 egg
2 tbsp sweetener (sugar, honey, maple, agave, whatever)
1/3 cup liquid (milk, half and half, cream, almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, whatever)
1/4 – 1 tsp flavouring (lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, rum, whatever)
And BOOM! It won’t let you down, I swear. You just whisk up all your chosen ingredients, scale it up or down depending on how many people you’re feeding, and then cook them over a low heat in a frying pan with a little butter or oil. The low heat is important! If your heat is too high, your frenchies will brown before they cook through.
Other than that, a nice, long bath in the egg batter is all you need and you’re golden! Trust me on this one, I’ve done the research. These photos are of a few slices of my Blueberry Vanilla Bread that I french toasted just to show you the gloriousness of it all. I hope your weekend was brilliant! I spent mind unlocking this incredible secret for you. I selflessly ate piece after piece of french toast in the name of helping you out. No biggie!
It looks awesome & like the perfect breakfast! pinned
Do you cook them in butter or oil or a combination of both?
I cook mine in butter! Because of the low heat that I use, I don’t have to worry about the butter turning black in the pan.
Specifically, for how long should let the bread soak before cooking it?
Hey Ann – that depends on your bread. Which is to say, the softer your bread is to start, the less time it will need to soak. But basically, this amount of liquid should be pretty much completely absorbed by the bread. For a sourdough, that will take about 10 minutes. For a very soft white bread, as little as 1-2.
xx
Sarah
Perfectly browned. Perfectly thick. Perfectly custard-fied. Perfect.
Mouthwatering.. Really it’s been eons since I’ve had French Toast, now it’s all I can think about! Yum!!
So helpful!!I always seem to end up with extra batter, so I will definitely have to give this formula a try!!
Gimme. Gimme. Gimme. That action shot at the end made me crave some french toast.
I hear you on the too egg-y french toast and the dry/rubbery variety. Not good. French toast can be baaaaad.
I love no-fail recipes!!! They always become my staples in the kitchen. Love it, sarah! (also, email coming your way soon!)
Just one more reason for me to make that bread! This French toast looks fabulous and your photos are gorgeous!
These pictures make me want french toast for breakfast lunch and dinner! Thanks for cracking the code :)
Look at that brown crust! Perfection. Can French Toast be dinner???
Absolutely yes.
What a decadent dessert/breakfast!
I’m awful at french toast-thank you for saving meeee! Pinned!
Ah yes, zee French toast, zee most excellent of breakfasts. I vish zhere were more ways for me to type in a bad French accent, but alas, I have run out of offensive stereotypes. Next time, mon ami!
This French toast looks amazing!! Just one question… How long do you usually soak the bread in the eggy mixture? I’ve never made it before & I don’t want to mess it up. Thanks!
Hey Sarah (great name) I give my bread about 2 minutes or so on each side in the egg mix. Usually until just about all the egg mixture has been absorbed by the bread. That’s when things get good and custardy and delicious!
Do I spy a pad of clutter butter? what you got going on, on top!? looks amazing.
Lol, WHAT is clutter butter!? That’s a dollop of thick greek yoghurt my friend, with vanilla infused honey.
Thanks for being a hero! This is my first time visiting your site, and I’m loving your whole universe.
WOAH, high praise indeed! Thanks Renee!
Made this this today for brunch – used some stale challah, maple syrup for sweetener, vanilla, and topped it off w/ homemade Strawberry and Blackberry jams. Delicious! Will be using this formula from now on.
I’ love french toast so much that I developed a recipe like this after much trial and error about 40 yrs ago. I don’t cook as much as I used to so i haven’t had good french toast in a while. It’s so hard to get good french toast at a restaurant. thanks for stirring up my taste buds with these lovely pictures, no-fail recipe and clever tips. I guess I’ll just have to go to the bakery for some bread. ;)