by Holly
This easy French Toast recipe will definitely up your breakfast game and bring everyone to the table!
There’s nothing quite like a weekend morning breakfast of fluffy French Toast smothered in real maple syrup! Serve with strawberries, blueberries, honey butter, or a side of oven-cooked bacon and be the hit of the day!
What is French Toast?
Who Invented French Toast? While no one quite knows exactly how French Toast got its name, it isn’t a French recipe.
It is claimed that French Toast was originally a Roman recipe of bread that was soaked in milk and then fried. (In France it’s actually called “pain perdu” (lost bread) and made with stale bread). Regardless, we’re thankful to whoever invented this goodness.
INGREDIENTS
Besides being delicious, any good French Toast recipe is going to have milk, eggs and some warm spices like cinnamon or even nutmeg. The best recipes are made with good bread, a thick mixture of eggs, milk or cream and spices. The pieces are dipped in the egg mixture and then either fried or baked to fluffy perfection.
Best Bread for French Toast
A good French Toast recipe always starts with good quality bread. While I prefer thicker denser bread slices, thinner slices like sandwich bread will work in a pinch too.
- Brioche – Brioche French Toast is the classic recipe and often the bread most used when you order at a restaurant.
Brioche is buttery, dense and perfect for soaking up the spiced egg mixture. It will produce a light, fluffy piece of breakfast perfection! (It’s the type of bread I use in my fave French Toast Casserole). - Texas Toast or Baguettes – These kinds of bread are good for French Toast, since you can cut them as thickly as you like. They are not as dense and don’t need a lot of soaking up, just a quick dip in the egg mixture and right into the pan or casserole dish!
- Sandwich Bread – Don’t be fooled by the standard “whatever you have on hand” sandwich bread. Even if it is thinner the breads listed above, you can still dip in the same batter and pan fry. This makes for a delicious and easy last-minute breakfast option!
- Challah – Challah is typically sold braided and unsliced. It’s a perfect foundation for this recipe!
How to Make French Toast
You guys, this is so crazy easy. Once you learn how to make French Toast, this staple will become a breakfast/lunch/dinner go-to when you’re in a rush! It’s great with fried eggs too!
- Whisk together all the wet ingredients. Make sure your eggs are fully mixed into the milk mixture.
- Heat butter in a skillet until melted. Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture and place in skillet. Once the bottom is browned, turn with a spatula and cook until the other side is browned and cooked through.
Serve immediately with warm maple syrup, an easy caramel sauce, or whipped cream with fruit and berries.
Get Creative
While mixing your ingredients, you could add other flavors:
- try almond, orange extract or orange zest, or pumpkin pie spice
- skip the vanilla and use banana extract and top your breakfast with fresh bananas
- Substitute the milk for juice or add a splash of Bailey’s Irish Cream or Grand Marnier.
Get creative and change it up to match the season, the occasion, or even your mood! Prefer a Savory Breakfast? Top it with a fried egg and serve with some bacon or ham.
Make-Ahead French Toast: To Make French toast an easy breakfast option, make a big batch on the weekend and they can be either heated in the microwave or popped into the toaster on busy weekday mornings.
More Breakfast Yum
- Overnight Sausage Breakfast Casserole – perfect for making ahead.
- French Toast Casserole – French toast in a casserole dish!
- CrockPot Breakfast Casserole – great for when you’d rather just set and forget!
- Banana Breakfast Cookies – delicious option for when you are on the run.
- Easy Crepes Recipe (Blender) – fun and delicious option for brunch.
- Ham & Spinach Frittata – quick and easy to assemble and bake.
Did you enjoy this Easy French Toast Recipe? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
French Toast
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Ingredients
- 8 slices brioche bread or other dense bread, thickly sliced
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
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Instructions
- Whisk eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a shallow bowl or dish.
- Preheat a skillet over medium low heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter to melt.
- Dip both sides of the bread into egg mixture allowing a few seconds for the egg to soak into the bread.
- Place the bread in the pan and cook over medium low heat until cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. (Add more butter as needed for remaining bread).
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
So good! I did 3/4 tsp of cinnamon based on some other reviews saying they wished there was a little more
I was looking for a French toast recipe and I found it. I absolutely love this recipe. I used brioche bread and it turned out great. It was such a hit that I made it 2 days in a row.
Yummy, Kimberly. That sounds amazing! Glad you enjoyed this recipe as much as we did.
Just made this. So good! Will probably add more cinnamon next time, but wanted to get it right the first time.
Any chance I can make these ahead of time?
Or the batter? How long would that last in the fridge?
Hi Tifanny, the batter should be fine in the refrigerator for a few days if prepared ahead of time. We do have a great overnight french toast recipe that you could try as well.
Absolutely delicious. I did add a little more cinnamon. The vanilla extract really adds to the flavor. My husband and I both loved it. I used brioche bread.
I’m sure it’ll be in my tomorrow’s breakfast. I have just now prepared it using my toaster. It’s really pretty good. Thanks for sharing.
This is by far the best French toast I have ever made and so easy to make. My husband said I outdid myself! I say that a good cook is only as good their recipes. Thank you for sharing your excellent recipe!
So glad you both loved it Jacqueline!
Awesome recipe!!!! Perfect for any type of bread, actually. I used regular sandwich bread (that’s all I had), toasted the bread a little bit, then soaked it in the mixture. Came out PERFECT!!!! I’m going to get brioche bread when I go to the grocery store again! YUMMY!
I have been making french toast exactly like this since we were stationed in Okinawa in 2007. They have the best brioche bread for french toast. It’s so simple, yet so tasty and the bread really matters! I will take the advice I read on a comment and slightly toast the sandwich bread because it does get soggy. Thank you!
You’re very welcome Rose!
Delish! And super fast. Hard to mess this one up. This recipe is a little generous – you can halve the recipe and it’s plenty for 6 pieces of brioche.
Can I use French bread?
You sure can!
Perfect! I needed a good ratio of milk to eggs, and this was it! A quick a delish lunch for our virtual homeschool day, both kids rushed thru thier scrambled eggs and apple slices to get thier servings, and they both agreed it was yummy! :) thanks for sharing.
Perfect for a lunch too, so glad your crew loved it Alisa!
THIS WILL BE MY FIRST TIME TRYING THIS RECIPE BUT I WANT TO ADD BLUEBERRIES AND STRAWBERRIES.
Yummy additions for sure Anthony, let us know how it works out for you!
It looks cool.
When I only have sliced bread I toast it a bit first so it isn’t a soggy mess after cooking. That helps!
I loved this recipe and advising to swap out the extracts – a game changer!
Thank you !
That’s an awesome tip Jennifer! Thanks for sharing.
Making this tomorrow at our camper. Looking forward to having it.
Perfectly made French toast for the first time. Awesome recipe.
So happy to hear that Rhonda! Glad you enjoyed it.
This is by far the best French toast recipe. My family loved it.
That’s awesome Marie! I am glad it was a hit with the family! :)
I love this recipe!
found that if possible, “day old” or even stale bread works great. the bread soaks up the egg mixture faster and holds on to it more, for more flavour.
Very, very good! My kids (5, 4, and 1) devour it every time!
I am so glad that your family has enjoyed this recipe!