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This simple French Toast Recipe is ready in minutes, fast enough for breakfast before school, but tasty enough for lazy weekends. Itโs the only recipe youโll ever need, and you can use it for whatever bread you have on hand.
Perfectly Easy French Toast Recipe
At its core, French toast needs to be nothing more than bread dipped in beaten egg. But as a classically-trained chef, I figured out that just a few more ingredients lead to a better French toast, and a better breakfast overall.
Milk adds a richness to the batter that tastes great โ and stretches your recipe at the same time. A splash of vanilla adds sweetness without sugar and a deeper flavor that really shines through once the toast is out of the skillet.
When it comes to bread choices, you can make French toast out of almost anything: croissants, challah, sandwich bread, or even sourdough. But my go-to staple is Texas toast. Itโs thick and hearty but still soft, and it absorbs the batter like a sponge.
For extra flavor, grease your skillet with butter. Then, top off your epic French toast with pure maple syrup and a dusting of powdered sugar and ground cinnamon, or try whipped cream and fresh berries or evenย candied pecans.
Table of Contents
Simple French Toast Recipe Ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
- Texas Toast: French toast is an ideal way to use up day-old or stale bread, so thereโs no need to sacrifice your freshest bread. I used Texas Toast here for its thick slices of bread, but nearly any style of slice will do. Try sourdough, French bread,ย challah, brioche, sturdy sandwich bread, or even cinnamon raisin bread.
- Milk: Any dairy, non-dairy milk, or dairy-free milk alternatives, such as almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, oat milk, or soy milk will do, as long as it is unflavored and unsweetened.
Best Bread For French Toast
The best bread for French toast is anything sturdy that can stand up to the wet batter. I love Texas toast, brioche, challah, leftover croissants, or a sturdy country loaf. Regular-slice store-bought sandwich bread can work in a pinch, but it isnโt ideal and may sag under the weight of the liquid batter.
Day-old bread softens in the batter, so feel free to put your dry, stale bread to use in French toast! Itโs an economical, tasty way to reduce food waste while creating a delicious meal.
French Toast Egg to Milk Ratio
I like to use a ratio of 3:2 eggs-to-milk ratio when making French toast. In this case, 4 eggs is about ยพ cup eggs when whisked together combined with ยฝ cup milk.
Eggs function as the binder in the batter so it sticks to the bread. Milk adds richness and extra moisture. I also love to add a dash of vanilla for warmth and sweetness without added sugar.
How to Make Homemade French Toast
- Preheat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat to about 350 degrees. Melt butter and swirl to coat the surface. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- Working with one slice at a time, dredge the bread in the batter mixture. Tap gently on the side of the bowl to remove excess, then lay on the preheated skillet. Add more slices in a single layer without touching until the skillet is full.
- Cook without moving until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Flip carefully and continue cooking on the second side until browned, about 2 minutes longer.
- Repeat with all remaining bread slices, adding more butter as needed between batches. Serve warm with butter and maple syrup or fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Basic French Toast Recipe Variations
- Yield:ย This recipe will make 14 thick slices of Texas toast. Itโs enough to use an entire 1-pound loaf.ย
- Challah French toast: I love Challah for French toast because its dense texture really soaks up all that batter.
- Croissant French toast:ย If you have leftover croissants instead of Challah, you can turn those into French toast, too.
- Cornflake French toast:ย Cornflake French Toastย allows you to enjoy two breakfast menu favorites, cereal and French toast, in one easy, family-friendly breakfast recipe.
- French toast sticks:ย Like a mash-up of a cinnamon-sugar donut and French toast, theseย French Toast Sticksย are one of my best family breakfast recipe ideas.
- Baked French toast:ย This custardy make-aheadย Baked French Toastย recipe only gets better as it chills overnight. Come morning, add a cinnamon streusel topping, and bake.
- More toppings:ย Tryย whipped creamย and fresh berries,ย orange marmalade, strawberry jam, or sweetened condensed milk on your French toast.
How to Store Texas Toast French Toast
Store leftovers covered in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To Freeze:
Freeze French Toast slices on a baking sheet and transfer slices to an air-tight freezer bag. Freeze up to 2 months. Reheat in the toaster, oven, or stove in a hot skillet or cast iron.
How to Serve Homemade French Toast
Top your French toast with butter and maple syrup, whipped cream and fresh fruit, jam, honey,ย marmalade, mascarpone, candied nuts, or fresh zest. I also love powdered sugar and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Serve with juice or coffee and maybe a side of cooked bacon.
Frequently Asked Questions
At a basic level, French toast needs only to be made with egg. Scramble some raw eggs in a bowl, dip your bread, and fry it. That qualifies as French toast. Many recipes include other ingredients in the batter such as milk or cream and spices or flavors such as cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla. But in reality, you only need egg.
If you can slice it, you can make it into French toast! Texas toast, challah, croissants, sourdough, cheap sandwich bread, and more are all delicious when coated with an egg mixture and fried.
Itโs really important that the fat youโre frying in (butter or oil, most likely) be HOT when you add your French toast. If itโs not hot, it will simply soak into the bread and lead to soggy French toast. When itโs HOT, it will fry the bread instead of soaking it in.
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French Toast Recipe
Ingredientsย
- Butter for the skillet and for serving
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 loaf Texas Toast (14 slices, see note 1)
- Maple syrup for serving
Instructionsย
- Preheat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat to about 350 degrees. Melt butter and swirl to coat the surface. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- Working with one slice at a time, dredge the bread in the batter mixture. Tap gently on the side of the bowl to remove excess, then lay on the preheated skillet. Add more slices in a single layer without touching until the skillet is full.
- Cook without moving until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Flip carefully and continue cooking on the second side until browned, about 2 minutes longer.
- Repeat with all remaining bread slices, adding more butter as needed between batches. Serve warm with butter and maple syrup or fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Texas Toast: French toast is an ideal way to use up day-old bread, so thereโs need to sacrifice your freshest bread. I used Texas Toast here, but nearly any style of slice will do. Try sourdough, French bread,ย challah, brioche, sturdy sandwich bread, or even cinnamon raisin bread.
- Yield: This recipe will make 14 thick slices of Texas toast. Itโs enough to use an entire 1-pound loaf.ย
- Storage:ย Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Anytime I made french toast, always soggy, no matter what I did! I finally read to use heavy cream instead of milk, that made all the difference in the world for some reason! I love the thick french toast bread, the best! Making some to freeze right now! Cant wait to try lots of your recipes, so easy to understand and no weird or strange ingredients, just down home recipes!
Thank you so much, Diana. I appreciate you taking the time to write! Please let me know if you have any questions on any of the recipes. Take care! โ Meggan
This is one of the easiest recipes to make, Iโve been cooking French toast since I was about 12.
Iโm so glad you enjoyed it and found it easy, Cailin! Thank you for writing! โ Meggan