THE BEST FRENCH TOAST

French toast is such a classic morning breakfast treat. And there is good French toast, and there is great French toast. This is definitely great french toast! What makes it so great? I think it’s that I use thick real French bread. There is a lot of bread to soak up the yummy, flavorful egg batter, and you end up with a super soft, super moist, delectable French toast.

Honestly, no! I’ve used this same recipe with a standard loaf of store-bought bread, and guess what? It’s still great! I’ve also used brioche, which is bread made with lots of eggs, milk, and butter, so it’s a very rich and hearty bread but makes great French toast.

The recipe amounts and instructions are for a loaf of French bread, so if you are using regular bread or even brioche, you might not need as much egg batter. You could always cut the recipe in half, and being so quick and easy, you could whip up a little more batter should you need more. If you are using regular bread or brioche, you do not need to soak the bread, just dip it in the batter bowl, flip it over a few times, and put it on the griddle.

I cut the bread into 1-inch thick slices and place the pieces of bread in a 9 x 13 pan or a large baking sheet with edges. If you use a 9 x 13 pan, you may need to soak the bread in batches. If that is the case, only pour half of the egg mixture into the pan at a time.

Whip up the egg mixture by adding all the ingredients to a medium-size bowl and mix with a whisk or hand-held mixer. Once the egg batter is mixed well (it should be foamy), pour it evenly over the bread.

Allow it to soak for a few minutes, then flip the bread over. I usually soak it for about 10 minutes. Your bread should be saturated with the egg batter, and the crust softened.

While the bread is soaking, preheat the griddle to 325°F. If you are using a pan on the stovetop, heat on medium with a bit of butter in the pan. The bread will be heavy, and I find sometimes it’s easier to transfer the bread from the baking dish to the griddle with a spatula (the same one I’ll be flipping the bread with). Cook the French bread for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until golden brown; flip, and cook on the other side until golden brown. Make sure you are cooking it long enough that the egg in the center of the bread is cooked.

Serve warm with butter, syrup, and fresh fruit. Enjoy!

This is my favorite breakfast griddle:

Occasionally I have extra egg batter leftover. Instead of wasting it, I scrabble it. When I am done making my french toast, I pour whatever batter is left onto my griddle and scramble the egg batter. It makes the softest, sweetest, most scrumptious scrambled eggs! Give it try!