Sunday mornings are a great time to cook breakfast with your kids. Things are just so much more languid, 
everyone has gotten up later than usual, and an indulgent breakfast seems more appropriate. French toast is one of the simplest and most satisfying breakfasts to make, and even the Kid at age 11 can do it almost completely by herself. The keys to a fantastic French toast? A good loaf of rich buttery bread like a brioche, challah bread, or this interesting find called a King Toast Loaf from Bread Talk, at PHP120 (separate post on Breadtalk coming up). Next, some good organic eggs, whole milk, and to serve, superb maple syrup and perhaps some preserved fruit like berries or peaches or mangoes. Variations such as a cinnamon French toast, or using a nice homemade vanilla sugar to garnish your French Toast is also terrific.
To make about six servings, whisk together two eggs, 1 cup of milk and two tablespoons of flour until well-blended. Strain the mixture into a wide, flattish bowl or pan. Heat up a stainless steel, non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. When it is hot, dip 
thick slices (I like them about 1 inch thick or slightly less) of bread in the milk mixture, drop a generous dollop of butter on the hot pan and place the bread on the pan to cook for a few minutes until golden brown. Turn the toast over and cook until the other side is done. Transfer to a plate and drizzle with confectioners sugar and serve plain with a side of maple syrup or top with some fresh berries or mango jam as we did in the photos here. As an alternative, you can add some cinnamon to the milk mixture and onto the toast itself after soaking briefly in the milk/egg for added flavor. Don’t soak the bread for too long or it will get too soggy. So simple, so easy and so yummy!
20 Responses
Yum. I love french toast. And you’re absolutely right… good bread is key. I prefer brioche myself, as true challah is a little bit too eggy to be dipped into egg yet again. :)
yey! i learned another new thing today.. hehehe! i usually dip my bread first in milk then in whisked egg before i fry them in butter.. now i know why it get’s too soggy.. will try this next time.. maybe i can also put some powdered sugar on top with some preserve… sounds yummy already.. thanks for sharing this… am sure the kid is learning to cook from the best teacher, her dad!!!
This is one of my favorite breakfasts. In fact, it’s one of my favorite things to eat no matter what time of day. Whenever I see this on the menu, it automatically becomes one of the things I’ll consider ordering. Yes, even at night! Unfortunately, many people many people make it too dry; I like it with an almost custardy interior. Sometimes the egg/milk mixture is only on the very outside, and inside it’s like regular bread! I’ll take soggy french toast over those fake ones anytime. Some also undercook it. Yours looks perfectly moist inside, browned outside! And whether it’s with cinnamon, fruit, or maple syrup, I have to have it with lots of butter…YUM!!!
hi marketman! that french toast looks delicious… i was just wondering, what kind of butter do you use? i miss the butter in the states… i’ve been searching for a butter with a similar taste, but to no avail. i even tried butter in a can! and something called “utterly butterly” vegetable oil spread. nothing works! i’d love to know if you’ve found any good butter around here. thanks!
mini, one of my pet peeves is in fact the lack of decent butter in our markets. For the most part, the butter that is sold under local labels, despite coming from Australia and Denmark or other places, is very high in water content I think. There are some French brands such as President and the other day I found blocks of Australian butter in the grocery that seems to be of a better quality but costs up to 3 times as much. For me, I almost always use UNSALTED butter, under the impression that it must be better since the salt doesn’t mask any off flavors, etc. I actually see NO REASON why GOOD premium butter cannot be imported cosndering it has a decent shelf life. Sometimes, my sister carts kilos and kilos of PLUGRA French style butter for me from the states and I guard it like gold… Katrina, ARRGGH, I hate French toast that is dry bread in the middle, yuck. Kaye, the key is to start with the right bread…from there all good things CAN happen…
Sometimes instead of whole milk, I substitute half and half or sweetened whipped cream (the kind you drizzle over berries and fruits), so good, much creamier but obviously not for the diet conscious, but if you’ll only have one slice, might as well have one slice of heaven.
Hubby just had a bypass, but I think I’d go crazy if I don’t try this as soon as possible! Can I just use ice cream instead of milk?
and don’t forget a few drops of tahitian pure Vanilla extract to the batter for added flavor.
also, is it just me or are New England maple syrups especially Vermont and New Hampshire tastier than their Canadian counterparts? i really prefer the US version. my best friend’s in-laws have a maple syrup farm up in Providence (NH) so i’ve seen first-hand how they make the syrup.
French toast. . . I always do French toast for the breakfast buffet, we use two kinds of bread, orange and basil brioche or hazelnut brioche. . . yummy. . .
french toast! who doesn’t love them? I even made my own brioche and make it dry out alittle bit and make it into french toast! I’m planning to try it with wheat bread i’ll leave an update on my blog about it
My sister was always the one to make french toast for all of us at home when I was younger, so I only learned how to make it when I was in college. I found out how different folks would make it, including a rather savory version from a Canadian friend who would add chopped green onions to the batter (she didn’t add cinnamon or sugar later).
I like a dense bread when making french toast so that it can really soak in the milk/cream and flavors. Except for breads like rye, pumpernickel or the ones with too many nuts and oats, I think my favorite breads for french toast are a good brioche or even sourdough (topped with cheeses and nuts instead of sweet stuff). Have you tried Jipan bread? It’s quite buttery already so I usually lessen the butter in the pan when I fry their bread.
Thanks for the recipe. I’ve been looking for a simple recipe for frechtoast, and here goes.
I first tried making French Toast when I was 9. Will try your recipe next time. I try different recipes and yours has the most amount of milk, because mine ends up too egg-y (is there such a term?).
Mila, do you mean Jipan’s Monroe bread? I adore that!!! It’s like a croissant loaf, which I think was their goal when they created it. Did you ever go to or order from the now-defunct sandwich place, Slice of Meat? They used to make french toast from Monroe bread. Start your day with that and nothing could go wrong.
You can also use 1 c.cream and 4 eggyolks, 1/2 tsp vanilla, no flour. Babka or raisen bread is another variation. The French use only, of course, french bread and serve it for dessert. It’s good, either way.
Maple sirup is graded, A is light colored and mild flavour, I suggest B grade which has fuller flavour and darker colour.
Delicious. Read through your post and comments, and so many great suggestions on how to perfect this dish. I like the Jipan thick sliced house bread for this recipe. I personally find the monroe bread too buttery for french toat but wonderful on its own or for a bread pudding. During the holidays, italian panettone is a good variation too. I never knew to use flour in the dip, I must try that next time and that King Toast is the closest thing I have seen locally to challah bread which I think makes the best french toast!
You can also make french toast in your waffle iron for a different look and a more caramelized exterior. Yum.
It is not a good idea to visit your site when one is on a diet hahaha, but I cannot resist.
Trishlovesbread, I tried that once and it was really good! I had it with vanilla ice cream on top. yummers!
Marketman, i think I’ll try the mango jam thing, sounds interesting! Some people I know add sugar directly to the egg/milk mixture much like tamagoyaki, minus the mirin of course ;-)
i like this
greetings from thailand