Best Easy French Toast Recipe

How do you make French toast?

I'm going to walk you through all my tips and tricks to making the best french toast recipe ever! 

Choose great bread

I used to be one of those crazy people who made literally everything from scratch. The thought of making this easy French toast with store-bought bread would've made my former-self die a little inside.

Thank goodness I am not who I once was, and now see the full joys of choosing high-quality store bought breads at the appropriate times....like right now, in this recipe.

Every time we make this easy French Toast I use Kneader's Chunky Cinnamon Bread. We received a loaf as a gift when we first moved to Utah and I've been hooked ever since.

If you don't live in Utah (or another state with a Kneaders), then I recommend going to your favorite local bakery and purchasing a loaf of their cinnamon swirl or chunky cinnamon bread.

Make the Egg/Milk Mixture. 

Be sure to mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon together before adding the milk. This ensure that all the sugar, salt and cinnamon dissolves and prevents what you see in the photo below from happening. Obviously I didn't follow my own advice, which resulted in un-dissolved cinnamon all over the place. It still tasted perfect, it just doesn't look as pretty!

Place egg mixture in a rectangular baking dish

Using a baking dish (pictured above) to dip the bread into the egg mixture allows you to evenly soak two pieces of bread at the same time, which is a huge time saver when making this Easy French Toast recipe!

I use these rectangular baking dishes from crate and barrel and LOVE them! The one pictured is 10"x 7".

Let the bread soak. 

Letting  the bread soak in the milk/egg mixture gives this easy french toast recipe the best texture ever! I recommend soaking the bread for at least 30 seconds (and up to 1-2 minutes) on each side. 

Obviously, thicker bread will require more soaking, while thinner bread will only need to be soaked for a short time.

Butter the griddle.

I cook all stovetop breakfast foods on a griddle (like these pancakes, and these, and these) for two reasons.

1. I can cook large batches at a time when using a large griddle.
2. The temperature can be set and is maintained evenly throughout cooking!

Between each batch of this French Toast recipe, melt ½ TBS salted butter on the griddle, being sure to move it around so that it covers the entire surface area of the griddle. Because that crispy, buttery, golden-brown toasting makes this recipe extra special!

What if I don't have a griddle? 

If you don't have a griddle, simply use a large, non-stick fry pan instead! Just note, every cooktop is different, so you will need to play with the amount of heat you use until you get it just right. 

1. Turn the heat on to medium and place the fry pan over the flame/heating element to let it warm up. 
2. Add the french toast pieces and cook until golden-brown on one side!
3. Flip and cook until golden-brown on the second side! 
4. Serve immediately or place on a baking sheet in a warm oven to keep until all the pieces are cooked!

Keep it Warm. 

If you would like to serve all of your French toast at the same time, I recommend keeping it warm in the oven! Simply turn the oven on to it's "warm" setting. Then, as you finish each batch of French toast, put the pieces on a large baking sheet in the warm oven until you are finished and ready to serve!

Can you freeze French toast?

Our family usually doesn't finish an entire loaf of French toast in one sitting. If that's the case for you as well, you definitely can freeze this french toast. 

Flash-freeze the leftover pieces on a baking sheet, then put the frozen French toast in a freezer-friendly container or ziplock bag and save them for another day!

To reheat simply warm in the microwave for 60-90 seconds per piece (depending on how thick the slices are).

 Easy French Toast: Substitutions & Ingredients

Here are a few possible substitutions that could be made in this recipe!

• Cinnamon bread. I absolutely swear by Kneader's Chunky Cinnamon Bread. I think it makes the best french toast ever. However, feel free to use your favorite bread variety!
• Brown sugar. Dark or light brown sugar, or coconut sugar, can be used in this recipe with great results!
• 2% Milk. This is what we always have on hand, so it's our milk of choice for this recipe. Any milk would work well, including non-dairy milk. Just remember that the higher the fat content, the richer and tastier this Easy French Toast will turn out!

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Easy French Toast Recipe

Laura

This is the best French Toast Recipe ever! It's easy to make and ready in 20 minutes! This simple french toast recipe is one of our family's favorite breakfasts!

5 from 9 votes

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 10 Servings

Calories 234.1 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  electric griddle
• ▢
  measuring spoons
• ▢
  measuring cups
• ▢
  glass batter bowl

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 loaf bread We use Cinnamon Crunch Bread from Kneaders
• ▢ 4 eggs
• ▢ 1 TBS brown sugar
• ▢ ¼ tsp sea salt
• ▢ 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1 ½ cups 2% milk
• ▢ butter for skillet

Instructions

 

• preheat griddle to 350 degrees F. (see notes for stovetop instructions)
• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs.
• Add brown sugar, sea salt, vanilla and cinnamon and whisk until combined.
• Add milk and whisk until combined.
• Pour into a shallow baking dish (9x9)
• Place bread in the egg mixture and let it soak in the mixture for 15-30 seconds.
• Flip bread over and repeat on the other side.
• Melt ½ TBS butter on the preheated electric griddle (or fry pan).
• Remove bread from egg/milk mixture and place on the heated, buttered cooking surface.
• Cook for 3-5 minutes on the first side or until golden brown.
• Flip the bread over and repeat on the second side.
• Continue dipping/cooking until all the bread has been used.
• Serve immediately with a glug of pure maple syrup!

Video

Notes

Cooking French Toast on the stovetop: 

If you don't have a griddle, simply use a large, non-stick fry pan instead! Just note, every cooktop is different, so you will need to play with the amount of heat you use until you get it just right. 

1. Turn the heat on to medium and place the fry pan over the flame/heating element to let it warm up. 
2. Add the french toast pieces and cook until golden-brown on one side!
3. Flip and cook until golden-brown on the second side! 

How to keep French toast warm: 

If you would like to serve all the French toast warm at the same time, simply preheat your oven to “warm” and place each finished piece of French toast on a baking sheet or oven-safe serving dish and put it in the warm oven until ready to serve!

Ingredient Substitutions: 

• Cinnamon bread. I absolutely swear by Kneader's Chunky Cinnamon Bread. I think it makes the best french toast ever. However, feel free to use your favorite bread variety!
• Brown sugar. Dark or light brown sugar, or coconut sugar, can be used in this recipe with great results!
• 2% Milk. This is what we always have on hand, so it's our milk of choice for this recipe. Any milk would work well, including non-dairy milk. Just remember that the higher the fat content, the richer and tastier this Easy French Toast will turn out!

How to freeze French toast:

1. Flash-freeze the leftover pieces on a baking sheet, then put the frozen French toast in a freezer-friendly container or ziplock bag and save them for another day!
2. To reheat simply warm in the microwave for 60-90 seconds per piece (depending on how thick the slices are).

Nutrition

Calories: 234.1kcalCarbohydrates: 35.4gProtein: 8gFat: 6.8gSaturated Fat: 2.8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 1.1gCholesterol: 80.5mgSodium: 341mgPotassium: 98.7mgFiber: 1gSugar: 14.9gVitamin A: 225IUCalcium: 52mgIron: 0.3mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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