Delicious cinnamon french toast with a slightly crisp outside and fluffy middle - perfect for a mid-week treat or special occasions! Made with just a few simple ingredients and in under 25 minutes!
In a large shallow dish (large enough to lay the pieces of bread into), whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, and seasonings.Alternatively, you can mix the spices and sugar first before adding to the egg mixture and this may help them distribute more evenly.
Whisk (or mix with a fork) the mixture until it is thoroughly combined with no large bits of egg white visible.
Step 2: Prepare the pan and bread
Heat a large skillet with a little butter (or ghee or coconut oil) over medium heat. Make sure not to use too high heat or the outside of the french toast will cook while the middle remains soggy/raw.
When the pan is almost ready, soak the first slice of bread (or multiple slices based on the size of your dish and pan). Dip the bread into the egg mixture for around 15-20 seconds per side (up to 30 seconds depending on the thickness).
Step 3: Pan-fry the French toast
As soon as the bread is soaked, transfer it to the preheated pan. I like to cook as many as I can fit in my pan - sometimes it's multiple pieces (like 3 or 4), sometimes, it's just one.
Fry the french toast until golden brown on the bottom side and then flip over and fry for a few minutes furthers (around 3-4 minutes per side usually, but this can vary slightly).For a little more sweetness/caramelized french toad, sprinkle a little coconut sugar over the slice of bread before frying.Make sure to keep a good "assembly line" going, soaking the next piece of bread when there's around one minute left of the current one that's frying. Repeat until all of the egg mixture has been used.
Serve the brioche French toast up with the toppings of your choice (plenty of options mentioned above). I chose to use berries, maple syrup, and just a little powdered sugar.
Notes
Tips For Perfect French Toast Every Time
Don't dip the bread in the egg mixture for too long (or too little). If it becomes fully saturated, then you'll end up with uncooked, soggy centers. 15-20 seconds on each side is usually more than enough.
Don't use JUST butter for cooking the french toast. Due to its low smoke point, this doesn't always turn out well. Instead, use a mixture of 50:50 butter to neutral oil to avoid burning the butter.
Be sure to mix the egg custard properly. Otherwise, you can end up with bits of plain egg white over your homemade french toast - which doesn't look or taste brilliant.
Make sure to season well. Using just eggs and milk is perfect for a savory 'eggy bread.' However, for this sweeter cinnamon French toast, you need the additional flavor and sweetness.
The pan needs to be hot before you add the first bread slice! If it isn't, you run the risk of a soggy egg mixture that spreads over the pan. Preheat the pan and wait until it'shot, so the egg can't spread.
For a super 'custardy,' but not 'eggy' mixture, omit the egg whites and just use the yolks.
Use a powdered version of whatever sugar you want to use. This will dissolve more evenly into the mixture. Just pop your sugar into a blender/spice grinder and grind into a fine powder.
Other Recipe Notes
For a baked version, place all the soaked bread slices on a baking sheet/pan and then bake for 25-30 minutes, to cook the interior, following with a final broil (grill), to brown the top.
For stuffed french toast simply use thicker slices of bread and slice a pocket into it then stuff with chocolate, strawberries, cream cheese, fruit, etc.
When it comes to the type of dairy/non-dairy product that you use, this comes down to taste. I prefer to use whole-fat milk, for a creamy but not too rich result. However, you could also use Heavy cream, Half and Half, Dairy-free milk, including coconut milk, oat milk, and almond milk (although they will affect the flavor differently).
To avoid soggy french toast: A friend told me the secret to NEVER getting soggy French toast is adding a little flour to the batter. I recommend adding 1 Tbsp per egg used. This makes the egg mixture more batter-like and will crisp up more without soaking into the bread as much. This isn't something I've tried, though, so I can't guarantee results.
Read the blog post for the information on how to make ahead, store, and reheat the French toast! You'll also find a list of optional add-ins and tons of extra topping ideas!!