Easy French Toast Recipe (Caramelized)

The other day Valentine (who is 3) was super excited to go outside to play after dinner. In her haste, she wiped her messy hands down the front of her shirt instead of using her napkin. I told her she couldn’t go outside for a few minutes, as a consequence. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued.

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But the joke was on me. To pass the time, she started playing the piano. She played the same two notes in a row, over and over, like a battering ram, overandoverandoverandover until Eric finally yelled, GO OUTSIDE ALREADY.

Valentine: 1. Parents: 0. Welcome to parenting in a pandemic, where you make up the rules as you go and break them just as quickly. It’s like an eternal game of Calvinball.

Well, is it turning into fall where you are? The only thing “fall” about California in September are the menus at Starbucks. But that doesn’t stop me from getting excited! Fall means good food. I don’t think of a French toast recipe as a fall food, but hey it’s got cinnamon in it, right? Everyone needs this classic recipe, anytime of year. Here we go!!

You’ll love this recipe for French Toast

I’ve never been a French toast lover. There are just so many ways it can go wrong: soggy, undercooked eggy centers, or overcooked, tough-as-a-tire crusts on the edge. Burned edges. But the worst French toast sin of all, in my opinion, is the scrambled-egg-on-the-edge of your toast situation. Do you know what I’m talking about??

Solution? You’re going to caramelize the edges! It’s FANTASTIC. It’s kind of like eating the crackly top of a crème brûlée, right there on your French toast. You don’t even need syrup. I’ll show you exactly how to make it!

Ingredients for French Toast

Here’s what you’ll need at the store. (Quantities given in the recipe below.)

Best Bread for French Toast

To avoid tough edges, use the right bread. Challah, brioche, or a super soft white bread are your best bets. Challah and brioche have much less flour and a higher liquid content than your average loaf of bread, resulting in a super soft, cloud-like texture.

I don’t like using French bread, or whatever random loaves they are selling in your deli. I know, I know, this is French toast, we should be using French bread, right? Well the joke’s on you, America. (See below to read more about Americans calling things French that aren’t even French.)

The crust on your average loaf of French bread is too tough and chewy. Nobody wants to have to use a knife to cut through the outer of edge of their toast. It should be perfectly fork-able.

The great thing about starting with a loaf of bread is that you can slice it yourself. Most sliced bread is 3/4 of an inch or less. I sliced mine at 1 and 1/4 inch. You could even go up to 2 inches.

Just look at these gorgeous thick slices!

How to make French Toast

There is nothing I hate more than biting into French toast and tasting cooked egg on the edge. No matter how long you beat those eggs, the gloopy whites insist on clumping together. Then when you cook it, the egg on the edge cooks faster than your toast cooks, leaving you with scrambled egg on the edge. Noooooo

The answer is to use only egg yolks. The result is a super rich and creamy mixture. You are basically going to be soaking your bread in creamy custard.

Here is my French toast dream: I want perfectly toasty, crisp edges that are not AT ALL tough. I want a perfectly cooked THICK center that is soft as a pillowy cloud. I want a rich, custardy flavor from my French toast recipe. And if I taste even a hint of scrambled egg edge, get outta here.

Here’s how to achieve this phenomenon:

1. To avoid undercooked centers: cook on medium low. Yes, it takes longer. Yes, it’s worth it.
2. To avoid burned edges: use half oil and half butter when you fry
3. To achieve pillowy cloud like fluffy centers: use thick slices of bread
4. To achieve rich, custard flavor: use straight up cream, or half & half if you must
5. To avoid scramble-egg-edges: use only egg yolks (no whites)

Tips for making the perfect French Toast

How to caramelize the edges of your French Toast

You might never have eaten caramelized French toast. I’ve never seen it in a restaurant, nor had I tried it at home. But now I am NEVER going back. IT IS A GAME CHANGER!

I learned this method from my new friend Jade, who is French. I asked my Instagram followers if they had any tips for making amazing French toast, because I was several batches into testing and hadn’t found a recipe that was making this French toast-hater into a French toast-lover.

Jade messaged me and explained how her mother taught her to make French toast: use half oil and half butter so that the edges don’t burn (butter will burn and smoke much faster than oil, but we want some butter for the magical flavor.) And then here is the kicker: sprinkle sugar on the bread right before flipping, so that it gets a gorgeous, crackly sugar edge that shatters in your mouth when you bite into it:

You guys.

It’s like having the top shell of a Crème Brûlée, right there on the edge of your French toast. IT’S AMAZING. I’m sorry I’m yelling, but this method of caramelizing the edge that Jade told me about has officially turned me into a French toast lover. So if you ALREADY love French toast, imagine how much more you are going to love this! I will never go back. Thank you Jade’s mom!!

I also asked Jade what they call French toast in France. Here’s what she said:

She said the first time she was in England and heard someone call it “French Toast” she was very confused! (We also talked about how Americans love to add “French” to the title of their recipes to make them sounds fancy, like French Silk Pie. I sent her that recipe and she said, “Oh that looks delicious! But definitely not French, I’ve never seen that in France once in my life.”

Oh, ‘Merica. Fakin it til we make it. I guess we could call ourselves charlatans! (Which is definitely a French word, by the way. Just going full circle here.)

How do you make French Toast not soggy?

The secret to avoiding soggy French toast is to cook it low and slow. Your burner should not be set above medium low heat. Yes, it takes longer to cook, but it’s worth it to not have soggy, undercooked centers with burned edges.

How long should you soak French toast?

About 10 to 20 seconds, but this depends on how thick your slices of bread are. Before removing your bread from the egg mixture, touch it with your finger. It should be soft when you touch it, but still hold itself together. It should be soaked but not disintegrating.

You can place the soaked bread on a baking sheet or plate while you finish soaking all of them, and wait to fry all the bread after it has all been soaked.

Should I use oil or butter for French toast?

Use both. This is one of the secrets to frying French toast that is ultra flavorful, but doesn’t burn on the edges. Oil has a higher smoke point than butter. If you use all butter, it will have great flavor but you risk burning your toast. If you use only oil, it will crisp up beautifully but won’t taste as great. Solution? Use a combination of both. See recipe for more details.

Common mistakes when making French Toast

French toast: the best breakfast of all time when it’s done right…the saddest excuse for breakfast when it’s done WRONG. 

1. Undercooking the middle. No soggy centers!! The solution is cooking on medium low. It’s worth the extra time for a fluffier center. 
2. Burning the edges. Butter has amazing flavor, but it can also give you burned edges because of its low smoke point. Oil alone doesn’t have the flavor we’re going for, so I like using half butter, half oil. 
3. Using thin bread. You need the good stuff to get those pillowy middles. I love Brioche bread but thick cut french bread or even Texas toast are better options than your standard loaf of grocery store white. 
4. Using milk as your dairy. To achieve rich, custard flavor: use straight up cream (or half & half if you must).
5. Getting scrambled egg around the edges. I wanted French toast, not scrambled eggs!! The secret to avoiding these is to use only egg yolks, no whites. 

What to do with the leftover egg mixture from this Easy French Toast Recipe?

You can throw it straight in the garbage. I’m sorry, folks, “Waste not want not” is a great life mantra, but not when it comes to French toast batter. If you are insistent, here are your options:

• Add a bunch of eggs (like, at least 6), whisk it up and make scrambled eggs. But don’t come crying to me when you can taste the vanilla and cinnamon.
• Refrigerate up to 5 days and use it to make another batch of French toast
• Freeze it (up to 3 months) and use it later to make more French toast. Let thaw completely in the fridge.

You have to try this recipe for French Toast

So, there you have it. That’s how to make the French toast of your dreams, my friends. We are usually a pancakes and waffles family. I hardly ever made French toast because I just didn’t love it that much, much to Eric’s chagrin. But all that has changed now! I plan to buy or make challah bread on the regular now, so that I can have it tucked away in my freezer for when the French toast mood strikes. (Bread, when sealed properly, freezes beautifully. Just thaw it out in the sealed bag on the counter so that it can reabsorb moisture.)

If you are not already looking up a bakery near you, or recipes for challah bread, then tell me what else I need to say to convince you that you need to make this French toast recipe this weekend. Make this your life mission!!!