How to Make the Best French Toast

Who would have ever guessed that the question of How to make French Toastwould be such a thing? It’s a question I received a lot from my children when they were growing up – the first time being when one of them came home from a sleepover. The friend’s family had served it for breakfast and my son was confused. He said there were big chunks of eggs on the toast and that it didn’t taste right, or at least how he was used to it tasting at home. Sometimes, the most basic recipes, even though quite simple, might not be done in a delicious way. For my children, I wanted to make sure they knew how to get it right and to make it the best and most delicious it could be. For your enjoyment, I’m sharing my basic version:

and my fancy version as well:

Basic French Toast Recipe:

• French bread loaf
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk (2% preferred)
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Salted butter for frying

Slice a loaf of French bread into 1/2″ thick slices and set aside. Whisk eggs until they’re completely blended. Whisk in milk. Whisk in sugar. Whisk in vanilla. Last of all, whisk in cinnamon until completely combined and pour the mixture into a shallow bowl.

Add a dab of butter to a frying pan and heat at medium until butter just begins to bubble and turn lightly brown. Quickly dip both sides of a slice of the French bread and place into the hot pan. Continue with as many slices as will fit into the pan and cook each side until toasted golden brown. Stir liquid mixture each time before you dip a new batch of bread.

Serve stacks of warm French toast with maple syrup and a dab of butter on top, if you’d like. To add a special touch, dust with powdered sugar before serving.

For my fancy and almost dessert-like version, layer stacks of warm French toast with softened mascarpone cheese, raspberry jam, fresh raspberries and a dusting of powdered sugar. Trust me, this is heavenly.

Notes:

• I prefer using 2% milk for French Toast. It’s not too rich but not watery either.
• Whenever possible when I’m working with a recipe that I will need to pour into another dish, I like to do all the mixing in a large measuring cup with a spout. This Pyrex version is my favorite.
• It’s really important to completely whisk the eggs until smooth. If you don’t do this, you will have chunks of fried eggs on your toast and that is not ideal.
• When you add the cinnamon, you may think it looks like too much. Don’t worry, one teaspoon is the perfect amount that you need for the best flavor. Whisk in well until it’s completely combined and add into the shallow bowl for dipping the bread:
• Don’t let the bread linger in the liquid mixture. Quickly dip each side so the bread is moistened but not soaked. Use a fork to help lift the bread out of the liquid mixture.
• I have two favorite pans for cooking French Toast: My All-Clad frying pan and my classic cast iron frying pan. Both work really well:
• For dusting food with powdered sugar, I use this great little sugar shaker. It’s one of my favorite kitchen tools and adds such a sweet and pretty touch to everything from french toast to cakes, cookies, gingerbread houses, etc.
• Mascarpone is an Italian version of cream cheese. I like to very slightlywarm it in the microwave to make it easily spreadable.
• Because I get so many inquiries about the products I use, I’ve partnered with Amazon to link to the products I use. You can find my Amazon page here.

Questions? Please post them in the comments section below.