How do you level up French toast?

A pinch of cinnamon and some vanilla extract are standard upgrades —and a little sugar never hurts either. (Consider this when choosing a sweetener: Powdered sugar will dissolve well, leaving you with a smooth custard, while brown sugar will create a lovely caramel flavor as it cooks.)

Why is restaurant French toast so good?

According to the chef, the difference comes down to two main elements: the use of high-quality yeasty bread and allowing it time to properly soak .

Should French toast have more eggs or milk?

As a general rule, you want one egg for every one to two slices of bread, and a generous splash of milk (about ¼ cup) per egg. You can use any kind of milk (skim, whole milk, etc.

How to jazz up French toast?

The standard approach can be gussied up even further beyond the requisite maple syrup and/or powdered sugar. I'm especially partial to some sort of caramelized or brûléed banana or peaches with brown sugar which is then poured over the French toast, but some rehydrated dried fruit is also a wonderful inclusion.

What kind of bread do restaurants use for French toast?

For a solid French toast, aim for sturdy bread with a uniform texture and a soft crust. Hearty sandwich bread, brioche, challah, and shokupan (Japanese milk bread) are all great choices.

Should you pre toast French toast?

Use stale bread or toast the bread until it's golden-brown . It needs to be sturdy to hold up to the egg mixture. If the bread is fresh from the bag or you toast it too lightly, the finished dish will be soggy. Soak the toasted or untoasted bread for about 10 seconds per side to achieve the optimal texture.

What does good French toast taste like?

What does French Toast taste like? It's sort of like Bread and Butter pudding . Custardy on the inside with buttery crispy golden edges, it's even great to eat plain but, like pancakes, ideal for smothering in maple syrup!

Should I cook French toast in butter or oil?

As you cook the French toast, bits of that nutty brown-butter flavor slowly develop — much slower than they would if you cooked with just butter alone — so the the French toast has time to cook evenly without burning. A neutral oil, like canola, is the way to go since it won't disrupt the flavor of the butter.

How To Make French Toast Even Better than the Diner (2024)

Recipes
Breakfast
French Toast

Tami Weiser

Tami is a writer, recipe developer, culinary educator, and caterer. She is a graduate of the Professional Culinary Arts program at the Institute for Culinary Education (ICE) in New York.

updated May 1, 2019

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How To Make French Toast Even Better than the Diner (1)

Serves4Makes8 slices

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How To Make French Toast Even Better than the Diner (2)

Start with some bread, a few eggs, and butter and voila! You’ve got French toast. Right? Well, maybe not so fast. French toast has few ingredients, and it’s a quick-cooking recipe for sure, so it seems like it should be pretty straightforward. But for a dish so common, it’s not that hard to make poorly. There’s the burnt-outsides-and-raw-insides problem, that unpleasant-center-layer-of-un-eggy-bread issue, and the over-soaking-until-the-bread-falls-apart conundrum.

The real trick to making classic French toast is to pay close attention while you soak and cook. We’re going to show you how to do it well so you always have the French toast you deserve.

Dry Bread Is Your Friend

The original point of French toast or pain perdu was to use up leftover bread. It was, in essence, no longer “lost bread,” but found in its new purpose. The bread should be dried out, without any doubt. Dry bread helps the eggs soak in without the entire piece collapsing. Old? Sure, the bread can be a few days old. But in old bread, watch out for mold and the excessive hardening of crusts, which often happens in just a few days with fresh breads. Drying is the key, no matter its age.

Oven-drying of cut slices — super-lightly toasting it — works best of all, but in a pinch, you could also cut the bread the night before and let it sit on a cooling rack until morning, or simply lightly toast in the toaster. The key is to dry the outside while leaving the inside moist.

Pick Your Bread Thoughtfully

To make classic French toast, you need bread without a hard crust. Look for a brioche, challah, or pullman loaf. The conventional wisdom of using one-day-old bread is best, but once you get the hang of what the bread looks like when it’s soaked just right, you can be flexible, as long as it’s not brick-like and stale through the center.

Read more: The Best Breads for French Toast and Bread Puddings

Eggy Versus Milky Batter

This issue is a matter of taste rather than function. Some folks prefer a milkier, custard-like soaking liquid for the bread, which results in a creamier French toast. Some like an eggier soak, which leaves French toast firmer and somewhat richer. What that comes down to is the ratio of eggs to milk or cream. This recipe is in the eggy camp. If you fall into the camp of milky-lovers, use only four eggs and add half a cup of whole milk to this mixture.

From there we’re building in flavor through classic French toast flavors. Vanilla and cinnamon lend flavor and fragrance, but there’s no sugar in the batter. We’re leaving it out here to avoid burning — it will quickly take your golden toast to blackened in a matter or minutes — and to make room for that generous pour of maple syrup.

Butter and Oil and a Medium-Low Flame

Beautifully cooked French toast has this deep-brown lacy appearance on its exterior. That’s a sign it’s been properly cooked and there are a few things that will help you achieve that.

Use a mix of butter and oil: Oil and butter have long been used together to regulate the smoke point of butter. And while the mechanism behind this occurrence might have more to do with diluting the flavor of darkened butter rather than its actual smoke point, it’s a combination that serves us well when cooking French toast. The oil helps to slow down the browning of the butter, but doesn’t stop it all together. As you cook the French toast, bits of that nutty brown-butter flavor slowly develop — much slower than they would if you cooked with just butter alone — so the the French toast has time to cook evenly without burning. A neutral oil, like canola, is the way to go since it won’t disrupt the flavor of the butter.
Opt for medium-low heat: Medium-low heat is the way to go with French toast; it won’t cause it to burn, but it’s aggressive enough for pan-frying. Add the butter and oil mixture to the pan and let it heat through before adding the French toast. Upon adding, it should immediately sizzle and bubble. Use the spatula often and lift up the French toast to check it as it cooks. Reduce the heat if it’s getting too dark. When in doubt, reduce the heat. If you choose not to keep the French toast warm in the oven, you can place it on a rimmed baking sheet or platter and cover lightly with foil. Just know that if you want to keep the outside crisp, the oven — or serving immediately to half the guests — is really the way to go.

Knowing When French Toast Is Done

Some people like a wetter center; some like it cooked through. This is all about what you like. Regardless of your preference, looking at (and especially touching) the French toast before you take it out of the pan can ensure that you cook it as you like it every time.