French toast is one of the most popular breakfast dishes in the United States behind pancakes, waffles, and scrambled eggs. Although it is usually just bread slices dipped into an egg mixture and fried in a pan, this is the best kind of toast there is. If you had the choice between regular toast and tender fluffy French toast, which one would you rather have?
To make the classic French toast recipe, all you need are three ingredients including eggs, milk, and bread. We all have these in our kitchen. You can add extra ingredients to make it your own like cinnamon sugar, vanilla extract, and butter. Or just make it the basic way and use toppings to make it sweet.
There are many easy recipes for the best french toast online, but they all call for eggs, milk or cream, and bread slices with toppings like maple syrup, powdered sugar, honey, and butter. It is so simple and if you cook it right, you end up with sweet bread with a crispy outside and soft, almost creamy inside. The trick is to make sure you use slightly stale bread. If all you have is fresh bread, toast it in the oven.
French toast, also known as poor knights, gypsy toast, Bombay toast, and eggy bread, can be found in the Apicius cookbook dating back to the first century. It was described as slices of bread soaked in milk and eggs, fried in oil, and covered with honey. So, we have kept this original recipe for thousands of years. And why not? It is a great recipe.
Ingredients Needed for the Best French Toast Recipe
French toast ingredients:
● Butter: For frying.
● Slices of bread: Any kind of white bread slices will do but it should be stale.
● Large eggs: Whisked.
● Whole milk: Or you can use heavy cream.
Topping for French toast:
● Powdered sugar: Or confectioners’ sugar.
● Maple syrup: Or fruit syrup like strawberry, blackberry, or blueberry.
● Honey
● Butter
● Ground cinnamon
● White granulated sugar
A Classic Recipe for French Toast
For an easy French toast recipe, first, you need to heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it is sizzling. Then, whisk together the eggs, milk, and a pinch of ground cinnamon in a shallow dish. Dip the bread slice into the French toast batter, letting it soak up the egg mixture.
After, let the excess egg drip off before putting it in the hot skillet. Turn the pan down to medium heat and cook for about two minutes on one side until it is golden brown. Then flip it and cook for another minute. Serve warm with whatever toppings you like.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best bread for French toast?
Many French toast recipes call for thick slices of fresh bread, like slices of brioche or French bread. But you can really use any kind of bread you like. Bread that is slightly stale is often used because it soaks up the egg mixture better. The classic French toast recipe calls for thick slices of bread with the crust removed and soaked in whole milk and eggs. You can cover it in maple syrup, powdered sugar, or use cinnamon sugar for a cinnamon French toast recipe.
Why is it called French toast?
Because it was first discovered in a Latin cookbook, why would it be called French toast? It was not invented by the French. In fact, in France, they call it “pain perdu” which means lost bread in reference to stale bread. Most people believe that it was created by a man named Joseph French who forgot to add the apostrophe when naming it French’s Toast. Others claim it is because the basic French toast recipe was made with French bread.
What is the nutrition information for the basic recipe for French toast?
How much each food serving contributes to your daily diet varies depending on the size of the serving and the toppings you use. But the basic French toast recipe serving of one slice with butter and syrup contains 320 calories, 18 grams fat, and 10 grams saturated fat as well as 213 mg cholesterol, 459 mg sodium, 60 carbs, and 32 grams sugar. But you also get 13 grams of protein, 302 mg of potassium, 219 mg of calcium, and 3 mg of iron.
Tips and French Toast Recipe Notes
● For extra sweet French toast, use granulated sugar along with powdered sugar and syrup.
● You could also top your French toast with whipped cream and chocolate chips for an extra decadent breakfast.
● If you really love this dish, use a slightly stale loaf of bread to make extra. Then, freeze French toast in a freezer-safe airtight container and store it for up to three months. Keep individual slices separated with parchment or wax paper so they do not stick. Now you can have delicious French toast any time you want. Just pop it in a frying pan and heat it up.
● Instead of frying your French toast, just put them on a baking sheet in a single layer and broil them in the oven. Just one minute on each side should get them golden brown and crispy. But keep a close eye on them so they do not burn.
● Make this a scrumptious breakfast of slices of French toast with a side of fresh fruit like sliced bananas, apples, or fresh berries.
● For a thicker batter, use heavy cream instead of whole milk or half and half.
● There are a few options of bread you can use including sandwich bread, brioche, french, sourdough, or brioche bread.
● Use skim milk if you are worried about fat and calories.
● For extra flavor, add vanilla extract to your egg mixture.
