Easy French Toast Recipe

This easy French toast recipe takes less than 15 minutes to make! My version uses the perfect custard ratio for crisp and tender (not soggy!) results. Recipe includes a how-to video!

Why You Need This French Toast Recipe

• Perfect custard ratio: While eyeballing ingredients can work for French toast (and sometimes lemonade or mac and cheese), truly great French toast needs just the right ratio of milk/cream to eggs.
• No soggy/eggy results! If you’ve ever struggled with soggy or eggy results in the past, this foolproof recipe is for you! It comes out with crisp edges and tender centers, every time.
• Quick and easy: Less than 15 minutes to make! We love fast breakfasts around here.
• Breakfast staple (and the inspiration for my French toast casserole!) that everyone should know how to make.

I know, I know. You probably think you don’t need a French toast recipe, and hey, you might be right! However, if you’ve ever made a batch that was too eggy, too soggy, or even too bland, consider giving my recipe a try.

I went through lots of testing to come up with the best (but still easy and fast!) French toast recipe out there–no eggy, soggy, dry, or flavorless results here! You’re definitely going to want to save this one 😉

What You Need

In addition to a few slices of quality bread, you need only a handful of basic ingredients to make this recipe:

• Milk & cream. I prefer to use a blend of milk and heavy cream for my custard mixture; however, if you don’t have heavy cream in your fridge, simply use all milk instead. The custard around the bread will simply be a bit thinner/less rich.
• Eggs. A critical component! You’ll need three large eggs here. Preferably, you should be using room temperature eggs for the easiest mixing, but this recipe will still work with straight-from-the-fridge ingredients.
• Sugar. We’ll use just a small amount of sugar in our custard mixture to add sweetness and encourage the bread to caramelize. Many recipes skip this ingredient, but I’m a firm believer in adding it!
• Vanilla and cinnamon. Strictly technically speaking, these are optional, but French toast without vanilla and cinnamon just isn’t nearly as good! A splash of almond extract or a pinch of nutmeg would also work here, if you have a more adventurous palate.

SAM’S TIP: Want to keep your French toast warm while you prepare the rest? Arrange the pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet, then place in an oven set to its lowest setting. Or, if your oven has a “keep warm” setting, just use that!

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make French Toast

1. Make the custard – Whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a shallow dish (a 9×9 pan works well for this). Set this mixture aside while you prepare your pan.
2. Prepare your pan – Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray, or add ½ tablespoon of butter. Place over medium high heat.

SAM’S TIP: Whisk your custard thoroughly to make sure the eggs are well incorporated into the rest of the mixture. If your mixture is not well combined, you could end up with toasted bread surrounded by bits of fried egg…not what we’re looking for here!

3. Soak the bread – Whisk the egg mixture one more time, then dip your bread in, coating both sides. I like to let my bread soak for just a few seconds per side, if you submerge it completely the bread could become too soggy and fall apart.
4. Cook – Place the bread in your preheated pan and cook until golden brown, then flip and cook on the other side until golden brown. Repeat with the remaining bread slices, making sure to whisk the custard before dipping (you want to make sure the ingredients are well-distributed, sometimes they settle while they sit) and adding cooking spray or butter to the pan between each slice.

SAM’S TIP: Let your pan warm over medium-high heat for at least several minutes before adding your soaked bread. If the heat is too low or the pan too cool when you add the bread, your toast will take too long to cook and can dry out. Don’t turn the heat up too high though, or you will burn the outside of your toast and be left with a soggy center. It should take at least a minute or two per side to cook properly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Don’t forget your toppings! My go-to choices are butter and maple syrup, but macerated strawberries, powdered sugar, and whipped cream are other great options!

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

French Toast Recipe

This easy French toast recipe takes less than 15 minutes to make! My version uses the perfect custard ratio for crisp and tender (not soggy!) results.

Recipe includes a how-to video!

5 from 20 votes

Print Pin Rate

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 slices

Calories: 161kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

• ▢ 6 slices bread¹
• ▢ ¼ cup (60 ml) milk
• ▢ ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream²
• ▢ 3 large eggs
• ▢ 1 ½ Tablespoons sugar
• ▢ ¾ teaspoons vanilla
• ▢ ¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ▢ Cooking spray or butter for greasing pan

Instructions

• In a shallow dish, whisk together milk, heavy cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, ground cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
  ¼ cup (60 ml) milk, ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream², 3 large eggs, 1 ½ Tablespoons sugar, ¾ teaspoons vanilla, ¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon salt
• Place a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray or melt ½ Tablespoon of butter.
  Cooking spray or butter
• Once pan is heated, whisk your egg mixture once more then soak one slice of bread on both sides. Immediately transfer bread to preheated skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides.
  6 slices bread¹
• Repeat with remaining bread/egg mixture, spraying pan or melting additional butter before adding each new slice.
• Serve warm, topped with butter and maple syrup! 

Notes

¹Regular sandwich bread will work but I recommend using a thicker sliced bread like sliced brioche if you can get your hands on it.

²While I recommend using heavy cream for best taste, you can substitute the cream for milk if you do not have cream on hand.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 161kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 233mg | Potassium: 104mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 282IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

Recipe originally published February 2019, updated with new notes and photos September 2023. Recipe remains the same, it’s just as delicious as ever!

Related Recipes