This Easy French Toast Recipe is prepped and ready to enjoy in under 15 minutes! Wonderfully flavored with warm notes of cinnamon and vanilla, save this simple recipe to make again and again. Today’s recipe is short and sweet, but I’ve included a step-by-step video at the bottom of the post to walk you through all my best tips for perfect French Toast!
Well, earlier this week we covered French pastry (in the form of cream puffs) and today we’re covering a very different (/not actually French) dish: French Toast! I think you’ll find that today’s cinnamon French Toast recipe is significantly less involved than our last recipe, but every bit as delicious.
I’ve been making French Toast for years, but I never had an actual recipe for it. A healthy pour of milk (and cream, if I had it), an egg or two, a sprinkle of sugar, a smaller sprinkle of cinnamon, a splash of vanilla… whisk it all together, dip your bread and go.
It wasn’t until Zach told me that he didn’t know how to make French toast that it even occurred to me that someone might like an actual recipe for this favorite breakfast food. If eyeballing the measurements is more your thing and that’s working for you, that’s great! But for those of you who might have struggled with soggy or eggy French toast in the past, this recipe is for you. More than anything, making good French toast is simply a matter of getting your custard ratios right. The right amount of milk to eggs to spices etc.
French Toast is a breakfast staple and served as the inspiration for my French Toast Casserole. File this one away with other breakfast favorites, including my Cinnamon Rolls and Buttermilk Pancakes. Today’s recipe is easy, so let’s get started.
What Kind of Bread is Best for French Toast?
While any sandwich bread will work for making French Toast, I really recommend using a quality bread, if you can get your hands on it. Sliced brioche or challah or Sara Lee Artesano (what I used in my video) are all great choices. Ideally, you should use a bread that’s thicker than your standard sandwich slices.
Oh, and good news if you happen to have stale bread on hand, French toast is a great way to use up stale bread!
What Ingredients Do I Need to Make French Toast?
In addition to a few slices of quality bread, you need only a handful of basic ingredients to make French Toast batter:
- Milk
- Heavy Cream (though you can sub milk for this)
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Vanilla (optional, but French toast without vanilla just isn’t nearly as good!)
- Cinnamon
- And a pinch of salt
Don’t forget your toppings! Butter and maple syrup are my go-to choices, but fruit, powdered sugar, and fresh whipped cream are other great options!
Tips for Making French Toast
- Whisk your custard thoroughly and 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.
- I love using a blend of milk and heavy cream for my egg custard mixture. However, if you don’t have heavy cream in your fridge, simply swap the cream in the recipe out for more milk and it this recipe will still work just fine.
- Give your custard mixture another quick whisk each time before you dip your bread to make sure all the custard ingredients are well incorporated and your bread will get a nice even coating.
- 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 French toast will take too long to cook and can even dry out. Don’t turn the heat up too high, though, or you will burn the outside of your French toast and be left with a soggy center. It should take at least a minute or two per side to properly cook your French toast.
Enjoy!
More Breakfast Favorites:
French Toast Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 slices bread¹
- 1/4 cup milk (60ml)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream² (60ml)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoons vanilla
- 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/8 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.
- Place a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray or melt ½ Tablespoon of 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.
- 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
Nutrition
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jamie says
OMG! Guess what?! We made your bread loaf yesterday (about to go leave a comment there, too) and then this morning, we sliced some thick slices and made your french toast! We made FROM SCRATCH french toast! We felt so fancy!!! This recipe is great. We basically split it in thirds, using just one egg, 2 tbsp + 2 tsp of half & half, eyeballed the vanilla (probably added too much, whoops, yum!) and a pinch of salt and went a little heavy on the sugar, using 2 tsp (1/3 would have been only 1.5 tsp). Also I LOVE cinnamon, so I eyeballed it and put probably a half teaspoon. We used just two pieces of bread, REALLY thick, and we drenched them, kept using the egg mixture until ALL of it was soaked into the toast. Then we cooked on low heat in unsalted butter, which we only now stock for your recipes, lol, but it was perfect for this! This was the best french toast we’ve ever had. Until I used your recipe, I was (a) never adding sugar to the egg mixture and (b) using WAY too little half & half (in the past I’d used the amount I would add for scrambled eggs). I am so glad we stumbled across your french toast recipe! I think the sugar helped make it a little crunchy on the outside, and as you know, your bread recipe makes really soft bread, so it was really lovely, the slight crunch on the outside, and the extra soft insides. We barely used any syrup at all, and most bites I ate as-is, with no syrup. YUMMMM.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Jamie! Completely from scratch scratch french toast sounds INCREDIBLE! Reading your comment made me hungry. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Amy says
Hi, I am Amy and I love your french toast recipe. As I was making the recipe I saw that I did not have Vanilla Extract. Will it taste the same without?
Sam says
Hi Amy! The french toast will still turn out, but it definitely won’t have as much flavor. 🙂
SCV says
This is the way my family has always made it but we like to add a pinch of nutmeg.
On special occasions, Mom and Grandma would add a 1/4 of cup flour and a pinch of baking powder. that made them a little bit airy or fluffy but it sure is worth a try.
If you try it please let me know how you like it Sam I really like to know. Some of my family friends do and some don’t. 🙂
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much for sharing, SCV! I will have to try it the next time I make it. 🙂
Paige Vavra says
I’ve made French toast for many years with a recipe of my grandmother’s. I loved it, but this recipe including the heavy cream does something great to the recipe and my family and I absolutely love it! Thanks for posting!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed the french toast, Paige! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Dallas Bathtub Services says
At 47 years old I made French toast for the first time ever in my life today, thanks to you! I honestly never thought about how to make it. I only had French toast when I went out for breakfast. Followed your recipe and used the Texas cut bread (for a thicker slice) ….. GREAT!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so happy that you enjoyed the french toast! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Debbie says
Hi Sam,
I am going to have a French toast breakfast for my family this sat morning. I have been reading over some of the different ideas to cook the French toast.
My recipe is exactly like yours except for the heavy cream and I use brown sugar. This sat I have dicided to to omit the milk and use heavy cream,I think I will stick to the light brown sugar. And I have always cut bananas up laying beautifully on the side in syrup. I always make sausage patties to go with the toast.
Thanks for the heavy cream tip.
Sam says
You are very welcome, I hope the French toast is a success! Thank you for commenting, Debbie!
Glenn says
I have always dissolved the cinnamon in the vanilla extract first, then added in the egg and milk. This step allows for the cinnamon to fully incorporate into the custard, and not “clump” up.
This was shown to me many years ago while working for Hyatt hotels.
Hope this helps.
Rodg says
This has been the best recipe i have ever found. I used brioche bread to make this French toast and it tasted amazing. I’m going to bookmark this page for future reference. I can’t wait to make more.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoy the french toast so much! 🙂
CJ Shumate says
Good recipe but medium-high temp seems way too high. The butter starts to darken and toast gets black. I blackened a couple pieces then cooled the pan to medium-low and it came out nice and golden.
Sam says
Sounds like your stove may run a little hotter than mine. I’m glad you were able to figure it out and enjoy the french toast. 🙂
Dorendia Russell says
Delicious
Sam says
Thank you so much! 🙂
Dana says
This recipe for French toast was delicious! We added our own favorite ingredient by spreading apple butter between two slices of bread, then dipping it into the egg mixture. Pairing this with real NY maple syrup sent to us recently by a cousin was the mouthwatering result!!
It’s a keeper!!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed the french toast, Dana! 🙂
Kimberly Weddle says
This is some of the best french toast that I have had in ages!!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Kimberly! 🙂
Rochelle Artuz says
I tried your recipe and this is the best french toast i ever made… thanks for sending me your recipe… also i tried ur pancake.. its great too…
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Rochelle! 🙂
Angela W.H. says
This recipe turned out great! Didn’t have cream handy so I used Hazelnut flavored liquid coffee creamer, and they tasted great with the fresh glazed banana slices on top!! Thanks for sharing the recipe. LOVE your website!!!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed the french toast Angela! 🙂
Milly says
What does sub milk mean ?
Sam says
Hi Milly! You can substitute milk for the heavy cream if you do not have heavy cream. 🙂
Marvan61 says
I also use flavored coffee creamer, it adds that special taste.
Larry Akins says
Boy!! I really enjoy these French Toast my said they are a keeper
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoys it, Larry! 🙂
Mandy says
Great ,love the recipe my daughter loves French toast.
Sam says
I’m so glad to hear it, Mandy! 🙂