This Sourdough French Toast recipe is a delicious breakfast or brunch, with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla and cooked to golden perfection. Plus, it's a great way to use up leftover stale sourdough bread!
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Ingredients
- Stale sourdough bread: using stale bread is key for french toast as it allows the toast to soak up the egg custard mixture without completely falling apart!
- Eggs: these make up the base of the custard mixture. Using large eggs is best.
- Whole milk & heavy cream: I prefer a combination of these two for my french toast as it makes them creamy but not too heavy.
- Cinnamon: my go-to spice for french toast. I've been adding it in since I was a kid!
- Vanilla extract: my other go-to!
- Granulated sugar: enhances the sweetness just a little bit.
- Unsalted butter: frying the french toast in butter gives it a great crust and delicious flavor.
Ingredient substitutions
There are a few ingredients in this recipe that you can sub/change around and still get a great result!
- Sourdough bread: I prefer to use white sourdough bread but you could just as easily use whole wheat.
- Whole milk/heavy cream: you could definitely use all whole milk and omit the heavy cream.
- Granulated sugar: you could omit this all together or use a different sweetener such as a bit of honey or maple syrup.
Instructions
Sourdough french toast is easy peasy once you get the hang of it - in just a few quick steps you'll be able to devour!
- Make the custard mixture. In a bowl or flat-bottomed dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, cinnamon, salt, sugar, and vanilla extract (if you used a bowl to whisk, transfer to a flat-bottomed dish for soaking the bread).
- Prep for cooking. Heat your skillet on medium-low heat and add 1 tbsp unsalted butter.
- Soak your bread. While the skillet preheats, lay 1-2 slices of bread – depending on how many fit – into your custard mixture and soak for 1 minute on each side.
- Cook the french toast. Carefully take the bread out of the custard mixture and allow any excess liquid to drip off. Then place the bread into the heated skillet and cook on medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
- Repeat. Repeat the soak & cook steps for each slice of bread.
Why sourdough bread is good for french toast
Sourdough bread is good, period. But it's great for french toast for a few reasons – it's on the sturdier side of breads so can hold up to being soaked in the custard mixture, and it's on the "better for you" side of breads because of its lower gluten content and prebiotic nature. More on the good about sourdough bread here.
Tips and tricks
- Stale bread: Use bread that's 2-3 days old
- Thick slices: Slice your bread into 1 inch thick pieces
- Soak your bread enough: Let the bread really soak in the custard mixture for 1 minute
- Butter for frying: Fry in butter for added texture and flavor
- Use a heavy pan: To help with the golden brown crust, use a heavy-bottomed pan to cook, enamel cast iron is great
- Cook low and slow: Cooking the french toast on medium-low heat is best so the inside has a chance to cook while the outside gets nice and golden
- Keep them warm: While you're cooking all the pieces, keep the pieces you've already cooked warm in a 200℉ oven on an oven-safe cooling rack placed over a baking sheet
Serving suggestions
There are SO many things you could serve with french toast so it really is dealers choice, but these are some of my favorite options:
- Berries
- Sliced bananas
- Powdered sugar
- Maple syrup
- Whipped cream
- Yogurt (plain or greek yogurt)
- Nutella
- Jam
- Butter
- Peanut butter
- Crispy bacon
FAQs
Make sure you follow the directions above! Soak each slice for 1 minute on each side in the custard (2 minutes total per slice), and cook on medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes per side.
Sure can! Whole wheat sourdough bread is delicious.
Using stale sourdough definitely produces the best results, but if you're in a pinch you could use fresh - just soak it in the custard for a shorter period of time (30 seconds - 1 minute) and then follow the same steps. The bread will be more likely to break, but should be fine if you're careful.
In the fridge - let the french toast come to room temp and store in an air tight container for 1-2 days.
In the freezer - let the french toast come to room temp, place parchment paper between each slice, wrap in aluminum foil, and place in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months.
From the fridge - microwave for a few minutes or oven at 200℉ for about 10 minutes.
From the freezer - microwave for about 3-4 minutes or 200℉ for about 15-20 minutes.
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Recipe
Sourdough French Toast
INGREDIENTS
- 8 slices sourdough bread
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a bowl or flat-bottomed dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, cinnamon, vanilla extract, sugar, and salt (if you used a bowl to whisk, transfer to a flat-bottomed dish for soaking the bread).
- Heat your skillet on medium-low heat and add 1 tbsp unsalted butter.
- While the skillet preheats, lay 1-2 slices of bread – depending on how many fit – into your custard mixture and soak for 1 minute on each side.
- Carefully take the bread out of the custard mixture and allow any excess liquid to drip off. Then place the bread into the heated skillet and cook on medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
- Repeat the soak & cook steps for each slice of bread.
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