Homemade French Toast! I recall when I searched for French toast newr me. I didn't know it was easy to make it from scratch and in the comforts of my home. Now I have made several French fried bread recipes with a variety of breads, with and without dairy. I even have healthy adaptations for you to try. Let me show you exactly how to make this classic all time breakfast favorite that Brits love to call eggy bread or gypsy toast!
Homemade French Toast
Like I said I didn’t know French toast was this easy to make. Buying frozen French toast sticks from was the norm in my Aunt’s house. That was one of the breakfast options my little cousin liked.
I was never curious as to how it was made until I had my own kids and the request for this eggy bread doused with maple syrup and topped with berries started flowing in.
What is French Toast and why is it called this?
French toast also called Egg bread or Gypsy toast is an easy breakfast of bread soaked in sweetened, spiced egg with milk, and then pan fried in butter for a delicious breakfast drizzled with maple syrup and dusted with powdered sugar. Are you hungry yet.
In France, French toast is called Pain Perdue. The name was said to have been an error by the creator Joseph French in the late 1700s. He intended to call it French’s toast but omitted the apostrophe and ‘S’
Ingredients needed
- Nice thick slices of bread
- Eggs
- Ground Cinnamon
- Milk
- Sugar
- Salt
- Butter
- Vanilla extract
How to make Homemade French Toast from Scratch
This is a overview of the recipe with step by step pictures. Printable recipe can be found at the bottom of this page.
Pic 1-3; Mix batter ingredients together with a with a standard whisk or an egg whisk. Then soak the bread slices in the egg batter.
Pic 4-6; Grease pan with butter and pan fry the soaked bread about 2 mins on each side. Serve
How do you know when French toast is done.
French toast is done when both sides are golden brown and toasted. It shouldn’t be soggy in the middle. If it’s soggy then it’s not fully cooked and that’s what makes some eggy bread aka gypsy toast taste eggy.
It takes about 1-2 mins on each side to achieve a well cooked French toast. It also depends on how long the bread is soaked in the batter/custard.
Substitutions to make a Healthy French toast.
Based on your health needs, The type of bread used may help reduce calories, carbs or increase fibre.
- Swapping out the white bread for whole wheat bread, Oat bread or multi grain bread will increase fibre.
- Swapping out the sugar with sugar free sweeteners like monkfruit-allulose blend, honey or sugar free vanilla syrup will reduce sugar and make it sugar free.
- If you are on a low carb diet, this low carb bread will do the trick better still make this Keto French toast with any of the low carb breads mentioned in the post. If you would rather buy than make yours, this is a good low carb bread.
- Swap out your toppings with sugar free options like sugar free maple syrup, sugar free cinnamon sugar or sugar free powdered sugar. Sugar free Nutella.
Make ahead instructions and how to store!
French toast can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator or Freezer. It can be stored overnight in the fridge or longer in the freezer. If you intend to make French toast as a meal planning option, you can freeze it which is great because it freezes well. Here is his to do it.
Let it cool on a cooling rack. Place parchment paper or wax paper cut into squares in between each toast, then stack in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. If using within 3 days leave in the refrigerator.
How to reheat French Toast
- Oven method: (best for reheating for a crowd) Preheat oven to 375F . Place frozen toast on a cookie sheet in a single layer, cover with foil to prevent drying out, then bake for about 8 minutes or until it’s warmed through.
- Microwave method: cover toast with damp paper towel to prevent it from drying out. Reheat at 15 secs intervals until warmed through.
- Toaster method: Put the toast in the toaster and toast. Keep checking till warmed through.
Favorite Gypsy Toast Toppings with healthier alternatives.
- Maple syrup or substitute with sugar free maple syrup
- Powdered sugar or substitute with sugar free powdered sweetener
- Fruits like strawberries, blueberries etc
- Cinnamon sugar or substitute with sugar free keto cinnamon sugar
- Nutella for people like my kids who love Nutella on almost anything. Weird I know lol. You can with sugar free Nutella
Other yummy breakfast recipe ideas to try.
- Oatmeal: Oatmeal is one of my fav breakfast recipes, you can never go wrong with it. I have a variety of oatmeal recipes for you to try.
- Cinnamon rolls: Another fav! Make it with yeast or make these no yeast cinnamon rolls if you are pressed for time. Whichever you choose it is amazing.
- Nigerian Akara: A favorite Saturday or Sunday morning breakfast in Nigeria. I grew up eating this comforting breakfast and I love it.
- Bacon Pancakes: Sweet and salty never tasted so good in any recipe than it does in this delightful breakfast that mimicks McDonald’s bacon egg and cheese McGriddles.
- Buttermilk Pancakes: Nothing beats a classic homemade buttermilk pancake. IHOP’s got nothing on you except maybe this kids delight aka cereal pancakes!
- Banana oatmeal muffin: Bananas and oatmeal? Yes please! Seriously you need to try this.
Frequently Asked Questions
This would depend on the type of bread being used. If it's fresh or a day old bread you dont need to soak the bread in the batter, you only need to dip and flip. If the bread is older than 2 days and is beginning to harden, it may need to absorb moisture from th ebatter a little longer. 30 secs on each side should do the trick.dont like to soak my bread for too long especially
You can store for up to 24 hrs in a functional refrigerator but I don't think it's necessary to do that and i wouldn't recommend it.
The calories in this recipe depends on the ingredients used, number of servings, and toppimgs used. This recipe has 4 servings and 250 calories without the toppings
To make french toast sticks, cut each bread into 3 before dipping and pan frying.
Did you enjoy this recipe or found it helpful, please leave me a comment and share the link to this recipe with family and friends and in your favorite facebook group.
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Homemade French Toast.
Ingredients
- 4 Large eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- 5 tsps sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoon butter.
- Pinch of salt
- 8 to 10 slices of bread. See notes.
Toppings
- Some more butter
- Maple syrup
- Powdered sugar and some berries.
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, cinnamon pinch of salt and vanilla extract till well combined.Melt a tablespoon of butter over medium heat in a griddle or skillet then dip bread into egg batter flip to dip the second side.
- Pan fry the dipped bread in the skillet till fully cooked and golden brown. Flip to to cook the other side.
- Serve immediately with or store for later. See notes below
Notes
- The nutritional info doesn't include the various toppings.
- The batter can be used for 8 to 10 slices of bread. If you use 10 slices of bread you would have 5 servings which will have 200 calories.
So… what do you think?