Fancy a simple yet elegant breakfast this weekend? Then look no further than this incredible Brioche French Toast recipe with buttery slices of thick-sliced brioche dipped in a sweet egg custard and fried to perfection. Unbelievably delicious!
Delicious french toast was a staple for breakfast growing up with a French mother and I'm excited to share with you this awesome french toast recipe with brioche. I've already shared my Earl Grey French Toast with blackberry jam, but this recipe takes us back to the classics.
Making French Toast with brioche bread elevates the recipe through flavour and texture. In itself, brioche is fluffier and more buttery than other types of bread, but when soaked in a silky smooth custard, it becomes tender and luxurious!
It's super simple to create, making it the perfect Mother's Day brunch, Christmas morning breakfast, or special breakfast to feed the family. My Lemon Crêpes, Orange Madeleines, and Classic Scones fit into this same category!
❓ What's French Toast?
Originating from France, French Toast was created to use up the leftover bread that had turned stale. In French, it's actually called Pain Perdu which translates literally as 'lost' bread'.
When dipped into a sweetened egg and milk mixture, it was found that this stale bread absorbed the custard without falling apart.
The soaked bread is then fried in butter gently so as to cook the mixture inside the bread and give the outside a beautiful caramelized, browned colour. The result is a family-orientated recipe that is simple and delicious.
What Bread is Best for Brioche French Toast?
My Grandmother would always make it with the baguette she would buy daily from the local market. Some days we wouldn't get through it all and by the next day, it had dried and become perfect to make French Toast with.
In this recipe today, I'm making this french toast recipe with brioche bread. Being an enriched bread made with eggs, milk, and butter, it's more flavourful, slightly sweet, and much fluffier than other types of bread.
Other good bread options are challah bread, sourdough bread, and white loaf. If they are soft when fresh, then it's best to leave them for a day or so to dry out. That way you'll avoid having soggy french toast.
🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Uses basic ingredients. This recipe for Brioche French Toast only uses 5 ingredients. What's not to love about such a short ingredient list?
- Makes the perfect family breakfast All you need is a large saucepan and you can fry a couple of pieces in one go. The full recipe can be made and cooked in 20 minutes or under!
- Simple to make. Three simple steps are all you need to make your perfect breakfast. Make the custard, soak the bread, pan-fry the bread- et voila, you are already finished!!
🧾 Ingredients Needed
Even though the ingredients list is mighty short, there are a few notes regarding the ingredients so that you can get the most out of them.
French Toast
- Brioche bread - Used for its lovely rich qualities. If you want to go the extra mile and make your own, I have a great guide on How to Make Brioche Bread. For ease, you can also use store-bought brioche bread. It's widely found in Trader Joe's and Costco but also in your local grocery store.
- Whole milk - Don't go with skim milk if you can help it - the fat content of whole milk adds to the richness. Some add double cream (heavy cream) to their custard mixture - I would do this if I were using white bread instead of brioche bread, but I think the brioche adds enough butter, and rich flavour.
- Eggs - Use large eggs and bring them to room temperature before using them.
- Vanilla Extract - Adds just a little amount of sweetness to the mixture. Alternatively, you could use honey or maple syrup.
Toppings (optional)
- Butter, maple syrup and fresh raspberries - Top the brioche with a knob of melted butter, lots of maple syrup and some fresh raspberries.
📖 Variations
Even though the recipe I've shared today is my favourite way to make brioche french toast, there are different variations to french toast recipes that jazz up the flavour. Here are my favourite breakfast ideas:
- Orange French Toast: Add the zest of an orange to the custard and sub ¼ cup milk with freshly squeezed orange juice. The sweet orange taste will permeate throughout.
- Chocolate Stuffed French Toast: Thinly slice the brioche loaf. Make a sandwich with Nutella spread in between two slices. Then soak and panfry as per the recipe. The Nutella will coz out all melty. Bliss!
- Almond-Crusted French Toast: Soak the french toast in the custard then coat in finely chopped almonds. Pan fry for a crunchy exterior.
- Tea-Infused French Toast: Take inspiration from my Earl Grey French Toast and infuse the milk with your favourite tea. The resulting flavour is subtle and refined.
- Cinnamon French Toast Casserole: the bread is torn into pieces and soaked in a cinnamon egg custard then baked with a crunchy topping. It's utterly delicious and I'll share the recipe next week.
👩🏻🍳 How to Make
Whilst the process of making this Brioche French Toast is incredibly easy, I'll take you through the process with images and instructions to help you create the best plate of French Toast ever!
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*
STEP 1. Make the custard. Add the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk well (Image 1). Add the sugar and vanilla extract and whisk in (Image 2). Then pour in the milk and whisk until incorporated (Images 3 & 4).
STEP 2. Soak the bread. Pour half the custard mixture into a large baking (casserole) dish (Image 5). If the dish is large enough, lay 3 or four slices of brioche bread into the baking dish and soak for 2 minutes. Flip the bread and soak for another 2 minutes (Image 6).
STEP 3. Fry the soaked brioche slices. Heat a large frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Add a knob of butter and melt (Image 7). Gently lay each of the soaked brioche slices into the frying pan (Image 8).
Fry for 3 or so minutes until golden brown on the underside (Images 9 & 10). Flip over and fry for a further 3 minutes until the second side is golden brown. Be careful not to burn the french toast- if you feel it is browning too quickly then reduce the heat.
TIP: Use a large baking dish, for example, a 9x13-inch pan, and a large frypan to make this recipe in two batches. It makes the process incredibly quick.
TIP: Place the Brioche French Toast on a baking tray and keep it in a warm oven until you finish frying the remaining slices.
Repeat soak and fry. Repeat the process with the remaining four pieces of brioche bread. Soak in egg mixture and then fry. Serve with the previously cooked slices.
🥣 How To Serve
Once cooked, this easy Brioche French Toast is best served warm. Add a knob of butter so it can slowly melt on the warm toasty bread and drizzle in lots of maple syrup. I love to serve them with a handful of fresh raspberries.
You could also serve the french toast with any type of fresh berries, sliced banana, whipped cream, a drizzle of golden syrup or warmed Nutella, or a dusting of powdered sugar. Scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, and sausages would also work.
💭 Recipe Pro Tips
- Use whole milk. The richness and extra fat content in whole milk add flavour.
- Keep the stove top temperature at medium heat. If you turn the heat up too high then the outside of the french toast will burn before the inside has cooked leaving you with a soggy centre.
- If making a double batch keep the french toast warm in the oven.
- Use day-old bread. Fresh bread will soak up the custard too much and can make the resulting french toast soggy. Avoid any sogginess by using day-old bread.
- Toast the bread if necessary. If you only have fresh bread then the best tip I can give you today is to lightly toast each slice before soaking in the custard. This dries it out and avoids sogginess.
📋 Recipe FAQs
The only difference is the type of bread used. Brioche French Toast uses only brioche bread to make the dish. Regular French Toast uses French baguette, challah, sourdough, or a white loaf.
There are two common reasons for soggy French Toast. Either the bread was too 'fresh' when soaking in the custard mixture. It's best to use old bread or lightly toast the slices to dry them out. Or the frypan was at too high a heat so the exterior of the French Toast cooks quicker than the middle which remains soggy and uncooked.
❄️ Storage and Freezer Instructions
To store: Place any leftover French Toast in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
To freeze: Cool the Brioche French Toast on a wire wrack. Once cooled, place a piece of parchment paper in between each slice and stack them up. Wrap the stack tightly in foil and place it in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to 2 months.
To thaw and reheat: Place brioche french toast in the refrigerator overnight and warm in the oven, or in the microwave heating on short 10-20 second bursts.
🥞 More Breakfast Recipes
If you tried this Brioche French Toast recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Brioche French Toast Recipe
Equipment
- Large Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 360 ml whole milk, room temperature
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 slices brioche bread
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
To serve, optional
- unsalted butter
- maple syrup
- fresh raspberries
Instructions
- Make the custard. Add the eggs into a medium-sized bowl and whisk well. Add in the sugar, vanilla extract and milk and whisk until well combined.
- Soak the brioche. Lay half of the brioche slices in a large baking pan. Pour half of the custard mixture over the bread slices and soak for 2 minutes before turning over and soaking for another two minutes.
- Fry the soaked slices. Heat a large fry pan on medium heat and add a tablespoon of butter. Once the butter has melted add in the soaked bread slices carefully and fry for 2 minutes or until the underside is golden brown. Add another tablespoon of butter if required and flip the brioche slices and fry for another 2 minutes until the second side is golden.Repeat this process with the remaining brioche slices until all are cooked. Wipe the frying pan clean with a paper towel before adding another tablespoon of butter before frying the second batch. Serve warm with butter, maple syrup, and fresh raspberries.
All recipes are developed and tested in Metric grams. I strongly recommend that you bake using digital scales for a more accurate result. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Virginia
Brioche bread is excellent for this recipe.
Around the holidays if you have left over Egg Nog, it is wonderful to soak the bread slices in the Egg Nog and then fry. Outstanding! This is a very good recipe.
Emma
Hi Virginia!! yes yes and yes- that rendition for thanksgiving sounds incredible. I love flavouring the custard to give the french toast a slight riff. Glad you loved the recipe 🙂