I’ve seen lots of French toast recipes. Even a few that claim to be the best. But most of them are all about the ingredients you dip the bread in. How about the bread?
I promise, changing the bread makes much more of a difference than adding another teaspoon of vanilla.
Ingredients
1 loaf Irish soda bread
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 heaping tablespoon raw sugar
1/3 cup milk
butter for frying
Directions
Combine all the ingredients (except the bread, of course) in a large bowl.
Beat well, but don’t worry too much if it separates a little bit. You’re going to have to keep stirring it as you work.
Slice the soda bread — and if you haven’t seen it before, go follow that link … raisins, crispy raw sugar topping, yum — thicker than sandwich bread. If your loaf is more than about six inches wide, cut your slices in half so the pieces are no more than four or five inches long. Otherwise they’ll break when you try to flip them over.
Melt several tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a non-stick or cast iron pan.
When the butter is starting to bubble, dip the bread one piece at a time in the batter. Let it soak for a count of ten, and flip it over.
Place several pieces in the pan. Leave enough space that they don’t stick together when the egg cooks.
Flip them over when the first side is browned, about two minutes.
Go for another two minutes on the other side.
Dust with powdered sugar, and top with real maple syrup.
And that’s it.
14 Comments
I have the hardest time making french toast because I don’t know how to cook it so it’s cooked but not burnt. Any tips for making sure it’s not soggy, but not too crisp either?
It’s hard to say for sure, but trying a firmer bread would probably help. If you’re using something like Wonder bread, it’s so soft already that it will get soggy really easy, then you’re trying to “fix” it. With a firmer bread, it doesn’t get soggy to begin with.
If I may offer a tip?
I always had trouble with the cinnamon rising to the top of the dunking liquid when making french toast. Then the first few slices would be totally covered, and the rest would be sad and lacking adequate cinnamon.
I mix the cinnamon with a bit of syrup before adding the eggs and milk and such. For some reason this gives a more even distribution of cinnamon throughout the dunking dip stuff.
Or maybe I’m just anal. I can accept that too, but it does work!
Love French toast. I’ve never tried it w/soda bread. I bet the coarse crumb soaks up the custard nicely:)
I’m partial to using big slabs of slightly-stale King’s Hawaiian Bread for the base. Another favorite is making a sweet thin batter w/a little flour and baking powder, dunking the bread and then Deep Frying. Not an option I choose frequently, but it’s one that I’m Glad to Know Exists! lol
French toast is the bomb. I’ve never made it with soda bread, I bet that’s wicked good. I usually use challah, myself. But I agree, bread is the key. Funny how few people recognize that the main ingredient is the most important part.
Costco has a Cinnamon bread loaf that is delicious made into french toast. It is about an inch thick and has a struedal on top. I’ve also seen it at Albertsons.
Makes wonderful french bread.
If you want another alternative to french bread.. Coming from a frenchie herself, try making it with Banana Bread.
C’est très bon! It’s very good!
Danielle, I have a theory about that. Which is totally made up and untested, but when has that ever stopped me?
Cinnamon is ground from bark. Since it’s pretty hard it doesn’t dissolve quickly. And since it’s bark, it floats. Mixing it with the syrup surrounds the grains of cinnamon, holding them in suspension. Then the syrup blends, carrying the cinnamon with it. Who likes that explanation?
Jenni, I may try the deep fried. In fact, I’ve been meaning to do a deep fried Monti Cristo …
Bob, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Most recipes, you’re lucky if they tell you to use something thick like Texas Toast.
Anon, I haven’t seen that one, but I’ve thought about using cinnamon raisin bread. I’ll have to look for the thick one. Or make some.
Reenie, if I hadn’t just eaten the last piece yesterday I’d have tried that for breakfast tomorrow. Guess I’ll have to wait for the next batch of bananas to go brown.
Looks pretty tasty Drew
Great idea!
I used to work in a bakery that made THE MOST AWESOME cinnamon-raisin-nut bread that was cooked in some kind of cylindrical baking pan. Best French toast ever.
My Irish grandmother, not wanting to let anything ever go to waste, once served me and my dad grilled-cheese sandwiches on her homemade Stollen. Strange combo. For some reason, my dad resists my offers to make him some Stollen
Barb, every time I think about making this I see cinnamon raisin bread in my mind. I think I need to make some.
I’ve never thought to use soda bread for French toast, it looks really good.
I’ve just made some fantastic French toast using leftover hot cross buns from Easter, you’re right, the bread makes a huge difference.
I am SO glad to see a "best French toast ever" where the secret ISN'T challah. Don't get me wrong, it's good stuff (and the only yeast bread I'm any good at), but I actually find challah french toast not to be quite as flavorful as I would like. Rich, but a bit bland. Soda bread sounds awesome, hearty and flavorful–and, bonus, soda bread is a quick bread, aka easy! Looking forward to trying it, as soon as my husband caves on having french toast for dinner…
Ally, why wait for dinner? I mean, we have breakfast for dinner all the time, but why can't you make this for breakfast?