Brioche makes the best French toast: soft and custard-y in the middle and crispy and golden brown on the edges.
French toast is the best breakfast out there. It’s the sweetest, fluffiest way to start the day. It aslo happens to be one of the easiest to make breakfasts that looks the most impressive. A giant platter of brioche French toast topped with fruit and syrup is a glorious thing!
If you’ve never had brioche French toast before promise me you’re going to do it. It’s perfect in the summer with summer sweet peaches or in the fall with toasted caramelized nuts. It goes perfectly with golden brown breakfast sausages and crispy bacon. I could eat brioche French toast every day of the year and never be tired of it.
What is brioche?
Brioche is a type of French bread that is soft and fluffy with a rich and tender crumb. Unlike regular bread, it’s enriched with eggs and butter making it extra luxurious. It is one of my favorite types of bread (after Japanese milk bread). If you’ve had challah before, the texture is very similar – they’re both rich yeast breads made with egg. The main difference between the two is that challah doesn’t have any butter in it.
Why brioche for French toast?
Brioche is the best bread for French toast. It’s thick and soaks in just the right amount of custard and the richness of the brioche really shines through. It puffs up when you cook it giving you fluffy French toast, every time. If you’re looking for a luxurious treat, it’s got to be brioche.
Where to buy brioche?
You can buy brioche at any French bakery as well as regular bakeries. You can even find it at the grocery store, in the bread aisle. Most grocery stores will make brioche in house so you can find it in the freshly baked bread section as well. I love buying unsliced brioche so I can slice the bread to my preferred thickness.
What can I use if I can’t find brioche?
If you can find brioche, use a thick cut, fluffy white bread or even French bread. It won’t be as rich or tender but it will still be amazing. If you have challah, challah French toast is amazing!
How to make brioche French toast
- Make the custard. In a shallow bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, milk, and a bit of sugar, making sure the eggs are completely incorporated.
- Soak the brioche. Take your brioche and soak it in the custard mix, flipping once.
- Pan-fry. Add the soaked bread to a hot pan and cook, flipping once, until golden brown and crispy.
- Top and enjoy. Finish it off with butter, syrup, powdered sugar, and fruit and enjoy immediately!
Ingredients
- Bread. Brioche of course! Some people say you need to use stale bread for french toast, but you can use fresh, just don’t soak it as long.
- Eggs. This is the next most important ingredient. If you don’t have eggs, you can’t make french toast. The most important thing about the eggs is making sure they’re completely whisked up so there are no bits of egg whites or yolks in the custard.
- Cream and milk. We’re going to use a mix of heavy cream and milk to give our toast base a lusciously rich custard texture.
- Sugar. Just a touch of sugar to add sweetness and help caramelize the outsides so your toast is crisp and not soggy.
The secret to really good French toast
The secret to the best french toast is the custard. You want to soak the brioche longer than you think. You want the bread to be saturated with the custard so that the inside of the bread is creamy and not dry.
The second secret is cooking over medium to medium low heat then finishing on medium high. Starting on medium or medium low ensures that the custard-y insides cook all the way through and finishing on medium high gives it a golden brown and crisp caramelized crust.
How long you should soak brioche for french toast
This depends on how old your brioche is, but soaking longer than you think is what will give you a creamy custard middle. Dry french toast is the worst!
- If your brioche is fresh: 30 seconds to 1 minute per side
- If your brioche is old and dry: 2-5 minutes per side
Brioche French toast tips
- Mix well. Make sure you mix the custard extra well so you don’t have stray pieces of unincorporated egg whites or yolks.
- Use butter and oil to fry. Using a combination of butter and oil means you get the best of both worlds: flavor and no burning.
- Preheat the pan. Make sure your pan is heated to medium hot before you put your first slice in, it should sizzle slightly.
- Start on medium heat. You want to start on medium heat then move to medium high to finish. If you cook on high, you’ll end up cooking the outside of the bread, but the inside will still be soggy and raw.
- Take your time. Cook it on medium to medium low heat and aim for a golden brown crust with a creamy, custard-y cooked inside.
Brioche French Toast
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 4 slices brioche thick slices: 3/4"-1"
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl (that will fit the brioche flat), whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar, making sure the eggs are completely incorporated.
- Take a piece of brioche and put it in the custard mixture and let soak, flipping once.
- Heat up a cast iron or non-stick pan over medium heat. Add a bit of oil and butter and when the oil and butter are hot, add the custard soaked bread (let the excess drip back into the shallow bowl) and cook until golden and crisp on the bottom side.
- Gently flip and continue to cook until the other side is golden and crisp. Turn the heat up to medium high if needed to brown.
- Serve immediately with butter, syrup, fruit, and powdered sugar, if desired.
This looks yummy!
I have made this recipe multiple times now. My first french toast ever and probably the last recipe I’ll ever need. It is perfect. I love getting Pumpkin Brioche from Trader Joe’s around this time to use as well :)