Challah French Toast
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Soaked in a rich cinnamon-laced custard, this challah french toast is fit for a special occasion.
This challah French toast isn’t your everyday French toast—the kind you might throw together with stale sandwich bread, eggs, and whatever milk you have in the fridge. It’s something much more special. Made with challah and a rich custard flavored with honey, vanilla, and plenty of cinnamon, it cooks up slightly crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside, tasting almost like bread pudding. Looking for a family-style twist? Try my baked apple French toast or my boozy French toast casserole for an equally delicious variation.
“What an amazing upgrade to plain ole’ french toast but yet so simple! Keeper. Thanks!”
What You’ll Need To Make Challah French Toast
- Eggs: The base of the custard, giving the french toast its rich, creamy texture.
- Low-Fat Milk: Lightens the egg mixture while still contributing moisture and flavor.
- Heavy Cream: Adds extra richness to the custard, ensuring the toast is indulgent and creamy.
- Honey: Provides a hint of natural sweetness that balances the savory notes.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Enhances the flavor with warm, sweet undertones.
- Cinnamon: Adds a cozy warmth and spice to the custard mixture.
- Salt: Intensifies the flavors of the custard and bread.
- Challah or Brioche: Challah and brioche are both rich, egg-based breads and perfect for french toast. Day-old bread is ideal because it absorbs the custard without becoming too soggy.
- Unsalted Butter: For frying the bread, giving it a golden, flavorful crust.
- Vegetable Oil: Ensures even cooking and prevents the butter from burning.
- Maple Syrup: The classic topping, providing a sweet finishing touch.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the eggs, milk, cream, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a large baking dish. Whisk well.
Place a few slices of bread in the custard.
Heat 1-1/2 tablespoons butter and 1-1/2 tablespoons oil over medium heat in a large skillet; add the soaked challah.
Cook until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Transfer the challah french toast to a wire rack and place in the oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining bread.
Serve hot with maple syrup and enjoy!
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Challah French Toast
Soaked in a rich cinnamon-laced custard, this challah french toast is fit for a special occasion.
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- ¾ cup low-fat milk
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 loaf day old challah, brioche or other good bread sliced ¾-inch thick
- Unsalted butter
- Vegetable oil
- Maple syrup, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F. Set wire rack on baking sheet and set aside.
- In a large baking dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.
- Place a few slices of the challah in the custard and let soak, flipping occasionally, until saturated but not falling apart, 1 to 2 minutes depending on how moist you like your french toast.
- Heat 1½ tablespoons butter and 1½ tablespoons oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Cook the first batch of soaked bread until golden brown, 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to the wire rack and place in the oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining bread. Wipe the skillet clean with paper towels. Soak and fry the remaining bread, using butter and oil as necessary, until it's all cooked. Serve hot with maple syrup.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 6
- Calories: 543
- Fat: 33 g
- Saturated fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Sugar: 10 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 15 g
- Sodium: 481 mg
- Cholesterol: 282 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I am normally not a big fan of French toast. It is often too eggy for my taste.
BUT, this recipe was so ridiculously good that I didn’t even notice the eggs. Very decadent, but highly recommended.
I used this step by step recipe to teach cooking skills to my 7th grade students. The pictures were very helpful and they loved the final product.
Made it. Loved it. Wanted to eat more! I felt like I was having a restaurant brunch but in my living room in front of my tv. It was magical! Thanks, Jenn!
This is my go-to recipe for French toast. I make a big batch on the weekend and freeze the leftovers. Then I just toss 1 or 2 in the toaster on weekdays for the kids’ breakfast. They love it!
What a difference a little bit of honey makes. Don’t skip. My children raved about this recipe. I did not have heavy cream handy so I substituted more milk. Worked just fine.
we have a big sunday brunch almost every Sunday. this was a great change to an old favorite. Will definately be appearing again on the table. Thanks!
This is my new french toast recipe. I have made it 4 or 5 times now. I have never used challah before for french toast and we loved it! The cinnamon and honey make it so yummy too!
I too made these for my son…aren’t they fun to spoil. This was good, easy and basic, but the flavor was so perfect. My french toast was never anything special, but now that I use this recipe, it is! I didn’t change a thing!
I used a 1/2 day old baguette which I trimmed the crust off and it turned out great. I was careful not to let it get too soaked and finished in the oven to make sure it was completely cooked through (browned on all 4 sides, then into baking dish with foil pressed directly to the baguette, 350 for 5 mins).
Haven’t made French Toast in years but this got me going again. My recipe was close but the honey in this one just bumped it up a notch. Thank you!