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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Wonderful recipe, as always! I used challah bread–it was the perfect consistency. I messed up on the first batch by letting them soak too long (2-3 minutes). For the second round I just did a quick soak/flip (10 seconds per side) and it turned out PERFECT! This was a wonderful treat for our Father’s Day breakfast.
The challah is the perfect density for this recipe. We loved it. A very special breakfast dish!
The best French toast recipe,
Thank you!
I can’t find brioche or Challah bread in my local store. What would you recommend?
While I think this turns out best with challah or brioche, you could try it with Hawaiian bread. If you’re anywhere near a jewish deli, they’re likely to have challah.
I took your advice and used the Hawaiian sliced bread. I couldn’t put my fork down. I really enjoyed it. Thank-you so much!
I have been searching the web to find out how to make Challah bread myself. I really like to cook and bake. 🙂 I will definitely be making this again this weekend. I’m tired of making pancakes.
Check your grocery store bakery on Fridays for Challah. They’re more likely to have it then.
This is my favorite French Toast recipe. It comes out perfect every time and is really, really yummy.
WOW! I substituted sandwich bread and whole milk for the challah (please forgive me). Halved the recipe for six slices. Happy Thanksgiving. #happykidshappylife
Your recipe is EXACTLY the same as mine EXCEPT I use pure maple syrup instead of honey. I’ll have to try your version next time – maybe Sunday for Mother’s Day.
My first time making challah bread and it turned out amazing! I did substitute half the flour with whole wheat flour, and the loaf came out fluffy and delicious. We ate half and used the rest for your French toast recipe. Thanks for another keeper!
Definitely the Perfect French Toast recipe ever. I really liked your tips on using good bread (now I know how to use challah )!
Your recipes have never failed me! This one is yet another example! The first time I made this I ignored your warning about using plain bread (mainly because I only had plain bread available – and too lazy to go to the store.). Note to reader: Definitely heed her warning on the bread! The second time I made it though, with the right bread, it was perfection! The best french bread I’ve ever eaten.
French toast can be tricky…if you leave it in too long, it’s too soggy or not long enough and it’s kind of like eating “bread” with syrup. I was a little skeptical because I have never made it with heavy cream or honey before, but thought, hey all the other recipes I’ve made from this site have been amazing. My husband, the ever picky, over critical person, said “This is really tasty!” And he was right. I followed the recipe exactly, it’s everything you want French toast to be, especially with real maple syrup and some berries.