Challah Bread French Toast is made by slicing thick slices of Challah Bread and soaking them in milk and honey and pan frying until golden. They are golden to perfection on the outside and soft and rich on the inside. Serve with maple syrup and berries for a weekend or fancy breakfast.
When I was younger my mom would make us all French Toast quite often for breakfast on the weekends. She would take whatever bread she had on hand and soak it in eggs and milk and fry it up on a pan. It was one of my favorite breakfasts.
In college, a friend of mine would make challah bread French Toast for a couple of friends after an early morning finance class. The nice thing about challah bread is that you can slice the pieces as thick as you’d like and since the bread is so soft its ideal for soaking up all of the eggs and milk.
Recipe Inspiration:
After having so many different variations on French Toast, I wanted to make one to call my own. One with thick slices that were slightly soft and rich in the middle. One that our kids would eat and remember eating on the weekends as they grew up.
So I spent some time experimenting with this recipe, and now this is one that we love and make all the time on weekends. We even go through phases of keeping some challah bread in the freezer. When we do have some in the freezer and if we are craving French Toast we'll Pull a loaf out of the freezer and the whole thing comes together pretty quickly, faster than pancakes. We usually serve this with berries, maple syrup, butter, and powdered sugar.
What Makes This So Good:
- It is quick to make, faster than pancakes. If you double the recipe to serve a larger crowd, it'll still take very little time, especially if you can manage to use two burners at once, or a griddle.
- Challah bread is so soft and a little sweet, and you can cut nice thick slices which can soak up the milk, vanilla and honey.
Challah Bread: Where to Buy, etc
- Challah bread can be expensive, so when you're out shopping keep an eye out on which grocery store has a less expensive option. I've seen Challah bread at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Stew Leonards (a local and amazing themed grocery store), and at local bakeries (sometimes upon request). At Stew Leonards I can buy a loaf of Challah bread that is 2x as big as Whole Foods and half the price.
- The amount of bread that you’ll use will really just depend on the size of the loaf. Some loaves are longer or wider than others. I usually end up with six larger slices about ¾-1 inch thick which is about ⅔ of one loaf, but if you have a narrower loaf you’ll end up with more slices that are smaller.
- Don’t over soak the bread. If you do, the bread will be difficult to cook through and it will end up soggy. I find that soaking for 1 minute on each side works best.
Challah Bread French Toast Toppings:
Because the slices are cooked in a little butter and olive oil and so flavorful from soaking in the milk mixture, you don't really need to serve this with anything else. You don't need butter or maple syrup or powdered sugar for serving, though of course its great with it. Feel free to add on any of the following when serving
- extra butter
- maple syrup
- berries
- powdered sugar
- whipped cream
If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment down below or tag a photo on instagram!
If you're looking for other breakfast ideas, here are 3 that I love:
Challah Bread French Toast
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 1½ cups whole milk
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp honey
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 loaf challah bread, about 6 slices
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter, plus more for serving
- maple syrup optional
- powdered sugar optional
- berries optional
Instructions
- Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, honey, and salt in a large shallow rectangle baking dish.
- Slice the challah bread into pieces about ¾-1inch thick. Place the bread in the baking dish so to that they soak of the egg mixture. Flip over after 1 minutes, and remove after 1 more minute. Work in batches if necessary. If doing more than 1 batch, do not start soaking the bread for the second batch until 2 minutes before you are ready to place on the pan, i.e. don’t soak the bread from the second batch until the bread from the first batch has been cooked and removed from the pan.
- Bring a large pan to medium heat. Add about a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil. Place the slices of bread on the pan and flip once so that each side is golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Repeat as needed for all slices of bread.
- Serve warm with butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar and berries.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.