Easy Classic French Toast (No Stale Bread Needed)

No-Prep French Toast

Have you ever wanted to whip up a batch of French toast last minute … until you read the recipes online to discover you should have left your bread out on the counter the night before to let it get stale? Well, don’t worry, because this easy classic French toast recipe does not require you to stale your bread overnight!

Honestly, that’s the exact reason I found my own way to dry out my bread for this homemade French toast recipe. I was eager to find a quicker and easier way to make French toast on the fly.

As a busy mom of kids who frequently request a “special breakfast”, I understand the value of an easy homemade breakfast for kids that is low effort and low prep in addition to being healthy and satisfying to picky little eaters.

And you know what is really great about making simple French toast for your kids in the morning? Adding in some egg and milk turns toast into a protein breakfast! French toast isn’t just a fancy name for a simple kids breakfast. It’s a healthy way to fuel their bodies with energy for the day.

What I really love the most about making a batch of easy classic French toast for my kids is that it means no arguments over what to eat for breakfast. My kids are all about carbs they can pour maple syrup on. And I’m all about refined sugar free breakfasts with added protein.

I’m also all about happy taste buds that make for peaceful mornings. And with my kids, happy taste buds are made with this easy classic French toast recipe.

Even better than a tasty French toast breakfast is a French toast breakfast topped with homemade honey-sweetened whipped cream or homemade naturally sweetened strawberry jam. Or, if your kids are like mine, they will love it topped with some refined-sugar-free chocolate, peanut butter and a little honey.

The possibilities for how to serve French toast are only limited by a kid’s imagination.

When to Make French Toast

As I already mentioned, this easy classic French toast recipe does not require planning ahead so you can make it last minute. But you certainly can make it ahead if you want to.

I like to make extra so that I have leftovers to feed my kids all week long. Just store the cooked French toast in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or in the toaster oven.

I think easy classic French toast is the perfect simple school morning breakfast. Make up two or three batches on the weekend and take some out of the fridge each weekday morning for a quick, filling way to send your kids off for a day of learning.

Homemade French toast also makes great afternoon snacks. As a matter of fact, while I was perfecting the best French toast recipe, my elementary-age daughter had a couple of friends over and I served them my finished product as a snack. They could not have been happier 🙂

French toast would also be a great, simple way to serve a homemade breakfast that isn’t overwhelming on Christmas morning. I usually make pancakes on Christmas morning, but this year it might be French toast since that is my kids’ new favorite “special breakfast”.

I also love the idea of having a special breakfast supper every once in a while. I remember my mom making waffles for supper now and then when I was a kid. It was fun and there’s just something exciting about going against the rules by eating breakfast for supper.

I don’t think my husband would go for it, but maybe some evening when he’s not home for supper, I’ll whip up some quick and easy French toast for supper for me and my kids 😀

If you’ve checked out some of my other recipes, you probably know that I say this a little too often, but you really can make and serve this recipe for a variety of purposes and occasions.

There are two reasons I feel this way about so many of the recipes on this website:

1. All the recipes are on the healthier side and completely refined sugar free – even the desserts.
   
2. I am all about feeding my kids whatever their picky taste buds will tolerate as long as it is made with wholefood ingredients and is balanced with other food groups.

Ingredients

• Butter: Butter is for greasing the pan in order to get your French toast a nice golden color. I prefer to use organic or Irish grass-fed butter.

• Egg: An egg is the main ingredient in the French toast custard and adds protein. I get organic or cage-free eggs.

• Milk: Milk adds moisture and more protein to the French toast recipe while rounding out the flavor. I use organic milk.

• Maple Syrup: Just a bit of maple syrup provides a very light sweetness to this easy classic French toast without adding refined sugar. Make sure to use pure Grade A maple syrup.

• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds that little bit of extra flavor. Make sure to use pure vanilla extract rather than imitation vanilla flavoring.

• Bread: Any sandwich bread will work for this recipe. You can use white sandwich bread, whole grain, sprouted, etc. I use 1/2-inch thick slices. If you want to use thicker sliced bread, however, you will probably need to add few extra seconds of soaking time.

Instructions

Step 1

Crack the egg into a flat-bottomed bowl and whisk until the yolk and egg white are fully combined.

Step 2

Add milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract to the bowl and whisk to combine.

Step 3

Working one at a time, soak the bread slices for 5-8 seconds on each side and place on a plate until ready to fry.

Step 4

Preheat your frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the butter to melt. Once butter is melted, place soaked bread pieces on the pan to fry for a couple of minutes until golden brown. Flip and fry until golden brown on the other side.

Step 5

Serve with maple syrup, berries, homemade whipped cream or other desired toppings. Once cooled, store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Substitutions & Tips

• It is essential to toast your bread before soaking (or leave your slices out overnight to stale). If you do not, they will get soggy far too quickly and fall apart when you soak them. Even if you manage to keep them from falling apart during soaking, they will end up soggy in the center after cooking.

• Make sure you don’t oversoak your bread before cooking. Stick to a strict 5-8 second soak time unless you are using especially thick slices. If you soak longer, you will end up with soggy French toast that falls apart and stays soggy in the center once cooked.

• Although it may be tempting to add more egg to your custard mixture to increase the protein content, don’t do it. You will end up with French toast that tastes like scrambled eggs.

• I highly recommend soaking all of your bread slices before beginning to cook them. It is best to cook as many pieces as you can fit on your pan to prevent the butter from burning in the unused areas of the pan.

• It is best to heat your frying pan over medium heat and wait several minutes until the pan is fully heated before adding the butter and frying the bread. If the heat is too low, the bread will take forever to cook and won’t get that golden crispness on the outside. If the heat is too high, the outside will brown too quickly and possibly burn and the inside won’t be fully cooked.

• Wipe the butter out of the frying pan between batches so that it does not burn. After wiping out the browning butter from the previous batch, add new butter before starting the next batch.

• I have tried making this recipe with cheep white sandwich bread as well as a higher quality, sprouted whole grain sandwich bread. Even though the sprouted whole grain bread is a bit more dense, the soak time was the same for both.