Brioche French Toast
Presliced brioche from a bag is too thin for this, and half of mine once fell apart in the custard before it ever reached the pan. It was kind of sad. I buy an unsliced loaf from a bakery and cut it myself, a good inch and a half thick, because thin slices just turn into soggy bread.
Thickness is the whole trick here. Each slice has to sit in the egg mixture long enough to soak through to the center, since a dry middle is the one thing I honestly can’t stand in French toast. Then it goes into foaming salted butter over medium heat, and the sugar in the custard takes care of the rest, turning the outside deep amber and almost crackly at the edges. We usually eat it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.
Brioche French toast is what I make when breakfast should eat like dessert. It's richer than the diner version, because the bread already carries plenty of butter and eggs. It's ready in about 30 minutes and tastes best straight out of the skillet.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Set the brioche loaf on a cutting board and cut 4 slices about 1 1/2 inches thick with a serrated bread knife, using a gentle sawing motion so the crumb doesn't crush.4 slices brioche
- Crack the eggs into a 9-inch pie plate and whisk until no streaks of white remain. Add the milk, granulated sugar and vanilla sugar, then whisk for about 1 minute, until the sugar has mostly dissolved.2 large eggs, 2/3 cup whole milk, 3 tbsp granulated sugar, 2 tbsp vanilla sugar
- Melt 1 tbsp of the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until it foams. Keep the remaining 1 tbsp for the second batch.2 tbsp salted butter
- While the butter melts, lay 2 brioche slices in the custard and soak them 30 to 45 seconds per side, pressing lightly with your fingertips, until they feel heavy and damp to the center but still hold their shape. Lift them out, let the excess drip back into the plate for a few seconds and lay them in the skillet.
- Cook without moving the slices for 4 to 5 minutes, until the underside is deep golden brown. Flip them with a wide spatula and cook the second side 4 to 5 minutes more. Serve these 2 slices right away while they're hot.
- Melt the remaining 1 tbsp butter in the same skillet. Soak the last 2 slices in the remaining custard the same way, turning them and spooning whatever is left in the plate over the top so none of it is wasted. Cook them 4 to 5 minutes per side, lowering the heat slightly if the sugar darkens too fast, and serve hot.
Nutrition
Notes
Laminated brioche, the flaky kind sold at French bakeries, gives the layered crust you see in the photo, but a regular brioche or challah loaf cut 1 1/2 inches thick works the same way. No vanilla sugar? Whisk 2 tbsp granulated sugar and 1 tsp pure vanilla extract into the custard in step 2 instead.
You might also like our Low Histamine Blueberry Pancakes.
the 1 1/2 inch slices looked crazy thick at first but they cooked all the way through in about 9 min. my second batch browned faster so i turned the heat down a notch like you said
my store had no brioche so i used challah, still really good. didnt have vanilla sugar either and did the extract swap from the notes. a bit sweet for my husband but the kids cleaned their plates
soaking just 2 slices at a time is the trick, last time i dumped all 4 slices in at once and it fell apart. that salted butter crust with a little vanilla ice cream, wow