The process for making French toast couldn’t be simpler — what’s going to take yours to the next level is the kind of bread you use. You want to use a bread that’s absorbent and airy, but also rich and flavorful at the same time. That’s why I like to use fluffy egg breads like challah and brioche, but any fluffy, tasty bread should work well. I like my French toast slices thick, but not too thick or else the middle of the toast won’t cook through without the outside getting dry and overdone. You’ll run into that same problem if you try to cook your French toast too quickly over high heat. Remember, when your heat’s low and you cook slow, you’ll get fluffy, moist and perfectly done French toast every time. Spoon on some of the toppings listed below and y’all will be in heaven.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 27 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 12 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 pinches ground cinnamon
- 4 (1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick) slices brioche, challah, cinnamon raisin bread or any moist and fluffy bread you like
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Orange-Rum Bananas, recipe follows
- 2 tablespoons rum
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 2 large bananas sliced thinly on an angle
Instructions
- Beat the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl until well blended. Pour the egg mixture into a baking pan large enough to give you room to turn and soak the bread. (A 13 by 9-inch pan works well.)
- Lay the bread slices in the egg mixture and let them soak, turning them several times, until the bread has soaked up all the egg. Turn them gently so they don’t break apart on you.
- Heat the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. When it starts to bubble, lay the soaked bread in the pan. Cook, turning once, until the bread is nicely browned and the egg in the center of each slice is cooked through, about 12 minutes. Serve warm with the Orange-Rum Bananas.
- Note: If your skillet isn’t large enough to hold all the bread slices at once, cook them in batches. Before you start your first batch, preheat your oven to 200 degrees F (or “Warm”). Keep the cooked slices warm on a baking sheet in the oven while you cook the rest.
- Heat rum, sugar, butter and orange juice in a large skillet until the butter is melted. Add the bananas. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat so the sauce is bubbling gently. Cook until the bananas are softened, about 4 minutes.
- Yield: 4 servings
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 1335 |
| Total Fat | 30 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Carbohydrates | 215 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 17 g |
| Sugar | 43 g |
| Protein | 49 g |
| Cholesterol | 220 mg |
| Sodium | 2037 mg |
Reviews
My husband’s favorite ! Love, love, love this recipe.
I’ve never made the orange-rum bananas until today. I just used the recipe for the french toast. Wow, such a mistake on my part. I loved the french toast, but the sauce takes it to another level. My kids said well now you know you have to make more next time. This mama will be doubling the sauce next time. I put some whipped cream on top to make it feel like we were at IHOP. I also did a homemade strawberry syrup to do a banana strawberry mix.
I’ve been making this for a few years now. I haven’t made french toast any other way since I first tried it! I used shepherds bread for it and it was perfect. We love the rum banana sauce! Truly awesome recipe!
YUM! I have always loved french toast, but have never been able to make some that I thought was really good at home. THIS IS IT! I added coconut extract because I absolutely LOVE coconut. It was so delicious and reminded me of french toast in Hawaii with coconut syrup. I will be making this for my family’s Christmas breakfast.
I made this recipe with whole grain toast and it came out bland and flavorless. Must be important to use a sweeter bread? The banana sauce was very good though.
I totally agree,that that was the best French Toast recipie I have ever tried, and the Rum Banana Sauce was absolutely delicious. The other rater was right, you don’t need syrup!!!!
Really good! We substituted 2 teaspoons rum extract for the rum due to children eating it and it was still delicious.
This dish was fantastic! My favorite place to buy bread didn’t have loaves of any of the specified breads, but they had challah in roll form. They were the perfect size for the recipe, I just cut off the rounded tops for easier soaking and cooking.
Normally I put butter and syrup on French toast at restaurants, but this needed no such treatment, it was perfect just the way it was.
Normally I put butter and syrup on French toast at restaurants, but this needed no such treatment, it was perfect just the way it was.
My house smells so good right now! We just had this recipe, I followed the recipe to the letter, would not change a thing! Way to go Dave, romantic and so flavorful. Takes a while to prepare but is easy and so rewarding! Will definately keep this recipe! Rocks!
I’ve made this twice now, and it received rave reviews both times. The rum bananas add a decadent and gourmet touch to the French toast without being too much.