Quick & Easy Cinnamon Brioche French Toast

Quick & Easy Cinnamon Brioche French Toast

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Level up your breakfast and make this quick & easy cinnamon brioche French toast! So simple but so delicious and packed with flavour. You’ll want it for breakfast every day!

cinnamon brioche french toast

Brioche on its own is one of the most delicious breads, but what happens if some of your loaf has started to go stale?! MAKE FRENCH TOAST. That’s what. The glorious thing about French toast is that it turns something that was becoming dry and bland into the most delicious and moist breakfast. Seriously, I wouldn’t blame you if you kept some brioche slices to the side on purpose, just to make French toast.

So lets get to it.

How to make cinnamon brioche French toast:

Like the recipe title suggests this French toast method is super quick and easy. However as always I’m going to walk you through the most important steps – choosing the right bread, getting the egg mixture right and browning your toast to perfection!

brioche slices

What bread can you use for French toast?

For French toast you need a thick sliced bread with a fairly close texture – i.e. brioche, challah/cholla (check out my recipe here) or even just a thick cut white bloomer. Sorry sourdough, but you’re not welcome here! You need the bread slices to be thickly cut (and without sourdough’s characteristic holes!) so that they soak up all the delicious eggy mixture, without falling apart.

For this recipe I am using Brioche – which in my opinion is the best type of bread to use! Check out my foolproof recipe here, that includes loads of tips AND makes two loaves. So you can leave one for French toast making 😉

Once you’ve chosen your bread, you need it to be at least 2-3 days old before using it. Fresh bread, and especially brioche, is so soft and fluffy which isn’t the texture we need for making French toast. After a few days it will have started to stale and therefore dry out – this is key. The dry bread slices will be able to soak up the egg mixture, making a perfectly moist French toast.

soaked brioche slices for french toast

What’s the ratio of eggs to milk for French toast?

If you’re interested in recipe development, then ratios are your best friend as they can help you to create your own recipes from scratch. For French toast however, it’s more a general rule of thumb, that for every two slices of French toast you will need one egg and approx. 60ml of milk.

A rule of thumb like that or ratio, helps so much when you want to scale up or down a recipe. And with breakfast bakes like French toast, you can guarantee there’ll be an occasion when you need to scale up to feed lots of hungry mouths!

My recipe makes enough for 4 slices of French toast. I’ve also added cinnamon and vanilla to flavour the egg mixture. and once you’ve whisked this all together, you can begin to soak the brioche.

How long should you soak French toast for?

For best ‘soaking’ results, firstly using a baking pan that just fits all your slices of brioche in one layer is ideal. I then like to pour the egg mixture all over the top of each slice. Then flip the slices over a few times and slightly jiggle them in the pan to make sure the both sides of the bread are well covered. The slices can then be left for 10 minutes.

For me, 10 minutes the perfect amount of time, as the bread has soaked the entirety of the egg mixture but is still holding its shape well. For this to work best, you want all your slices of brioche to be the same size and thickness. I think the perfect slice size is 3/4 inch – not too thick, but thick enough to still have a golden crispy exterior and creamy middle when cooked.

cooked brioche french toast slices

How long should you cook French toast for?

Okay, you’ve soaked your bread and you’re ready to cook. First step; you want a large frying pan – give yourself lots of room as you’ll need to flip these half way through. Also! Cook in batches, you don’t need to crowd the pan. I like to turn the oven on to a low setting, and keep the cooked French toast slices on a baking tray inside to keep warm while I cook the rest.

French toast can burn easily, so I prefer to cook on a low-medium heat. I add a knob of butter and let this melt before adding two slices. For me, cooking for 3 minutes on each side gives the perfect golden crust, but still retains moisture in the middle. A bit like pancakes though, you will find after your first slice that you get to know your own pan and the heat better – so if the first one catches a little, don’t beat yourself up!

cinnamon brioche french toast

What toppings should go on French Toast?

Now we’re down to the best bit. Toppings! Here’s where you can really go crazy and add whatever takes your fancy. As the french toast already has a coating of cinnamon, I like to keep it simple with just some fruit and maybe even ice cream! But honestly, bacon? Go for it! Chocolate sauce? Yes please! Caramel sauce? OKAY THANK YOU.

I really love how versatile French toast can be, and so quick and easy!! You’ll have a delicious breakfast in less than 30 minutes – and that includes adding all your toppings!

caramel ice cream french toast

Cinnamon Brioche French Toast – FAQ

How do you know when French Toast is cooked?

You are looking for a golden caramelised exterior that feels nicely crisp to the touch. Keep your pan on a low-medium heat to avoid burning! If you really want to be sure, use a digital probe food thermometer – the middle of the French toast should reach 70C once cooked.

Can you make French toast in advance?

You can cook in batches i.e. keep the cooked slices in the oven while you continue frying the remaining slices. But I wouldn’t advise making the French Toast hours in advance – you want it to be crisp and warm from the pan.

Does bread have to be stale for French toast?

Technically you could make French toast with fresh bread, but it works so much better if the bread is slightly stale. If you only have fresh, just halve the soaking time to reduce the possibility of your bread disintegrating!

cinnamon brioche french toast
quick and easy cinnamon brioche french toast

Quick & Easy Cinnamon Brioche French Toast

Aimee Field
Level up your breakfast and make this quick & easy cinnamon brioche French toast! So simple but so delicious and packed with flavour!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine French
Servings 2 People

Ingredients
  

  • 2 large eggs
  • 120 ml milk whole or semi-skimmed
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 4 slices of stale Brioche 3/4inch thick each
  • 1 knob of unsalted butter

Instructions
 

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla extract and ground cinnamon until well combined. Then lay brioche slices in a single layer in a small baking pan.
  • Pour over the egg mixture on top of the brioche slices, completely covering them. Turn the slices over a few times to make sure the entire slices are covered in the egg mixture. Then leave to soak for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, turn your oven onto its lowest setting.
  • Once the brioche slices have soaked up all of the egg mixture, place a large frying pan over a medium-low heat and add the knob of butter. Once the butter has melted, add two of the soaked brioche slices and cook for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown and crisp.
  • Place the cooked slices of French toast in a baking tray in the oven to keep warm, while you fry the remaining two soaked brioche slices (you may need to add another knob of butter).
  • Once the final two slices are fully cooked, remove the first slices from the oven. Then plate up and add toppings as desired.

Notes

Best served straight away. 
Keyword brioche, cinnamon, eggy bread, french toast, pain perdu

Looking for other breakfast recipes? Why not give my Pancake Brunch Board a go? Or my Pecan & Maple Sticky Brioche Buns!



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