Small-Batch Challah French Toast

Y’all, I have been converted to the cult of challah french toast!  I truly don’t think I can go back to regular sandwich bread french toast after this.

This is the perfect lazy person’s brunch recipe, great on a weekend but even totally doable on a random Tuesday morning if you have leftover challah bread.  The end result feels so much more satisfying than the 10 minutes it takes to make.  This is what we call return on investment.

While you could technically use store-bought challah, I always find it drier, less eggy, and less flavorful than homemade, so the resulting french toast won’t be as good.

But I have great news—making your own challah is so easy!  I have two different recipes, this easy soft challah, and this traditional one (that I did a 4-strand plait round on).  Either works great for this, though I used the latter for this french toast recipe and it was AWESOME.

I’m sharing a small-batch recipe below (which makes french toast for one or two people), but it can easily be scaled up.  It’s really straightforward, but the regular egg/milk foundation is elevated with a little cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and lemon zest.  The zest and cinnamon really make this amazing!

Why is challah bread good for french toast?

Both challah and brioche (and even a Hawaiian roll) are better for french toast versus plain sandwich bread, or something like french bread or sourdough.  This is because they are made from a richer, egg-ier dough (usually they have butter or oil, some sugar, and eggs).  This brings a LOT more flavor to your french toast, plus a softer and more pleasant texture (and they soak up the egg/milk moisture better).

A couple tips to make your challah bread french toast extra awesome:

• I think that thick-cut slices are better.  Like maybe an inch thick or just over that?  Don’t make the mistake of cutting too thin!
• You’ll get a better french toast texture from day-old challah, and I recommend even slicing it ahead of time and letting it dry out a bit.  This will help it soak up more egg mixture, resulting in a softer, custardier end result.
• Because challah is a little more dense and we’re doing thicker slices, do make sure that you let the bread soak up the liquid.  Don’t just do a 2-second dunk…I leave each side in the liquid for like 5 seconds, just to make sure it’s picking up enough liquid.

Cook until golden brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes.  If it’s getting too dark too fast, turn the heat down (you need the egg mixture to cook up into the bread, not only fry the outside). 

Turn and cook the other side until golden brown, around another 2 minutes.

Repeat with the remaining egg-soaked challah. Serve with the toppings you desire…for me, that’s some butter (that melts on the slice) and granulated sugar, or cinnamon-sugar.

Look at how gorgeous and soft our thick challah slices are inside!

This challah french toast recipe is reason #23 that you need to whip up a couple loaves of challah STAT!  It’s a perfect bread for first-time bakers, and the leftovers are sheer heaven.

Other easy brunch classics you’ll love:

• Pear Fritters with Maple-Honey Glaze
• Single-Serving Dark Chocolate Waffle
• Easy Lemon Poppyseed Food Processor Biscuits
• Small-Batch Mixed Berry Cornmeal Pancakes
• Salmon & Potato Hash with Fresh Herbs

Adapted slightly from Food & Wine

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Challah French Toast for One (or Two) People

Yield: 2-4 servings (for 1-2 people total)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Challah bread french toast is one of the easiest brunch recipes around, absolutely delicious and only takes a few minutes. This recipe is for french toast for one or two people, so a small-batch version that can be scaled up.

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Ingredients

• Thick slices of challah (day-old is best, left to dry out overnight)
• 2 eggs (room temp is best)
• Scant 1/3 cup of milk
• 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• Zest of 1/2 a small lemon (or of 1/4 of a medium orange)
• Butter for the pan (and for serving)
• Your preferred topping (I personally love cinnamon-sugar)

Instructions

1. In a medium shallow dish of some kind (that's big enough for your bread slices), beat together the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and lemon (or orange) zest.
2. Heat a medium or large skillet on medium or medium-low heat (you know your stove, you just want to make sure it's not too high where it'll burn quickly).  Melt a bit of butter in the pan.
3. Working with one slice of bread at a time, soak the bread in the egg mixture, giving it at least 5 seconds on either side (I kind of move it around to really get it soaked).  Then add to your buttered pan.  I do 2-3 slices at a time, depending on the size.  Don't crowd the skillet.
4. Cook until golden brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes.  If it's getting too dark too fast, turn the heat down (you need the egg mixture to cook up into the bread, not only fry the outside).  Turn and cook the other side until golden brown, around another 2 minutes.
5. Repeat with the remaining egg-soaked challah. Serve with the toppings you desire...for me, that's some butter (that melts on the slice) and granulated sugar, or cinnamon-sugar.

Notes

1. I think that thick-cut slices are better.  Like maybe an inch thick or just over that?  Don't make the mistake of cutting too thin!
2. You'll get a better french toast texture from day-old challah, and I recommend even slicing it ahead of time and letting it dry out a bit.  This will help it soak up more egg mixture, resulting in a softer, custardier end result.
3. Because challah is a little more dense and we're doing thicker slices, do make sure that you let the bread soak up the liquid.  Don't just do a 2-second dunk...I leave each side in the liquid for like 5 seconds, just to make sure it's picking up enough liquid.

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