Serves a Crowd

My Father's Challah Bread French Toast

by:
March 25, 2016
5
1 Ratings
My Father's Challah Bread French Toast
Photo by Linda Xiao
  • Prep time 25 minutes
  • Cook time 15 minutes
  • Makes 8 pieces of french toast
Author Notes

This version of challah bread french toast features brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. For me, this recipe represents relaxed weekend mornings and sharing food with loved ones. —Josh Cohen

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 8 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 8 slices of challah bread, cut approximately 3/4-inch thick
  • Maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
Directions
  1. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and whisk thoroughly. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar, and whisk to combine, making sure to eliminate any lumps.
  2. In order to efficiently soak the challah bread, I like to transfer the egg mixture to a large casserole or baking dish. Soak the slices of challah bread in the egg mixture. If you can’t fit all of the bread into the egg mixture at one time, stack slices of bread on top of each other as necessary. Allow the bread to soak for 20 minutes, making sure to rotate the bread from the bottom of the stack to the top at least twice.
  3. Set a small pot over low heat and add as much maple syrup as you think you will want with your french toast. If you don’t want warm maple syrup with your french toast, then you can skip this step, but I recommend that you try it!
  4. Set a large skillet over medium heat, and add the canola oil. When the oil is warm, add the butter. The canola oil will help prevent the butter from burning. When the butter is hot and bubbling, add as many slices of bread as you can comfortably fit in the skillet in a single even layer. Cook the french toast until it is nicely browned on one side, then flip it and then cook it until it is nicely browned on the other side. Cook the french toast in as many batches as necessary. Add extra butter if the skillet begins to look too dry. Serve with the warm maple syrup. Enjoy.
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14 Reviews

Bar49
Bar49 May 18, 2016
Made it this morning. Delicious!
 
Gary S.
Gary S. April 22, 2016
I like the Larousse version.. Bring milk to simmer with vanilla seeds then soak first in hot milk followed by egg dip.
 
Emily S.
Emily S. April 22, 2016
Challah is the best! We never knew about it until we moved to New York, but my husband loves making French toast AND bread pudding with it. So much so we took the bread with us on an airplane home for Christmas last year just so he could make it for his family. Everyone loved it!

Our go-to toppings are Nutella (or Speculoos for the nut-allergies), fruit and whipped cream.
 
Cheri S.
Cheri S. April 22, 2016
Sounds great, but so odd that Food 52 would feature this in an email during Passover!! ;)
 
Arrxx
Arrxx April 22, 2016
Not everyone on this site is Jewish ;-))
 
Cheri S.
Cheri S. April 22, 2016
No, and I'm not either, but it struck me as funny timing to use a traditionally Jewish food as the basis for a meal at a time that observant Jews can't eat it!
 
Arrxx
Arrxx April 22, 2016
In our multi-cultural world I guess challah is no more a Jewish bread than a baguette is French. I laugh when people refer to it as challah bread. ;-) I'll file this one for after Passover. Where's the recipe for fried matzoh this week???
 
Cheri S.
Cheri S. April 22, 2016
Yes, you're right -- it's now ubiquitous, like hummus. A friend of mine usually makes her own challah, but once she ordered it from a bakery. Imagine her surprise when she picked it up and it had been baked in a loaf pan!
 
Mary B.
Mary B. April 4, 2016
The ratio of eggs to milk in this recipe is astonishingly high. I typically use about 1/2 cup milk PER EGG, and this uses a total of 1/4 cup milk for 8 eggs. It strikes me that this would make it hard for the bread to absorb the liquid, and it would result in those dreaded tough eggy crusts around the bread. Has anyone tried it to see how it actually turned out?
 
Aimee S.
Aimee S. April 8, 2016
with Challa bread, and the length of time they say to soak the bread in the egg mix, It sounds about right to me. and if you cook it at a reasonably low temperature, it should not get too rubbery or crusty. It sounds awesome to me, but that is because I am always experimenting with eggs to see what I can do with them. :)
If you decide to give it a try, follow the recipe exactly so that you have a good starting place to make changes that you find acceptable... :) this french toast is not going to be like your regular french toast. :) I like mine a little dense anyway.
 
Elizabeth M.
Elizabeth M. April 4, 2016
I am going to try this--but substitute coconut oil for canola...and try to be healthy. :)
 
Jim
Jim April 3, 2016
My wife and I own a B&B and serve Challah bread French Toast quite often. Our recipe is very similar\; 9 egg yolks and 6 whites, 2 cups of whole milk. 2T of cinnamon, 2T vanilla and 3T sugar or Splenda. Soak bread for 10 min. on each side and cook on a griddle using butter & olive oil.

Your recipe sounds delicious so we will give it a try!
 
GsR
GsR April 3, 2016
Other than the cinnamon, I grew up on the same French toast. It was fantastic as kid and is still so as an AK.
 
Carolyn R.
Carolyn R. March 29, 2016
I am going to try this!!!