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This challah French toast recipe is one of our all-time favorite breakfasts! Homemade challah bread is dipped in a sweet custard, then cooked into the best French toast of your life.
Why You’ll Love This Challah French Toast
- Easy. If the idea of making French toast with homemade bread sounds intimidating, stop right there. It is actually very easy to do! You can 100% make a loaf of challah, then dip it into a simple custard and make it into a fabulous breakfast.
- Flexible. If you really don’t want to use homemade challah, you can absolutely make this recipe with store bought challah or even brioche.
- Decadent. Each slice of this french toast is perfectly crisp on the outside, yet tender and fluffy on the inside. If you use one of my challah recipes, the bread itself will also be flavored with either honey-vanilla or maple! Then you can really go to town with your favorite fixings. I personally love blueberries and maple syrup with this recipe.
Watch The Video
Want to see how to make this French toast recipe step-by-step? In the video below I’ll show you how to make the challah from scratch, then turn it into an incredible plate of French toast.
What Kind of Bread To Use
I like to use slightly dense, semi-sweet bread for French toast. Denser bread holds up better in terms of slicing, dipping, and cooking. Not to mention holding its shape once all of that is done and you want to cut into a perfect slice piled high with your favorite toppings! If you want to see what all your options are, check out this post about the best breads to use for French toast.
What kind of bread did I use for this recipe? I have two challah bread recipes that both work wonderfully for this recipe:
- Honey Vanilla Challah Bread – You can bake this as a regular 3-braid loaf or, my recommendation, bake it in a loaf pan. The bake time is the same and this produces a tighter, slightly more dense loaf that is easier to slice.
- Sourdough Maple-Vanilla Challah Bread – This is is a sourdough variation of the recipe above. You can bake it as a braid or in a loaf pan.
For the photos shown here, I used my sourdough challah bread and baked it in a loaf pan. 🙂
How to Make Challah French Toast
Are you ready to make French toast from scratch? Here’s how to do it:
Make (Or Prep) The Bread
- Make the challah. Choose which challah recipe you are going to make, then follow the instructions in that recipe. After braiding the dough, place it in a greased 9×5 loaf pan and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes until golden and baked through.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes after baking. Then remove from the pan and allow to finish cooling. Once the bread has reached room temperature, cut it into thick slices and lay them out on a cooling rack to dry overnight.
- If using storebought bread. If you are using storebought bread, simply set the slices out to dry overnight. Or, use stale bread.
Do the bread slices have to dry overnight?
It is not 100% necessary but your bread will absorb more custard if you let it dry out. After all, French toast was invented to use up stale bread! If you must make your challah the same day as you made your bread, at least let the bread cool completely. It should be room temperature inside and out. If you try to slice the bread while it is still warm it will break and won’t hold its shape when you try to make it into French toast.
Make the French Toast
- Prep your tools. Position a drying rack over a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 180F and place a separate oven-safe drying rack over a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in the oven. (So you will need two sets of drying racks set over lined baking sheets.)
- Make the custard. Mix custard ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl and pour into a 9×9 baking dish.
- Add the bread. Soak dried bread slices in custard 2 slices at a time, for about 2 minutes per side. Set the soaked bread on the drying rack to sit. Sprinkle each slice with a pinch or two of cinnamon to taste.
- Cook. After sitting for ~3 minutes begin cooking the soaked bread on a griddle greased with 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Don’t overcrowd the pan/griddle (I cook two slices at a time).
- Cook bread slices on each side for ~ 2 minutes. Check for doneness judging by color. Each side should be golden brown. Make sure the slices cook through and evenly (rotate them around if your pan or griddle has hot spots). Add ~1/2 tbsp butter to the griddle after each batch of French toast has cooked and let it foam and subside before adding the next slices.
- Keep warm in the oven. When both sides are cooked, place in the oven on the prepared drying rack to keep warm.
- Serve. We like to serve this with homemade whipped cream, maple syrup, and blueberries.
Topping Ideas
We like to serve this with maple vanilla whipped cream and fresh blueberries, plus maple syrup. But of course, the possibilities are endless! Here are some other ideas:
- Confectioners sugar
- Fresh fruit – Any kind of berry, fresh mango slices or fresh peach slices would be lovely.
- Maple cream or whipped honey butter
- Fruit butter – Apple butter or pumpkin butter are my favs.
- Fruit Sauce – Add a drizzle of blueberry or strawberry sauce.
- Caramel sauce – Use regular caramel sauce, or salted caramel.
- Chocolate sauce
- Cinnamon sugar – You can sprinkle some on top just before serving.
How to Store Leftovers
- Store in the fridge: Let your French toast cool to room temperature, then transfer your extra slices to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freeze it: Let it come to room temperature, then wrap each slice in tin foil before storing the slices in an airtight, freezer-safe container. They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating French Toast
To reheat, I recommend the microwave + oven method. You can do this by zapping individual slices in the microwave for 30 seconds, then warming them in an oven heated to 350F for about 5 minutes. This way you can quickly warm the inside of the toast in the microwave, then the oven will crisp up the edges.
You can also reheat your French toast in the microwave OR oven only. However, I find the microwave-only method can make the toast soggy. Similarly, the oven-only method can crisp up the outsides too much while leaving the center cold.
More French Toast Recipes
- Overnight French Toast Bake
- Bourbon Apple Crisp French Toast Casserole
- French Toast in a Mug (affiliate link)
- French Toast Donuts
Challah French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 loaf of sourdough challah or honey vanilla challah, preferably baked in a loaf pan. You can also use a loaf of store bought challah.
For the Custard
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups half and half
- ¼ cup honey, poured into a microwave safe bowl and heated in microwave 30 seconds
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch grated nutmeg
- 3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter, for cooking
- French toast toppings of choice, such a maple syrup, whipped cream, fresh fruit or confectioners sugar
Instructions
Make the Bread
- Make the challah. Follow the recipes above. After braiding the dough, place it in a greased 9×5 loaf pan and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes until golden and baked through.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes after baking. Then remove from the pan and allow to finish cooling.
- Slice and leave out overnight. Once the bread has reached room temperature, cut it into thick slices and lay them out on a cooling rack to dry overnight.
- If using store bought bread. If you are using store bought bread, simply set the slices out to dry overnight. Or, use stale bread.
Make the French Toast
- Prep your tools. Position a drying rack over a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 180F and place a separate oven-safe drying rack over a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in the oven. (So you will need two sets of drying racks set over lined baking sheets.)
- Make the custard. Mix custard ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl and pour into a 9×9 baking dish.
- Add the bread. Soak dried bread slices in custard 2 slices at a time, for about 2 minutes per side. Set the soaked bread on the drying rack to sit. Sprinkle each slice with a pinch or two of cinnamon to taste.
- Cook. After sitting for ~3 minutes begin cooking the soaked bread on a griddle greased with 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Don’t overcrowd the pan/griddle (I cook two slices at a time).
- Cook bread slices on each side for ~ 2 minutes. Check for doneness judging by color. Each side should be golden brown. Make sure the slices cook through and evenly (rotate them around if your pan or griddle has hot spots). Add ~1/2 tbsp butter to the griddle after each batch of French toast has cooked and let it foam and subside before adding the next slices.
- Keep warm in the oven. When both sides are cooked, place in the oven on the prepared drying rack to keep warm.
- Serve. We like to serve this with homemade whipped cream, maple syrup, and blueberries.
I made your french toast this weekend and WOW wow wow. This is hands down the best french toast and my family agreed. I made your sourdough challah this time and am going to try your honey vanilla challah bread next to see which one we like better. Keep the recipes coming!
Yay! We love this recipe too. Glad your family enjoyed it as well. <3