French toast is a delicious breakfast dish that has been around for centuries. It’s made by soaking bread slices in a milk-egg mixture, then frying them to create a crispy outside and custard-like interior. Though it may seem simple, there are some common mistakes that can lead to lackluster French toast. Avoiding these pitfalls will help you achieve the perfect balance of crispy, custardy French toast every time.
Not Using Stale Bread
One of the most frequent errors when making French toast is using fresh bread. For best results, the bread should be a day or two old. As bread starts to stale, it dries out and absorbs more of the soaking liquid. This allows the egg mixture to thoroughly saturate the bread, leading to a rich, even texture throughout. Fresh bread will absorb very little of the mixture, often resulting in uneven cooking and raw tasting centers.
For top-notch French toast, let your bread sit out for a day or two uncovered. You can also cube the bread and bake it for 10-15 minutes at 300°F to help accelerate the staling process. Just avoid using moldy or spoiled bread, as this imparts unpleasant flavors. Opting for day-old bread over fresh is a simple tweak that guarantees pillowy perfection.
Not Soaking the Bread Long Enough
Failing to soak the bread long enough is another common misstep. Ideally, the slices should soak in the egg mixture for at least 4-5 minutes per side. This gives enough time for the bread to become completely saturated. Under-soaked bread won’t reach its full custardy potential, even if cooked through.
Be patient and let those slices soak. Swirling the dish occasionally helps the egg mixture permeate evenly. If you’re short on time, you can briefly soak the bread, then let it sit in the mixture-filled dish for 10-15 minutes before cooking. With adequate soaking, your French toast will be infused with rich flavor and have a lush, velvety interior.
Using Too Much Egg
It’s easy to overdo it on the eggs when making French toast. But using too many eggs can make the batter overly rich and dense, resulting in a greasy finished dish. As a general rule, you’ll want two eggs for every four slices of bread. This provides enough egg to soak into the bread and cook up custardy, without becoming heavy or greasy.
If making French toast for a crowd, stick to a ratio of around one egg per slice of bread. Whisk in two tablespoons of milk per egg as well. This lighter, milk-enriched batter keeps the French toast tender instead of rubbery. Resist the urge to use extra eggs unless necessary. With the right egg to bread ratio, your French toast will turn out perfectly balanced.
Not Adding Flavorings
Plain French toast is certainly tasty, but adding flavorful mix-ins takes it to the next level. From spices to extracts to liquor, there are endless ways to liven up your batter. However, many recipes neglect these opportunities, resulting in boring and one-note French toast.
When making your batter, consider adding a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla for warmth and sweetness. Or opt for something more adventurous like pumpkin pie spice, almond extract, or instant espresso powder. For adults, a tablespoon or two of liquor also packs a flavor punch; favorites include rum, Kahlúa, amaretto, and Grand Marnier. The possibilities are endless, so get creative with your flavor combinations. Infuse your batter with flavor and your French toast will be far from plain.
Using Low-Quality Bread
Bread is the foundation of French toast, so using subpar loaves seriously diminishes the finished product. Avoid flimsy white bread and instead opt for heartier artisan or homemade bread. Brioche, challah, and soft sandwich breads like Pullman all make exceptional French toast. These thicker slices will soak up more batter for great texture and won’t fall apart during cooking.
Likewise, stay away from sourdough and other dense, chewy breads. These don’t absorb the batter well, cooking up unevenly. Save those loaves for another use and seek out softer, fluffier bread options. With quality bread as your base, your efforts with batter and technique will pay off in phenomenal French toast.
Not Browning Properly
Pale, soggy French toast is a bummer, but it’s easily avoided. Be sure to let the pan and oil heat up before adding the soaked bread. Use medium heat and cook a few minutes per side until deep golden brown. Lower heat leads to an anemic, mushy exterior. Burning the toast is also a risk if the pan is too hot, so regulate the temperature accordingly.
Pat excess batter off before cooking so it browns more readily. Adding a pat of butter to the pan helps augment browning as well. Keep a close eye on toast that is extra thick or egg-saturated, as it requires more time to cook through. With good pan temperature and an attentive eye, you’ll lock in that sought-after crisp exterior.
Skipping Rest Time
Many French toast recipes direct you to transfer the cooked slices straight from pan to plate. However, letting the toast rest after cooking leads to a vastly superior texture. As French toast cools slightly after cooking, the interior finishes setting while retaining moisture. This prevents the interior from feeling soggy or runny.
After frying, transfer the toast to a cooling rack or paper towel-lined plate. Let it rest for just 2-3 minutes before serving. This small step allows the moisture to evenly distribute, creating sublime French toast that is crisp outside and firm yet cloud-like inside. Your patience will pay off in dividend form with sublimely textured French toast.
Scrimping on Sauce
Great French toast demands a great sauce, but many recipes curiously omit it. Without a sauce, the toast seems dry and incomplete. Always serve your French toast with a flavorful sauce to add moisture, sweetness, and flair.
Classics like maple syrup, confectioners’ sugar, honey, and jam are all stellar options. For fun twists, make an easy berry coulis, vanilla creme anglaise, or boozy caramel sauce. Set out various sauces and let guests customize their French toast. Drizzle it generously over each slice or use it for dipping. With sensational sauces, your French toast will be taken to new heights.
Overcrowding the Pan
To achieve evenly cooked French toast, you must avoid overcrowding the pan. Placing too many slices down at once steams the bread and inhibits browning. For optimal results, cook just 2-3 slices per batch. This allows ample space for browning while still cooking efficiently.
Resist the urge to speed things up by packing in more slices. Not only will they cook unevenly, but moisture released will sog up the toast. Keep batches to a maximum of 3 slices in a standard skillet. Use a large griddle pan if cooking for a crowd. With plenty of space, your French toast will cook up uniformly golden.
Underseasoning the Batter
Don’t be shy when seasoning your French toast batter. Besides flavorings, ample salt, pepper, and sweetener are key. Vanilla French toast often benefits from 1-2 tablespoons of sugar or honey. Savory versions need a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. Sprinkle these over the soaked bread just before cooking for best results.
Proper seasoning prevents a flat, bland flavor. Never assume a batter is seasoned enough by eyeballing it. Taste a small spoonful and adjust until the sweet or savory notes pop. Well-seasoned French toast sings with flavor in every bite instead of falling flat. Don’t hold back on the salt, sugar, and spices.
Not Letting It Rest
Allowing cooked French toast to rest is one of the most overlooked keys to perfection. There’s a temptation to serve it straight from the pan. However, letting it rest off heat for 2-5 minutes makes all the difference.
As French toast cools slightly after cooking, the interior custard finishes setting while retaining moisture. Skipping this rest period means the center stays soggy and wet. With no rest, the interior texture will be uneven and disappointing.
Instead, immediately transfer cooked slices to a wire rack or towel-lined plate. Let them stand for just a few minutes so the moisture evenly distributes. The texture transforms from sodden to cloud-like. For superior French toast that avoids a soggy middle, let it rest before digging in.
Using Low Quality Ingredients
French toast is all about the interplay of contrasts: crispy exterior and rich, tender interior. Using subpar ingredients ruins this equation. Wonder bread may seem like an easy shortcut, but it can’t soak up egg batter well. The result is uneven, soggy toast.
Instead, splurge on higher quality bread. Hearty artisan loaves like brioche, challah, and panettone soak up batter beautifully and cook up ultra tender. Using real maple syrup and high butterfat cream instead of pancake syrup and milk also boosts flavor.
Don’t cut corners with artificial additives either. Use real extracts, spices, and liquors to add flavor. With authentic, high quality ingredients, every layer of flavor will shine through. The extra effort pays off in French toast that looks, tastes, and feels sublime.
Cooking at the Wrong Temperature
Achieving the ideal texture is all about cooking French toast at the right temperature. Too low and it comes out pale, soggy, and underdone. Cranking the heat too high risks burning the exterior before the middle warms.
Preheat your skillet or griddle to a true medium heat, around 350°F, before adding oil or butter. This gives a hot enough baseline for browning without scorching. Adjust temperature as needed if slices are cooking unevenly. Err on the lower end for very thick bread.
Pat slices dry after soaking so they brown faster. Watch closely as they cook, adjusting heat so they turn deep golden rather than pale or dark. With ideal pan temperature, your French toast will emerge with a perfect crisp crust and tender, custardy middle.
Using the Wrong Pan
Your choice of skillet or griddle can make a noticeable difference in the finished French toast. Using a poor quality or incorrectly sized pan leads to uneven cooking and browning. A heavy pan conducts heat efficiently for crispness, while nonstick prevents sticking. Avoid flimsy, lightweight pans that can’t retain heat well or cook evenly.
Make sure to use a pan adequately sized for the amount of French toast you’re cooking. Crowding slices leads to steaming instead of frying. Use a very large griddle or cook in batches for big groups. With the ideal pan, your toast will fry up beautifully golden on both sides.
Rushing the Soaking Time
Patiently soaking bread in egg batter is the key secret to incredible French toast. Rushing this step leads to unevenly soaked bread that fries up soggy. Slices should soak until very saturated and pliable throughout, about 5 minutes per side.
Resist temptation to trim soaking times. Bread will only partially absorb the egg mixture when rushed, frying unevenly. If short on time, soak bread the full time first, then let sit batched in the batter while cooking.
Test saturation by gently squeezing a slice – it should feel soft and saturated, without dry spots. Well soaked bread fries up to a tender, luscious center with no crunchy patches. For outstandingly smooth French toast, stay patient with soaking.
Using Too Much Oil
A common pitfall is over oiling the pan when frying French toast. This causes external greasiness and uneven browning. For optimal texture and appearance, use just enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Over-oiling will fry and saturate the exterior, leaving it greasy and blotchy colored.
The best approach is adding around 1 teaspoon oil per batch. Swirl to evenly coat the pan bottom. Dab away excess oil on soaked bread before adding to prevent oil saturation. Getting the oil amount just right leads to beautiful browning without any unwanted greasiness.
Undercooking the Toast
Biting into undercooked French toast is a huge letdown. Fully cooking the exterior and interior is critical for the ideal crisp yet custardy texture. Don’t pull your toast too soon while the centers remain mushy and wet.
Be patient and cook a few minutes per side, adjusting heat so the exterior doesn’t burn. Peek inside a slice to confirm the center is just set, not soggy. Undercooked pieces can be placed back in the pan for more cooking time. Waiting those extra minutes guarantees your toast meets its full potential, instead of being a raw egg-y mess.
Not Using a Thermometer
Even experienced cooks can benefit from using an instant read thermometer when making French toast. It eliminates any guesswork about when the interior “custard” is just set. For ideal results, temp your toast to around 160°F internally.
Visually judging doneness often fails. A thermometer takes the mystery out of when French toast is perfectly cooked, regardless of slice thickness or batter variation. Target an internal temperature of 160°F for ideal results.
Skipping Egg Soaking
The egg-soaking step is indispensable to creating authentic French toast. Skipping it by simply frying plain bread produces a completely inferior product. Don’t be tempted to save time by neglecting it.
Soaking bread slices in an egg milk bath hydrates the interior and allows cooking up tender, almost custard-like. Dry bread fried plain will never achieve the same luscious, creamy outcome. Even slightly under-soaked bread misses the mark.
Properly soaked French toast emerges both crispy and cloud-like, while plain fried bread stays dry and cardboard-like inside. So while the egg soaking takes extra time and effort, it’s essential to making French toast worth waking up for.
Going Light on the Batter
Don’t be shy when soaking your bread in the French toast batter. Too often, recipes suggest quick dunks just to moisten bread. For the best outcome, slices should be thoroughly soaked until saturated.
This prevents any dry or crunchy spots within the French toast. Give slices ample bath time, about 5 minutes per side. Gently press down so batter permeates the nooks and crannies. Thick batter also helps achieve the classic custardy interior.
Properly battered toast should look very saturated before it even hits the pan. Taking the time to generously soak bread will reward you with luscious, moist French toast from edge to edge.
Skipping the Vanilla
Vanilla may seem like an optional flavoring for French toast, but it adds complexity that takes the dish to the next level. Its fragrant warmth rounds out the flavor profile. Don’t make the mistake of leaving it out.
Madagascar vanilla offers the most aromatic flavor. For maximum impact, scrape the seeds from a whole bean into the batter. Clear vanilla extract also infuses wonderful flavor.
For ultimate flavor, layer vanilla into the batter and sprinkle over the raw soaked bread too. Just a teaspoon or two does the trick. With this small addition, your French toast will go from flat to fabulous.
Conclusion
French toast seems simple but achieving the perfect balance of crisp and custardy takes skill and care. Avoid common pitfalls like using underripe bread, skimping on soak time, and cooking at the wrong temperature. With the right techniques and a little patience, you can master restaurant-worthy French toast in your own kitchen. Savor the joys of golden, puffy French toast by learning how to avoid the most common mistakes.