7 Tips for Making Good French Toast Better

Think beyond basic bread.

Most of French toast is bread. While obvious, it's worth noting because bread opens the door to a massive upgrade. You'll have a hard time making top-notch French toast with plain white bread pulled out of a plastic sleeve. For a better final breakfast, start from a fresh-baked loaf.

Further changes to that bread emphatically affects your final product. For a more flavorful French toast, experiment with different kinds of bread like sourdough, challah, brioche, or even banana bread. Think of the possibilities!

Cut thick slices and give them a hearty soaking.

Thinly sliced French toast loses something about its luxuriousness, so go thick, at least ½ inch per slice. A thicker slice gives each bite more French toastiness, along with a greater capacity to sponge up more egg-and-milk mixture.

Jazz up your egg-milk batter.

When you dunk your bread into its egg-and-milk mixture, each slice is imbued with it. So why not enhance what it absorbs and give each slice more flavor?

Though the result is subtle, call on farm-fresh eggs and whole milk for a richer, creamier dunk. To create a more noticeable flavor boost, spike your egg-milk mixture with vanilla extract. And don't sleep on the cinnamon: A few extra shakes can go a long way.

Rethink your maple syrup.

When topping French toast at the table, skip the corn syrup pretenders. Many products labeled as "breakfast" or "pancake" syrups don't have any real maple in them at all. Be sure you're getting the real thing boiled from the sap of the maple tree: a sweetener with eye-widening complexity.

Think beyond maple syrup.

Yes, maple syrup is the standard topping—for good reason—but for a wow-worthy presentation, think outside the bottle. Consider topping your French toast slices with a dollop of cool ricotta and a spoonful of your favorite jam—say cherry or apricot. For something completely different, try our recipe for raspberry chia jam.

To add something different and welcome to your French toast slice, slather it with a compound butter that embraces sweet ingredients, like honey butter. Mix and match these new toppings, with or without maple syrup, and you'll likely discover a completely new favorite approach.

Use a non-stick pan.

Given how much egg-coated bread absorbs, we recommend cooking French toast in a non-stick pan. Some argue that standard pans allow your slices to develop a more flavorful color during cooking, but spending 10 minutes scrubbing off egg glued to a pan isn't our idea of fun. Non-stick is especially helpful when you're making several big batches and want minimal cleaning in between them.

Don't skip butter in the pan.

There are times to reach for cooking oil like grapeseed, but this isn't one of them. Sizzling French toast in butter gives it a deep richness and comforting quality, which are exactly what we crave about this breakfast staple. To prevent burning or smoking, cook your French toast in a combination of butter and oil.