Baked French Toast (easy overnight recipe) - Celebrating Sweets (2024)

FAQs

Why is my overnight French toast soggy? ›

If you want to get the best results with your overnight French toast, I recommend you let your bread dry out for about 30 minutes before adding it to the custard. This will help prevent your french toast from becoming too soggy and will help it achieve a more even texture.

Ideally, the bread should be slightly stale. A drier bread will soak up all the custard. Bread can be left out with the wrapper open the day before cooking. If you find yourself in a pinch, dry your bread slices in a 275°F oven for 10 minutes before soaking them in the custard.

A creamy custard is the key to incredible French toast, so skip the watery skim milk and go for whole milk or half-and-half. Straight heavy cream turns French toast into dessert, so lean that way if you're looking for decadence.

Use stale bread or toast the bread until it's golden-brown. It needs to be sturdy to hold up to the egg mixture. If the bread is fresh from the bag or you toast it too lightly, the finished dish will be soggy. Soak the toasted or untoasted bread for about 10 seconds per side to achieve the optimal texture.

What Is the Best Bread for French Toast? For a solid French toast, aim for sturdy bread with a uniform texture and a soft crust. Hearty sandwich bread, brioche, challah, and shokupan (Japanese milk bread) are all great choices. Avoid rustic loaves with thick crusts or large holes in the interior.

Whatever you decide on, the ratio of liquid to egg will still be about ¼ cup liquid to one egg, and one egg per two slices of bread. So, if you want to make four slices of French toast, you would need four slices of bread, two eggs, and ½ cup milk.

Butter gives French toast a deep richness and comforting quality, which are what we crave on mornings we sizzle this breakfast staple. To prevent burning or smoking, use a combination of butter and oil in the pan to cook the toast.

Many people add subtle flavors to their French toast by sprinkling cinnamon or nutmeg into the egg and milk mixture, or by adding a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract—though sticking with just the essentials will still produce delicious results.

French toast is traditionally made with day-old slices because they absorb the eggy mixture better than fresh ones (and this method prevents waste – it's a win-win). Of course, a slightly stale loaf is certainly not a requirement. If you only have fresh bread on hand, that'll work just fine.

According to the USDA, food that has been left out of the fridge for more than two hours should be thrown away. That's because between 40° F and 140° F (what the USDA calls the "Danger Zone"), bacteria grows incredibly fast and can make you sick.

How often should you flip French toast? ›

Continue until the pan is full with a single layer of toast. Cook until golden brown and all of the batter looks cooked, then flip with a turner and cook the second side until golden brown. If needed, adjust the temperature, so it doesn't burn or stay soggy.

Under- or over-heating your French toast during cooking

Going too heavy on the heat could also turn your French toast into a burnt, smoky mess. Too cold, and you could produce a slice with an unsightly "foot" of custard at the bottom and a sad lack of the same custard in the middle of your bread.

However, soaking it for too long could leave your French toast a little too soggy, and could even cause the bread to fall apart when you lift it up to fry it on the griddle.