Best French Toast Recipe (Pain Perdu)
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Sep 19, 2024 
How To Make The BEST French Toast Recipe: Perfectly crispy-on-the-outside custard-like-on-the-inside authentic Pain Perdu. Our Easy French Toast Recipe is pure magic!
Why We Love This Pain Perdu Recipe
After making French toast for many years, I thought I had perfected it. Yet a few years back I had the opportunity to take not one, but three trips to France in a relatively short amount of time. On these trips, it became clear that I still needed to learn a few things about making French toast… The way the French make it! So now, after a couple of Parisian cooking classes, and a lot of at-home experimentation, my French toast is just as amazing as the Pain Perdu we ate in Paris.
Let’s take a moment to compare the key differences between American French toast and the traditional French version, Pain Perdu, so you can create the best French toast you’ve ever tasted. American French toast often ends up eggy, overly spiced, and too thin due to the use of sliced sandwich bread. It can also be dry and “bready” in the middle if the bread isn’t soaked long enough or if too many eggs are used, while sometimes it turns out soggy because the liquid mixture isn’t properly portioned. On the other hand, Pain Perdu should be thick, with a crispy golden exterior and a soft, custard-like interior. It’s sweet enough to stand on its own without needing syrup or toppings, yet not overly sweet, and it offers a delicate vanilla custard flavor.
I can guarantee that after you learn how to make real French toast, you will never want to go back to the American version again.
Ingredients You Need
Here’s What You’ll Need:
- Brioche bread loaf – Unsliced. You will want to slice it into thick pieces yourself. If you can’t find brioche, challah is the next best bread.
- Half & half – Full-fat. This is not the time to be worried about calories or fat. Some recipes call for whole milk and heavy cream in various proportions, but I’ve found buying just one carton of half & half works perfectly and saves money.
- Egg yolks – Don’t want an eggy Pain Perdu Recipe? Well then, just take out the egg whites! The silky quality of the yolks will create the perfect custard texture.
- Sugar – To sweeten the French Toast, making it a stand-alone dish.
- Vanilla extract – Just a little splash to create the vanilla custard flavor.
- Salt – A little pinch of salt does a lot of good, bringing the best flavors to the forefront.
- Butter – To fry the pain perdu.
How To Make French Toast
Are you ready to make a mind-blowing and easy breakfast recipe? Ok, good!
- Preheat the oven. This helps keep the first batches warm, and “finishes off” this recipe’s cooking.
- Whisk. Mix the half & half, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a shallow dish/bowl.
- Cut. Slice a brioche loaf into 1 inch slices. The bread can be fresh or stale. Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to use day-old bread.
- Prep the skillet. Set a large skillet over medium heat. Add a little butter.
- Soak. Soak the brioche in the batter, flipping to coat.
- Fry. Gently move the soaked bread to the hot pan. Fry the coated bread slices until golden brown.
Pro Tip: Perfect French Toast should be golden and crispy on the outside, and custard-like and pillowy in the center… But not raw.
- Keep Warm. Move the cooked bread to the baking sheet and place it in the oven to keep warm.
- Repeat. Continue cooking the remaining thick slices of bread until all the bread is cooked.
Pro Tip: Placing the pieces of French Toast in the oven under low heat, puffs them up a little and keeps the pieces from getting soggy over time. If you are worried about the French Toast being undercooked in the center, the oven also slowly finishes the French Toast off, so to speak. Don’t skip the oven step!
Get The Full Printable Best French Toast Recipe (Pain Perdu) Below. Enjoy!
Topping Suggestions
The beauty of making this recipe authentic is that it’s sweet enough to serve as-is. No toppings needed!
However, feel free to add:
- Maple syrup
- Powdered sugar
- Whipped cream
- Toasted nuts
- Fresh fruit (peaches, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries)
- Caramel sauce
- Chocolate shavings
Frequently Asked Questions
The main difference between French toast and Pain Perdu lies in their preparation, texture, and flavor profile.
French Toast (American style) typically uses thinly sliced sandwich bread and a mixture of eggs, milk, and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s often served with toppings like syrup, powdered sugar, or fruit. The texture can vary, but it’s often eggy or slightly dry if not soaked long enough.
Pain Perdu, which translates to “lost bread” in French, is made from thick slices of day-old or stale bread that are soaked in a custard-like mixture of eggs, cream, vanilla, and sugar. This results in a rich, creamy texture inside, with a crispy, golden exterior. Pain Perdu is meant to stand alone without the need for syrup or toppings due to its balanced sweetness and flavor.
French Toast should never be soggy, but it shouldn’t be bready in the middle either. A perfect Pain Perdu recipe should have a pillowy, well-saturated, custard texture on the inside. That means it will be moister than most Americans traditionally make it. However, if you turn the heat down and cook it a little longer, the crust will become brilliantly caramelized on the outside, while the inside will puff into a soft custard cloud.
Perfect Pain Perdu should be golden and crispy on the outside, and custard-like and pillowy in the center… But not raw.
If the exterior seems to be browning too fast, lower the heat to medium-low. This will allow more time for the interior to cook.
Also, placing the pieces of finished toast in the oven under low heat, puffs them up a little and keeps the pieces from getting soggy over time. If you are worried about your breakfast being undercooked in the center, the oven also slowly finishes this recipe off. This is a very important step!
Really, just a few minutes of “dry time” as you finish cooking the other pieces will do. Around 5-10 minutes, or possibly up to 20 minutes.
Sure! Try using thick canned coconut milk and plant-based “butter”. The thick canned coconut milk helps bring the custard-like consistency instead of using other dairy-free substitutions like almond milk or oat milk.
This recipe tastes its best when it is freshly made, but if you do end up having extra afterward, leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Looking for More Breakfast Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Best Air Fryer French Toast Sticks
- Easy Almond Flour Pancakes
- Sweet Potato Hash
- Tropical Breakfast Muffins
- Egg White Frittata with Spinach and Peppers
- Budwig Cheese Spreads
- Spinach Scrambled Egg Muffins
- Corned Beef Hash
- Cinnamon Twist Recipe
- Ginger Blackberry Muffins
- Cheater Kouign Amann
- Bruleed Grapefruit
- Greek Omelette Casserole
Get The Full Printable Best French Toast Recipe (Pain Perdu) Below. Enjoy!
How To Make French Toast
Video
Ingredients
- 1 loaf brioche bread, unsliced
- 3 cups half & half
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 pinches salt
- 6 tablespoons butter
- Possible Toppings: Toasted almonds, fresh berries, powdered sugar, maple syrup, caramel sauce, chocolate shavings
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Lay out a large baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, whisk the half & half, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and salt together. Make sure the sugar is fully incorporated.
- Use a serrated knife to slice the brioche loaf into 1 inch slices. (About 10 slices.)
- Set a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons butter, depending on the size of the skillet.
- Soak 2-3 pieces of brioche in the egg mixture for about 30-60 seconds, flipping to coat. The bread should soak just long enough to be fully saturated, without dissolving it.
- Carefully move the soaked bread to the hot skillet. Fry the French Toast slices for 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown. If they are cooking faster, lower the heat to medium-low, to make sure the inside is cooked through the middle.
- Move the French Toast to the baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. (The longer it sits in the oven, the puffier it will become.)
- Wipe the skillet out with a paper towel and add more butter to the skillet. (You only need to wipe the skillet if the butter residue looks dark.)
- Repeat with the remaining slices of bread until all the French Toast is cooked. Place each batch in the oven to keep warm.
- Serve warm with fresh berries, maple syrup, or your favorite toppings!
This looks great! But how long should it be kept in the oven?
Hi Yash,
Really, just a few minutes of “dry time” as you finish cooking the other pieces will do. Around 5-10 minutes, or possibly up to 20 minutes.
Hands down BEST french toast!! Everyone raved about it! The store was out of most breads when I went shopping last night so I used Challah bread instead, best choice of my life. It was almost like a desert. The family requested that I make it for all major holidays haha Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Best recipe I’ve found for adapting to gluten free/dairy free! I have to adapt all recipes now to be as wheat, dairy, and sugar-free as I can make them, which has not resulted in awesome French toast previously, but this time it DID! Better than I remember regular French toast! I think your egg yolk trick is brilliant to make it custardy instead of eggy, just luscious! For those who want to duplicate, you know that all GFCF products are not created equal. I used Canyon gluten-free white bread, Planet Oat Oatmilk extra creamy, 6 packets of Zing organic stevia, and fried using coconut oil cooking spray in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat to give it plenty of time to both brown on the outside and cook on the inside. Served it with fresh berries and Coco Whip, it was the best French toast I’ve EVER had, my daughter and I thank you so much for this recipe!
Flavor is good however the recipe should specify in step 7 that the toast should finish cooking in the oven vs warming.
This was a very special and perfect treat and we loved it! I used challah bread because I couldn’t find brioche bread. I had extra egg mixture so I used potato sandwich bread which was also delicious. Thanks so much!
Made with heavy cream instead. Incredible nonetheless.
Nice recipe! Is there a lactose-free option?
Hi Rickle,
Sure! Try using thick canned coconut milk and plant-based “butter”.
i wish to tried this recipie French in my breakfast i wants to change
Thank you for all the tips! My French toast turned out great!
Detailed Explanation. This is why everyone likes french dishes. Thanks for sharing.
This was really good! My kids loved it!
I shouldn’t have seen this first thing in the morning. All I dream of is this beauty! :)