Alton Brown French Toast Recipe (2024)

Alton Brown's French ToastRecipe is a classic French Toast recipe. It is easy, uses common ingredients, and has a secret ingredient that sets it apart from the rest! Hint - it's not sugar!! Can you guess what the secret ingredient is?

Whether it is your first time making French toast or you’re an expert, this Alton Brown French Toast is one recipe that everyone needs in their back pocket for a quick and delicious breakfast.

This recipe uses half-and-half for the custard, sweetened with just a bit of honey (secret ingredient!). You can use a mixture of half milk and half heavy cream in place of the half-and-half. For an even creamier custard, use all heavy cream.

Alton Brown's French Toast recipe with a drizzle of maple syrup

What is the best type of bread for french toast?

Your french toast can only be as good as the type of bread it is made with. I love enriched bread like challah or brioche which taste fantastic as they are, but soaked bread in a creamy custard mixture and fried in butter, can only be even better. A stale country loaf of white bread will work as well. Bread with denser crumb is preferred as it can soak up the custard well to give that creamy interior texture when cooked.

Why do we use day-old bread for french toast?

Day-old bread or stale bread is best for french toast because you want the bread to be dry. Dryer bread will soak up the creamy custard better and won’t fall apart during the process.

You can prepare the bread the night before by slicing it up and place the slices on a wire rack in the oven overnight without the heat on. If you only have fresh bread, you can bake the slices at 300°F to dry them out right before making your french toast.

You also want the slices to be thick enough for many of the same reason as above. The optimum thickness is about 1/2” to 1”. This Alton Brown French Toast recipe calls for 1/2” slices. The best way to soak the bread is to divide the custard into two portions, pour custard mixture into a 9”x13” baking dish and soak 4 slices at a time. Remove them to a cooling rack to rest. Repeat with the rest of the custard and bread slices. This way everything soaks up nicely and evenly.

Alton Brown French Toast Toppings

This Alton Brown French Toast is a very basic recipe. It can be customized easily by adding a little almond extract, brown sugar, or a pinch of cinnamon in the custard mixture. Top it with real maple syrup, or homemade whipped cream and strawberry compote this weekend.

How to make Alton Brown French Toast

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Warm honey in the microwave for 20 seconds. Add honey, half-and-half, eggs and salt to a medium size mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth.

Pour half the egg mixture into a 9”x13” baking pan, add 4 slices of bread and soak 30 seconds on each side. Remove to a wire rack placed over a cookie sheet and let rest for 1 - 2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining custard and bread slices.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a nonstick saute pan over medium-low heat. Fry 2 slices of bread at a time for 2 - 3 minutes each side until golden brown. Remove from pan and place on the rack in the middle of the oven for 5 minutes, remove to a plate when done. Repeat with the remaining bread slices.

Looking for more French Toast recipes?

Creme Brulee French Toast
Bananas Foster French Toast
Slow Cooker French Toast
Apple Cinnamon French Toast

Cooking Tools Recommended for French Toast

Most home cooks will already have many of the tools needed to make this French toast recipe, but for your convenience I've listed the tools I use when making French Toast. Just click on the item name and find the product I use on Amazon.

Disclosure: Life Tastes Good is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. Please note: The following links are affiliate links to products I use and love.

Ingredients

8 slices day-old bread, 1/2" thick
1 cup half-and-half
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Warm 2 tablespoons honey in microwave for 20 seconds. Add honey, 1 cup half-and-half, 3 eggs and 1/4 tsp salt to a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together until smooth.
Pour half the custard mixture into a 9”x13” baking pan, add 4 slices of bread and soak for 30 seconds on each side. Remove to a cooling wire rack placed over a cookie sheet and let rest for 1 - 2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining custard and bread slices.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a nonstick saute pan over medium-low heat. Fry 2 slices of bread at a time for 2 - 3 minutes each side until golden brown. Remove from pan and place on the rack in the middle of the oven for 5 minutes, remove to a plate when done. Repeat with the remaining bread slices.

Notes:

This is a copycat recipe of Alton Brown’s recipe - Good Eats on Food Network

Nutrition Facts

Calories

290.57

Fat (grams)

21.96

Sat. Fat (grams)

12.88

Carbs (grams)

16.61

Fiber (grams)

0.25

Net carbs

16.36

Sugar (grams)

11.48

Protein (grams)

7.71

Sodium (milligrams)

298.49

Cholesterol (grams)

196.29

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