Brioche french toast for one is an indulgent 10-minute breakfast made for busy mornings and something a little extra special to get you going for the day. Thickly sliced bakery brioche is soaked in a pumpkin spice, egg, milk, and sugar mixture, then slowly cooked in melted butter. Serve with maple syrup and some berries.
This delicious french toast feels like it came out of a high-end brunch spot, yet, it's easy and uses basic ingredients. This delicious breakfast and brunch recipe can also be made for the whole family, just adjust the servings in the recipe card!
What You Will Love
This easy french toast recipe will be on repeat once you try it. The combination of pumpkin spice, soft buttery bakery brioche, and warm maple syrup will make this your favorite french toast recipe.
Ingredient Notes
After I made this recipe (and shot it), I realized the sugar was missing from the ingredient shot. I added the sugar tag in memory of the absent sugar. You definitely want sugar in your batter!
- Brioche toast: The best bread for this recipe is bakery brioche thickly sliced. You can freeze sliced brioche bread, then warm up slices in the microwave before making this recipe. The next best bread is bakery-baked challah bread.
- Eggs: Use whole eggs. I remove two of the yolks from the eggs because I like a less "eggy" feel when eating French toast. You can substitute two whole eggs for 1 whole egg + 2 egg whites.
- Pumpkin spice: Need I say more? I put pumpkin spice in EVERYTHING come Fall, so why does my French toast need to be any different? If you don't have pumpkin spice on hand, substitute equal parts ground cinnamon.
- Milk: Use any type: 2%, fat-free, whole milk, or nut milk.
- Butter: You only need a little to fry the French toast.
- Vanilla extract: This helps with the "eggy" flavor and makes this breakfast taste dessert-like.
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for quantities.
Quick Overview
Crack the eggs and remove the yolks. Add the sugar, pumpkin spice, milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Whisk rapidly, then soak the bread slices on both sides. Fry in butter until golden.
How To Make Step-By-Step
Crack the eggs in a wide shallow bowl.
Remove two of the three egg yolks delicately using a spoon.
Add the milk, pumpkin spice, sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.
Whisk the egg mixture using a fork.
Dip bread in the egg mixture for 30 seconds per side.
Soak the second side of the bread. Don't over-soak or under-soak!
Heat a large frying pan on medium-low heat. Add the butter and coat the pan evenly. Place the soaked bread in a single layer on the skillet.
Cook for about four minutes per side or until golden brown. Cook long enough for the soaked egg mixture to cook fully.
Add a drizzle of maple syrup and a pat of butter.
Tips and Tricks
Use thick slices of bread, preferably bakery brioche. I drive 45 minutes away to buy bakery brioche from Central Market (the one in Houston, Texas). I buy several loaves at a time and freeze them (pre-sliced). When I want to make French toast, I just pop the frozen slices in the microwave for 15 seconds.
Use natural pure maple syrup. Cheap pancake syrup is full of artificial flavors and high-fructose corn syrup. You just can't replace the natural stuff.
Soak the brioche bread for 30 seconds on each side. If you over-soak the bread, it will fall apart. If you just dip and don't soak, the bread doesn't have time to soak up the spiced egg mixture.
Cook on low to medium heat. For the egg mixture to cook evenly, we need a low stovetop temperature. It takes about four minutes per side. Check the cooking progress part way. Stoves and cooking setups are different, so this might take a little playing around for the sweet spot!
If making this recipe for more than one, use a very wide nonstick skillet to make four toasts at a time. Once the French toast is finished, keep the French toast warm in the oven while preparing the other slices.
Variations and Substitutions
- Substitute thickly sliced bakery challah for best results. Other breads that work well are thickly sliced Texas toast, whole wheat, sourdough bread, or white bread.
- Use honey instead of maple syrup.
- Make this a classic french toast recipe by using two whole eggs instead of one whole egg + two egg whites. I prefer fewer egg yolks to reduce the "eggy" flavor, but you might like it.
- Serve with fresh fruit like strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries.
- Use almond milk or other alternative milk instead of cow's milk.
Storage
I don't recommend storing this recipe. If making this recipe for several people, you may need to keep the French toast warm in the oven until ready to serve.
FAQs
Soggy french toast happens when you cook the toast too quickly on high heat. It takes time for the egg mixture to cook evenly on medium-low heat. To avoid soggy French toast, cook on medium-low for about four minutes per side.
Not necessarily. You can use stale or fresh brioche bread for brioche french toast. The key is not to under-soak or over-soak in the egg mixture and to cook at a medium-low temperature.
It's made of brioche bread slices and a french toast egg mixture.
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📋 Recipe
Brioche French Toast For One
Ingredients
French Toast
- 2 brioche bread slices sliced thick preferably
- 1 egg
- 2 egg whites use whole eggs, then remove the yolk
- 2 tablespoon milk any type
- 1½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice or ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- ½ tablespoon butter
French Toast Toppings
- 1½ tablespoon maple syrup
- 3 ounces fresh berries optional
- ½ tablespoon powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- In a wide bowl, crack the eggs. Remove the egg yolks delicately using a spoon. You will remove two out of every three egg yolks.
- Add the milk, sugar, pumpkin spice (or ground cinnamon), milk, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt. Mix well with a fork.
- Place the brioche french bread in the egg mixture for 30 seconds each side.
- Heat up a wide skillet on medium-low heat with a tad bit of butter.
- Place the brioche slices on the skillet and cook slowly for about 4 minutes on each side. Check the brioche slices to make sure they aren't cooking too quickly. We want golden brown outside and cooked on the inside.
- Serve with maple syrup, berries, and powdered sugar.
Video
Notes
- It's super important to use delicious bread. I get sliced brioche bread from a local bakery and then freeze it. When I want to make this in the morning, I just heat up 2 slices in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
- Substitute sliced challah, texas toast, whole wheat bread, white bread, or any type of thick sliced bread.
- Substitute 2 whole eggs for 1 egg + 2 egg whites if you like. The traditional french toast recipe uses 2 whole eggs, but I like using egg whites because it doesn't have that "eggy" taste.
- Use high-quality natural maple syrup rather than high fructose pancake syrup. You just can't beat natural flavors!
- Brioche french toast serves well with fresh berries like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
- Substitute equal parts ground cinnamon for pumpkin spice. Or omit.
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