challah french toast

On Friday’s post (seen here) I mentioned that I was going to make the best French toast ever. It’s so good, you could eat it without butter and syrup, and it would still taste amazing. My mom got this recipe from the fabulous Ina Garten, and it has since become a staple on our Saturday mornings. The secret to this recipe is using challah bread (pronounced HAH-lah). I drove to four different grocery stores looking for this bread and finally found it at Trader Joe’s. The challah bread is the deal breaker in this recipe, so make sure to use it. The French toast turns out soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Ingredients

6 extra-large eggs

1 1/2 cups half-and-half or milk

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon good honey

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large loaf challah or brioche bread

Unsalted butter

Vegetable oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, orange zest, vanilla, honey, and salt. Slice the challah in 3/4-inch thick slices. Soak as many slices in the egg mixture as possible for 5 minutes, turning once.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a very large saute pan over medium heat. Add the soaked bread and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Place the cooked French toast on a sheet pan and keep it warm in the oven. Fry the remaining soaked bread slices, adding butter and oil as needed, until it's all cooked. Serve hot with maple syrup, raspberry preserves, and/or confectioners' sugar. 

Recipe via