Easy Sourdough French Toast Recipe

This easy sourdough french toast recipe starts with slices of fresh sourdough bread, dipped in a mixture of pasture raised eggs, milk and a pinch of cinnamon.

Each slice of egg-soaked bread is quickly fried in a skillet, until it turns a beautiful golden brown. Homemade french toast is a perfect weekend breakfast, drizzled with local honey or maple syrup.

I’m vacationing in Fairview North Carolina this week, just outside Asheville. Farmers market season is in full swing and we arrived on Friday night. That means I was up early on Saturday to head to the market in search of veggies, eggs, meat and so on.

I was also planning to buy a loaf of homemade sourdough bread at the market, instead something even better happened. I found a bakery minutes from where we’re staying that makes a true sourdough bread – it’s long-fermented for three days. Three days you guys, that’s a rare find!

As soon as I saw this beautiful loaf of sourdough bread from Rise Above Bakehouse I knew it was destined for my easy french toast recipe. Look at all those delicious pockets of airy goodness!

If you’re looking for a quick sourdough breakfast recipe, this is the one for you! But don’t feel you have to limit yourself to breakfast, french toast also makes an easy lunch or brunch. Heck, we’re all adults here, have it for dinner if you want.

Let’s dive into the ingredients you’ll need to make this delicious breakfast treat.

Sourdough French Toast Ingredients

My easy sourdough french toast recipe requires just 6 simple ingredients: sourdough bread, eggs, local honey, milk, cinnamon and a little butter to fry it in.

1. Sourdough Bread

Starting with quality sourdough bread is the key to the perfect french toast.

Real sourdough has been fermented for at least 6 to 12 hours, which gives it an airy, chewy texture.

This chewy texture makes sourdough bread perfect for french toast because it can hold up to the eggs without getting soggy.

If you don’t have homemade sourdough bread, you can buy it from an artisan baker that specializes in sourdough like I did. Here’s how to recognize the best sourdough bread for french toast.

Please avoid using extra thick slices of sourdough bread as you may not get the crunchy factor you expect in a perfect french toast.

And if you’re curious about sourdough bread, I wrote an entire guide to artisan bread versus sourdough bread and regular bread.

2. Pasture Raised Eggs

I made this sourdough french toast with pasture raised eggs from Dry Ridge Farm in North Carolina.

Find out how to buy farm fresh eggs, or use whatever good quality eggs you have on hand.

3. Local Honey

Usually french toast is drizzled with maple syrup, and while I have nothing against [real] maple syrup, honey is a far better match for french toast.

Especially this treasure of a honey with natural notes of cinnamon that I found at the Asheville City Farmers Market. The cinnamon flavor is from the clover the bees were feeding on this year.

When I knew I was making sourdough french toast, it called to be drizzled with this honey.

Notes of cinnamon, plus french toast – yes please! This would be the perfect pairing.

I highly recommend always buying raw unfiltered honey from a local beekeeper and even wrote an entire article about it!

4. Milk

When making sourdough french toast, or any french toast, you need the eggs liquid enough that they’ll soak into the bread some, but not so liquid that the bread gets soggy. I add just a half tablespoon of milk for two eggs.

You can make your milk and egg mixture with whole milk or regular 2% milk. Or, if you’re dairy-free, you can make your french toast with almond milk or soy milk instead of regular milk.

5. Cinnamon

Just a pinch of ground cinnamon added to the eggs before whisking is perfect. We’re not wanting to over power the other ingredients here.

How to Make Sourdough French Toast

This easy recipe easily makes four pieces of sourdough french toast and depending on the size of your slices of bread, you might get six.

1. Break two eggs into a shallow bowl that’s wide enough to accommodate a slice of bread.
2. Add half a tablespoon of milk and a pinch of cinnamon.
3. Use a fork to whisk the ingredients just until the yolks are blended well with the egg whites.
4. Heat a skillet over medium heat on the stovetop.
5. Add a tablespoon of butter to the hot skillet.
6. While the butter melts, slide a slice of sourdough bread into the egg mixture. Coat one side, then flip and coat the other. Be sure to coat the crust so you get those nice crispy edges. But don’t leave the bread in there to soak!
7. Place the egg-coated bread carefully into the sizzling butter.
8. Don’t touch until it starts to brown, then flip and finish the other side. When it’s done there will be splotches of golden brown on the toast and the egg will appear cooked. This will take just 2-3 minutes per side.
9. Repeat step 6 to 8 for each slice of bread. Or, fry 2 slices of bread at a time if there’s room in your skillet.

Rather than maple syrup, I recommend drizzling local honey over your sourdough french toast. Honey is the perfect pairing for this french toast recipe!

What to Serve with Sourdough French Toast

I like to top my french toast slices with butter and local honey, but you don’t have to stop there.

• Maple syrup
• Fresh berries
• ​Fried bacon
• Fruit compote
• Whipped cream

FAQ: Sourdough French Toast

How to avoid soggy french toast?

Here are 6 ways to avoid the dreaded soggy french toast!

1. Hot skillet – Place your slices of bread in a hot skillet immediately after dipping them in your custardy egg mixture.
2. Chewy bread – Make french toast with bread that has a chewy texture, rather than bread that is light and fluffy.
3. Crust-on – For best results, do not remove the crust from your slices of bread.
4. Only a little milk – Only use a little bit of milk in your eggs. My french toast recipe uses just half a tablespoon of milk per two eggs!
5. Large skillet – Make french toast in a large skillet. You want to be sure that the entire surface of each slice of bread is touching the base of the skillet so it browns well.
6. Don’t soak the bread – When dipping the bread into the egg and milk mixture, only leave it in long enough to coat the slice, do not leave it in there to soak.

Can I make french toast with stale bread?

If you’re wondering whether you can use old bread or stale sourdough bread to make french toast – I’ve tested this and have the answer!

Yes, you can make french toast with stale sourdough bread, it just requires a little modification. You’ll need to soak the bread for longer in your egg and milk mixture. I recommend soaking each slice for 15 to 25 seconds per side, and press down on it to encourage the liquid to be absorbed.

Honestly, I didn’t love this as much as french toast with fresh sourdough bread, but it was a tasty way to use up bread you might otherwise consider too dry.

Can you make french toast with sourdough bread?

Yes, sourdough bread makes a delicious french toast! In fact, I think sourdough is the best bread for making french toast! So long as you start with a good quality sourdough bread. 

Quality sourdough bread not only tastes incredible, it’s a sturdy bread and that keeps it from getting soggy from the egg and milk mixture.

Not all sourdough breads are created equal though. Keep reading to learn how to find the best sourdough bread for french toast.

What’s the best sourdough bread for french toast?

The key to the best sourdough is a baker who uses the natural process of fermentation to rise their dough, and not commercial baker’s yeast.

By its definition, sourdough is a bread that’s naturally leavened through the process of fermentation. But many bakers use baker’s yeast in their sourdough. Baker’s yeast speeds up the process of rising the dough, making fermentation unnecessary or incredibly brief and superficial.

Not only does taking a shortcut with commercial yeast impact the taste and texture of the sourdough, it also impacts the health benefits that you get from a real fermented sourdough loaf.

Studies show that fermented breads are easier to digest (such as this one). Those who don’t tolerate wheat (me), may find they can enjoy sourdough without issues (yay me!).

How to identify the best sourdough bread for french toast:

• Fermented for at least 6 to 12 hours, with 24 plus hours being ideal
• Does not include commercial baker’s “yeast” in the ingredient list

Can I make this french toast recipe with regular bread?

While you probably could make this french toast with regular bread, french bread or another type of fresh bread, I created and tested this recipe with sliced sourdough bread. So I can’t guarantee that it will turn out as well with another type of bread.

Easy Sourdough French Toast

This sourdough french toast recipe starts with great ingredients, and lets them shine. Delicious sourdough bread dipped in a mixture of pasture raised eggs, milk and a pinch of cinnamon. Then drizzled with local honey.

It’s perfect, the kind of meal that makes you say “Wow” out loud.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 tbsp milk
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 1 tbsp butter
• 4 slices sourdough bread
• local honey enough to drizzle

Instructions

 

• Break both eggs into a wide bowl.
• Add the milk and cinnamon.
• Whisk the ingredients together with a fork, just until the yolks and egg whites are blended.
• Heat a skillet over medium heat on the stovetop.
• Add the butter to the hot skillet.
• While the butter melts, slide a slice of sourdough bread into the egg mixture. Coat one side, then flip and coat the other. Be sure to coat the crust, but don't leave it to soak.
• Place the egg-coated bread carefully into the sizzling butter.
• Let it fry, untouched, until it begins to brown. Then flip. About 2 to 3 minutes per side. Repeat steps 6-8 for each slice of bread.
• Drizzle the sourdough french toast with local honey to serve.

Notes

Multiple slices of french toast can be fried at the same time as your pan will accommodate.

Keyword french toast, honey, sourdough

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