Vanilla Bean French Toast! Thick slices of challah or brioche dipped in a fragrant vanilla bean custard are then griddled until golden. Top with fresh juicy nectarines and syrup!
French toast is serious business. But first you must know I realize I should be posting a bunch of festive red, white and blue recipes… but to be honest from BlogHer, to softball, to work and to blogging the holiday kind of snuck up on me. So my sincere apologies on that bit. I promise to make it up to you next week with a plethora of new recipes! Deal?
Okay so back to business.
From the bread to the egg mixture to the endless toppings, French toast could just be my favorite breakfast-y thing to make. I say that just about everything, but go with it. I’ve made lots of French toast in the past, but if you’re looking for a simple, easy and pretty basic French toast recipe… then this is it.
I have this thing with nectarines. I love them so much this is my third recipe up on this here bloggy-blog. I’ve posted this cardamom nectarine recipe, this parfait recipe recipe and now I put them on my French toast… which was fab by the way!
To Make Vanilla Bean French Toast You Will Need:
- eggs
- vanilla bean
- heavy cream
- challah or brioche
- nectarines
- sugar or vanilla sugar
- ground cardamom
Crack and add the eggs into a dish.
Moving on, so you see I had this here lonely vanilla bean that was destined to be something great. All you do is split the length of the entire bean with a sharp knife.
With the back of the knife, scrape up that glorious vanilla bean caviar. Truth: so many times I just want to pop that vanilla caviar strait into my mouth… of course I’m scared it’ll taste dis-GUS-ting and I’ll hate it… but it doesn’t stop the urge from happening.
Add that goodness to the eggs.
I had my cute-as-pie almost nine-year-old pour the heavy cream (a cup-ish) into the dish with the vanilla and eggs.
Add a pinch of kosher salt and whisk it up… make sure to break up that vanilla bean so it gets evenly distributed.
Challah!
Slice the loaf into slices about a half to a full inch thick.
Preheat 325°-350℉ (or 160°-180℃).
Melt and spread a little coconut oil (or butter) on a preheated griddle or skillet. BTW this is my childhood griddle made by Farberware, it’s as old as I am (if not older), it’s stainless and it still works like a champ! I love this thing!
Dunk both sides…
And place on a hot griddle.
Once a dark golden crust forms on the bottom… flip.
HOW TO KEEP FRENCH TOAST WARM:
As you work in batches, transfer the cooked pumpkin french toast to a clean rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in a low 200℉ (90℃) oven.
To make the nectarines I just sliced up three nectarines, sprinkled them with three teaspoons of vanilla sugar, 1/8 of a teaspoon of ground cardamom and tossed. Just let them sit there for a while so the sugar can bring out those juices.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH PUMPKIN FRENCH TOAST:
- bacon, regular or maple sausage links or patties
- fresh fruit and/or berries
- coffee or tea
- for brunch, serve with scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, yogurt and hash browns.
HOW LONG WILL FRENCH TOAST LAST IN THE FRIDGE:
Got leftover French toast? Save it and enjoy it later in the week! Store the French toast in an air-tight container or resealable bag/stasher bag (to avoid drying out or absorbing fridge odors) and refrigerate for up to 3 to 5 days!
CAN FRENCH TOAST BE FROZEN?
Absolutely! Flash freeze the French toast first on a rimmed baking sheet for 30 minutes, portion serving amounts into resealable baggies (or stasher bags) and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FRENCH TOAST RECIPES!
Enjoy! And if you give this Vanilla Bean French Toast recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Vanilla Bean French Toast with Nectarines
Ingredients
FOR THE FRENCH TOAST:
- 1 loaf challah, sliced 1/2 to 1-inch thick (or about 12 slices)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean, split and vanilla caviar scraped out
- 1 pinch of kosher salt
- coconut oil, or butter, for griddle
FOR THE NECTARINES:
- 3 nectarines, pit discarded and sliced
- 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar, or 1 tablespoon regular sugar plus 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
MAKE THE FRENCH TOAST:
- Preheat 325°-350℉ (or 160°-180℃).
- Whisk together the eggs, vanilla caviar, heavy cream and salt.
- Dunk both sides of the slice Challah and place on hot, preheated griddle that has been oiled with coconut oil or butter.
- Flip once a dark golden crust forms on the bottom and repeat.
- As you work in batches, transfer the cooked pumpkin french toast to a clean rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in a low 200℉ (90℃) oven.
MAKE THE NECTARINES:
- In a medium bowl, toss the nectarine slices with vanilla sugar and cardamom. Let sit for 5 minutes so the sugar can bring out the nectarine juices.
- Spread softened butter over the warm French toast slices, top with nectarines and a drizzle of real maple syrup.
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Wow these look so perfect and so yummy!!! I have to try putting the vanilla in my eggs that’s a great idea.
Sincere thanks for this as French toast is one of my favorites. Love the idea with nectarine slices. I will be trying this.
John
Oh man, this sounds incredible! Wishing I was making this for breakfast!
You’re making me crave French toast again and we only just had it for dinner last night!! I need it again asap 🙂
oooh Rachel I love French toast for dinner! Happy 4th!
I’m so glad you didn’t tell me what you have actually seen in farm eggs…eeks. Anyway, this is a beautiful dish!! I love French toast, especially smothered in fruit!
Thank you Cathy!! Have a great holiday:)
I’ve tried the caviar. Let’s just say I know it tastes better in this french toast than on it’s own. 😉 This is making me wish I didn’t just eat breakfast!
REALLY!? But it looks so yummy 😉 thanks for the heads up though!
Wow! I love french toast! This is one of my favorite breakfasts. Your recipe looks so delicious. I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks a lot! 😀
I think that this French Toast TOTALLY makes up for not having red, white and blue!! 🙂 This sound superb!!
Thanks! Maybe next year I’ll be more organized! 🙂
That bread looks divine!
Anything with vanilla bean in it and i’m in…. I have 3 at home right now
Oh my gosh this french toasts looks heavenly.
Thank you Meagan! Have a great holiday!
Holy sexiness! This French toast has got my number. AMAZING, Laurie! Hope you have a happy 4th!
Thank you Georgia! You to my friend!
You’re my hero.
Ohhh Jackie! And you, mine! XO
I want this now!
This must be the best French toast ever!!
Your french toast has made me very very happy today. Just staring at it brightens my mood.
Jocelyn you are so sweet! Have a great holiday!
I LOVE your website and I enjoy shaing it with my husband, who pretty much does all the cooking for our family (with the exception of breads and desserts – that’s MY forte!) I want to tell you the tip we learned from chef Gordon Ramsay about the easy, simple and quick way to get out the small eggshell that breaks into the bowl. Just take a much larger piece of the shell and use IT to scoop up the errant shell.
Thanks Alison! That’s a great tip!
I just had to try this recipe. But I must share, here are some lessons I learned: 1. Don’t take your hubby grocery shopping when shopping for ingredients for a recipe found on a food blog. He totally thinks food bloggers are in cahoots with the manufacturers (which I know is so not true). 2. Cheaper is not always better. Because of the aforementioned companion, I had to make a number of cheaper swaps- french bread $1/loaf instead of challah $8/loaf, vanilla extract (so unfair and not at all equal, I know) $3/jar instead of vanilla beans $9/jar, and last both not least (and the only shocker) cinnamon instead of cardamom- which was $12 a jar I kid-you-not. 3. Spiced nectarines and real maple syrup can cover a multitude of food sins (the inlaws make their own maple syrup, thank goodness, or you can shutter and imagine that I’d have to sub that as well).
Thanks for sharing- I LOVED my cheapo-version, although I imagine it is probably not nearly as good as the real thing. Great pictures!!
French toast is one of my favorite breakfast meals! This particular recipe is more amazing! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe! 🙂
Made this last Sunday….let’s just simply say that this will be entering our permanent Brunch rotation…loved and devoured with relish by all…The nectarine mélange was superb…and we used our local boulangerie’s famous breaded brioche and fresh vanilla bean “caviar” from the beans brought back from my husband’s recent trip to India. This dish really celebrated summer for us…and came together in NO TIME…thankfully, as we were all feeling a bit lazy that morning. Thank you for the share…and fellow followers…do NOT hesitate to try this one…it’s a keeper!