Toaster Oven French Toast (Crispy, Not Soggy)

If you’ve got an egg and some hefty bread, you can whip up a quick, delicious breakfast in your toaster oven with a minimum of fuss and mess.  This Toaster Oven French Toast recipe is perfect for your toaster oven, producing four slices of crispy, not soggy, French toast in about 15 minutes.

This technique can also be used in your regular oven when you need to feed an army.  But I find it perfect for feeding just Dwaine and I on one of these cold Colorado mornings.

There are three simple steps involved – whipping up a custard from eggs and milk, soaking the bread, then baking/broiling the bread to a crispy finish.  I recently had 7 children and 10 adults at the house for our annual Easter Egg Hunt, and was able to rotate through an entire loaf of bread while I showered and shaved!

For Toaster Oven French Toast, Use the Best Bread

The recipe calls for “Quality Sandwich Bread.”  In my experience, using a really cheap bread will be a problem.  The cheapest breads are just too light and airy to make it through the soaking process.  The surface immediately begins to dissolve as soon as it touches the milk/egg mixture.  I recommend something a bit heftier – like a Texas Toast, 100% whole wheat or wheat/nut – to hold up to this. My Honey Whole Wheat Bread would be perfect!

Make Cleanup Easier

The original recipe also had you soak the break in the baking pan just before putting the whole thing in the toaster oven.  The problem there is that if the bread doesn’t soak up every morsel of custard, it will toast into the corners of your pan, making cleanup a super-chore.  I recommend soaking in a separate dish, then flipping the toast into a pan lined with a silicone-baking mat (see recommendations below).  Giving the baking pan a hefty coating of non-stick spray isn’t a bad idea, either.

Regular pan-fried French toast can be soggy.  The edges might get crisp, but the middle can be a bit damp and eggy.  This recipe produces a uniformly crisp toast, slightly sweet with a hint of cinnamon.  You can eat it on-the-go, just as it is – or sit down with some butter and syrup while enjoying a hot cup of coffee.  I know you’ll enjoy it!

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5 from 1 vote

Toaster Oven French Toast

If you've got an egg and some sandwich bread, you can whip up a quick, delicious breakfast in your toaster oven with a minimum of fuss and mess.  This Toaster Oven French Toast recipe is perfect for your toaster oven, producing four slices of crispy, not soggy, French toast in about 15 minutes.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American, French

Keyword: Baked French Toast

Servings: 4 Slices

Author: Don Herman

Ingredients

• 1 lg Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 tsp Brown Sugar packed
• 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• Dash of Salt
• 1 tbsp Butter melted
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 4 slices Quality Sandwich Bread Or Texas toast

Instructions

• Heat your toaster oven to 425F.  Prep a toaster-oven sized baking sheet with cooking spray and a sheet of parchment paper – or better yet, a Sil-pat or other silicone baking sheet.
• Whisk together egg, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon and salt until the sugar is dissolved. Continuing the whisking, slowly add the melted butter, then the milk.  
• Pour this mixture into a shallow dish, then lay out 4 bread slices.  Once you’ve laid them out, flip them to coat the other side.  You can let them sit for a minute to mop up all the custard.
• Transfer the soaked slices to your baking sheet and bake at 425 for about 10 minutes. Switch the oven to Broil and broil the top until the slices are golden brown – about 5 minutes more. You may need to rotate your pan.
• Remove from the oven and flip each slice.  Serve with fruit, syrup, confectioner’s sugar, or just grab-and-go.

Notes

Quality bread is key here.  Cheaper bread will dissolve in the custard mixture.  

Be sure to mix the custard as directed.  If you dump the melted butter in too quickly, the eggs and milk won’t mix thoroughly, and you’ll get a streaky appearance.

If you use a thicker cut of bread, you may need to bake another 3 minutes or so.  

Can I make this ahead and reheat it?

Yep — bake it, let it cool, then pop slices back in the toaster oven at 350°F for a few minutes to re-crisp. Skip the microwave or you’ll lose the crunch.

Do I need to adjust anything for high altitude?

Nope — no baking powder or soda in this recipe, it’s just egg custard and bread, so there’s nothing for altitude to throw off. I’ve made this plenty of times here at ~6,000 ft in Denver with zero changes needed.

Can I use a regular oven instead of a toaster oven?

Absolutely — same temp, same steps, just give yourself a bit more room if you’re doing a full loaf. It’s actually the move if you’re feeding a crowd, as mentioned in the post.

What if I don’t have a toaster oven that broils?

You can finish it under your regular oven’s broiler for that last golden-brown step — just watch it closely, broilers vary a lot in intensity.

Looking for a great toaster oven?

We use ours all the time for small, quick things like this French toast. It’s great for heating up frozen goodies, and doesn’t heat up the whole kitchen. Check out this highly-rated model from Amazon.

Maybe you’ve tried a variation you’d like to share. Drop a note and let me know and I’ll add it to my post.