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Custardy French Toast with Thick-Cut Bacon

Counter 12 · Breakfast Counter

Custardy French Toast with Thick-Cut Bacon

Day-old bread soaked in a rich cinnamon custard, griddled in butter until crisp outside and soft within, then stacked with oven-baked peppered bacon and warm maple syrup.

4.8 1043 cooks rated this
Prep
15 min
Cook
25 min
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Free recipe Jump to method

Diner French toast works because the bread is stale and the custard is generous. Dry bread soaks up more egg without falling apart, so slice it the night before and leave it out. Use more yolks than whites for a creamy center. Baking the bacon on a rack in the oven frees up the stovetop and gives flat, evenly crisp strips. A crack of black pepper on the bacon before it goes in plays nicely against the sweet syrup on the plate.

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 400 F. Lay the bacon on a wire rack set in a foil-lined sheet pan, sprinkle with the pepper and bake 18 to 22 minutes until crisp.

  2. Whisk the eggs, yolks, milk, cream, cinnamon and brown sugar in a shallow dish until no streaks of egg remain.

  3. Soak each bread slice 20 seconds per side, letting excess drip off.

  4. Melt 1 tbsp butter on a griddle or large nonstick pan over medium heat. Cook the bread in batches 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deep golden and the center springs back when pressed.

  5. Keep finished slices warm on a rack in the oven, adding more butter to the pan for each batch.

  6. Stack two slices per plate, lean the bacon against them and serve the warm maple syrup in a small cup for dunking.

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