Chef's easy hack for making French toast without using a frying pan
French toast ranks as the ultimate morning treat, but many home cooks shy away from making it because it tends to emerge soggy and dripping with grease when pan-fried.
While placing the bread into a frying pan might seem like the obvious route, the heat often ramps up too rapidly, leaving you with charred outsides and gooey, undercooked centres.
But culinary whizz Kristin Hoffman, who trades under the moniker Baker Bettie, has cracked the code with her foolproof French toast method.
The secret weapon isn't your stovetop at all – it's your oven, she reveals. Kristin explained: "The key to perfect pan-baked French toast is a pan heated in the oven.
"You want to get a sheet pan roaring hot in your heating oven while you prep your other ingredients. This will cause the bottom side of the bread to sear immediately when you put it on the pan."
Oven-baking ensures each slice gets uniform heat distribution, resulting in a lovely texture minus the oil slick.
Plus, it's a doddle compared to the constant flipping and babysitting required with traditional pan methods.
This streamlined approach delivers restaurant-quality results with minimal fuss, making it brilliant for feeding the whole clan without breaking a sweat.
How to whip up scrumptious French toast
First off, position the oven rack in the middle and pop a baking tray on top. Crank up the oven to 230C (or 210C for fan ovens) and let it heat up for a good 20 minutes.
While that's warming up, get cracking on your French toast mix. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.
If you're a cinnamon fan, feel free to sprinkle some in now, or stick with just the vanilla if that's more your style.
Once the oven's reached its peak temperature, have your bread slices and eggy mix at the ready. Using an oven glove, carefully remove the hot baking tray from the oven and give it a good spritz of cooking spray.
Alternatively, you can slick it up with oil or butter if you prefer.
Next, dunk each slice of bread into the egg mixture, making sure both sides are well coated, then swiftly place them onto the baking tray.
The aim is to do this quickly so the bread sizzles as soon as it hits the hot tray.
Once all your bread is loaded onto the tray, slide it back into the oven. Your French toast should be perfectly cooked within five to eight minutes.
When you pull your French toast out of the oven, it should be a beautiful golden brown colour, boasting crispy edges while remaining soft and fluffy in the middle.
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