Fluffy and tender on the inside and golden crisp outside, the best French Toast we‘ve ever tasted was during a trip to Japan. I‘ve recreated it here following the chef‘s recipe and tips. Now, you can make this amazing dish at home for breakfast or brunch!
Ah, French toast! The golden, crispy-edged, custardy flavor and truly delicious French toast. When it’s done right, this iconic breakfast treat is everyone’s dream of a weekend morning.
There are many versions of how this classic fried bread should be done, but this is the best French toast we’ve tasted during our trip to Japan last summer. And I’ve re-created it following the chef’s recipe. Everyone can make this great French toast at home. The ingredients are simple, and chances are you have all of them already on hand.
The Best French Toast at Asaya Hotel in Kinugawa Onsen
When we visited Kinugawa Onsen in Tochigi, Japan, this past summer, we stayed in Asaya Hotel (あさやホテル). This hotel is known for offering an amazing breakfast buffet. There are over 100 dishes for Japanese breakfast and they also serve some Western-style breakfast. While we were waiting outside for the breakfast buffet to open, we saw the sign for their legendary French Toast.
As I always start with Japanese-style breakfast, I don’t get to Western-style breakfast until toward the end of my breakfast. Mr. JOC, however, grabs whatever he wants to eat. This time, with no exception, he came back with some Japanese breakfast dishes and the famous French toast. All piled up on his almost overfilled tray.
While I was enjoying my Japanese breakfast, he kept saying, “This is sooooo good!’ and eventually made me get my share. Sure enough, the French toast was insanely good! The crispy buttery edges, creamy custardy inside, and all the delicious toppings made the fried bread the most irresistible. The kids barged in and took a few bites from our plates. Needless to say, all of us agreed – this was by far the best French toast we’ve had.
Then without any warning, Mr. JOC grabbed my hands and walked me to the counter where the chef was working on making more French toast, and asked for the recipe. Worried that we were interrupting the chef, I said they wouldn’t share, but I was wrong! The chef not only gave us a genuine smile, but he actually surprised me by sharing the exact measurements for the recipe. It was for making a huge batch of French toast enough to feed a crowd of course! But we were absolutely thrilled and appreciative.
The chef also emphasized that it’s important to use quality eggs, milk, and baguette as they use fresh eggs and milk from a local farm in Tochigi prefecture.
Thanks to the wonderful chef at Asaya Hotel (and Mr. JOC’s promptness), I can now share this delicious French toast recipe with all of you.
6 Ingredients for the Best French Toast
- Baguette – For the best result, use French baguette, not slices of white bread, for this recipe.
- Eggs – Use good quality organic eggs.
- Milk – Use milk with a higher fat content to yield a creamier batter. You can add a splash of heavy cream if you like.
- Vanilla Extract – Vanilla adds a rich base note of flavor, even when it isn’t the main flavor in french toast. You can skip it if you don’t have one.
- Sugar – You might be shocked to see the amount of sugar used in the recipe, but don’t let it deter you. The recipe uses way more milk than typical French toast recipes and ratio-wise, the sugar amount is reasonable compared to other French toast recipes. Of course, you can use less sugar, but I kept to the same original recipe from the Chef.
- Butter – Since you’re going to enjoy this French toast to the fullest, use good quality butter to cook the French toast, not cooking oil spray. Butter plays a part in flavoring the French toast.
Optionally, you can add cinnamon too. The Chef’s recipe does not include it so I didn’t add it in this recipe, but I use some ground cinnamon in my French toast and it’s always delicious!
3 Tips to Make the Best French Toast
1. Get a French baguette and cut the bread into 1.5 – 2 inches (4-5 cm) thickness.
The recommended bread is a loaf of French baguette with a hard crust around the white soft bread. To enjoy the texture of the French toast, the chef recommended slicing it into 4-5 cm lengths.
2. Soak bread in the egg and milk mixture for 5 minutes on each side.
Because we soak the bread in the egg and milk mixture, you can put your stale bread to good use! I sometimes keep leftover baguettes in a plastic bag in the freezer for entertaining, and I use them to make French Toast. Thanks to the thick crust, the French baguette absorbs the creamy milky flavors while the crust still maintains its shape.
3. Put the dry side of the bread on the frying pan first.
This may seem odd, but if you like your French toast with nice brown edges, then cook from the ‘dry’ side of the bread first. On the contrary, if you place the well-soaked side of the bread on the hot pan first, the surface tends to end up with excess batter, kind of like scrambled eggs.
French Toast – A Recipe Everyone Should Know!
There’s truly nothing like some decadent French toast to start off your day. With this recipe, you are set for an indulgent weekend breakfast or brunch! Enjoy it with fresh fruits and douse liberally with maple syrup. Bottomless coffee or tea is always welcome!
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
The Best French Toast
Video
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2½ cups whole milk
- 1 French baguette
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- toppings of your choice (I suggest confectioners‘ sugar, maple syrup, and fruit such as berries; optional)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Make the Custard
- In a large bowl, beat 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell).
- Add ¼ cup sugar and ½ tsp pure vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine.
- Add 2½ cups whole milk and whisk well together.
To Soak the Baguette
- Cut 1 French baguette into pieces 1½–2 inches (4–5 cm) thick.
- Dip each piece into the bowl with the custard mixture, soaking both sides of the bread. Then, place each soaked baguette slice in a deep baking dish, with the soft white side facing up.
- Pour the leftover custard mixture into the baking dish.
- Soak in the custard mixture for 5 minutes. Then, flip to soak the other side for 5 minutes. The side facing up now is the “dry” side. While waiting for the baguette to soak, prepare your toppings (optional) like fruit, powdered sugar, and maple syrup.
To Cook the French Toast
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease the rimmed baking sheet with butter. Heat 2 Tbsp unsalted butter in a large frying pan or griddle.
- When the butter is melted and the pan is hot, place the bread in the pan, “dry” side DOWN. The “dry” side is the side facing up in the baking dish (the first side that you soaked).
- Cook until the bottom is golden brown. Then, turn over to cook the other side until golden.
- When both sides are nicely browned, transfer to the baking sheet.
- Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 6 minutes. For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC).
- Remove from the oven and serve on a plate.
To Serve
- Add the toppings of your choice (optional). I sprinkled confectioners’ sugar and drizzled maple syrup on top and served with strawberries and blackberries. Enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for a month.
Thank you for all your recipes! Love the easy step to step with photos. Sadly this recipe didn’t turn out for me, perhaps you/your team can provide some troubleshooting. At the end of the soaking process (total 10 mins) I still had a lot of mixture left, unlike your photos, the bread seems to have absorbed everything. Another thing I’m not sure if it’s suppose to be this way, the pan fried (surface) part of the baguette is nice and brown and tastes good but the inner part seems to be undercooked, almost like a custard bun? I made this twice, the second time I tried leaving it in the oven for an extra 2-3 minutes but still the same result. Did you use low or medium heat to pan fry? Maybe I need to use very low heat to fry it for longer time?
Hi Mandy! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe many times and sharing your cooking experience with us!
We are sorry to hear that this recipe didn’t turn out well for you. 😔
The recommended bread is a loaf of French baguette with a hard crust around the soft white bread, and Nami recommend slicing them into 4-5 cm (about 2 inches) in length.
It sounds like your bread were very moist itself, and it might get too soft on the inside.
These French Toasts are crispy, buttery edges but creamy custardy, moist, and tender on the inside. If you prefer less custardy on the inside, you can try soaking less time next time or cook in the oven a little longer with the same temperature. The pan fry’s heating setting is medium to brown the edges.
We hope this helps and enjoy the recipe!
Hi Ms Nami! We made this for breakfast and it was a hit. Added cream cheese right after baking and served it with some crispy bacon. These plus a cup of brewed coffee gave our day a great start. Thank you for sharing and making your recipes easy to follow for beginners like me.
Hi Catherine! WOW! It sounds delicious!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for sharing your cooking experience with us.🥰
Hi! Loved this recipe. made a bunch so I stored some in the freezer. whats the best way to heat it up again?
Hi Angel! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
To reheat, we recommend using a Toaster or an Oven at 375F for 8~10 minutes or until the slices warm through. We hope this helps!
I’m really not big on french toast but your recipe was surprisingly great. It turned out PERFECT!
Hi Marlene, Yay! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.❤️
Love the French toast recipe using baguette French bread… I’ll give it a try.
One tip that I have is… I use warmed up maple syrup.
Hi Ginger!
Thank you very much for your tip and kind feedback.
We hope you enjoyed this recipe.🙂
Interesting recipe. I have always heard of French toast but our family always called it fried bread (the sugar, syrup etc wasn’t added, just a scrambled egg mix). I gave out the recipe and everyone (5 families :(two singles, a couple and two families with kids)) tried it. Definitely interesting, unfortunately almost everyone (three exceptions out of 11) agreed that it was too sweet. Tasty but sweet. Perhaps it will be made again as a dish served at Christmas as it seems to me to be that kind of dish. I suppose us particular peasants here Down Under just aren’t used to it yet 😁.
Hi Steve!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your honest feedback. ☺️
Please feel free to try this recipe without sugar or very little sugar as you like next time.
Love your recipes
Hi Bob!
Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
Hi,
Would love to try this recipe, but I cannot have dairy milk, as you mentioned the fat content of the milk I’m trying to figure out if/how this could be converted to use say Almond or Soya milk replacement. Any ideas gratefully appreciated..
Hi Nami konnichiwa i have been an avid fan of you and your cooking channel and on facebook i love Japanese dishes so much and my kids too, we visited Japan a lot of times i love the simpleness and your elegance in preparing all the menus on your channel looking forward for more recipes
Konnichiwa Rosalind! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and support. Glad to hear you enjoy cooking Japanese food at home! 🙂
I made this today and it was absolutely amazing. The texture was incredibly light and fluffy while the flavour was full and rich. I love that you could partly cook thus then finish off in the oven when you are ready. It would be a superb dish if you were having breakfast guests but it could also make a stunning dessert with whipped cream and your choice if sauce. I served my breakfast toast with fresh blueberry sauce and topped it with crisp bacon rashers. Yum!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I totally love your FB post and your webpage – my number one cooking sites of all the worldwide web!
Hi Yvette! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and your words are too kind! I’m glad you enjoy cooking recipes from my site. 🙂 You make me hungry hearing about what you made… fresh blueberry sauce and crisp bacon!!! Drool. 🙂
Phenomenal recipe – easy to make! Great for guests, camping or just yourself.
Hi Dana! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
This was very delicious, crunchy outside, but pillowy, light and fluffy inside. We ate almost a whole baguette just the two of us, without noticing… Haha no lunch today.
Next time I will bake it two more minutes for a more pronounced crunch, I am using a small Japanese oven so I probably need to adjust the baking time. I used a good quality thicker, 3 day old baguette, a cheap, soft fluffed up baguette would end up mushy in this recipe in my opinion.
My hubby already requested it for his birthday again!
Hi Kornelia! Hahahah! That’s a great sign. Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! 🙂
I have made a few dishes with your recipes (eg the homemade red bean paste, the mochi icecream, the soy glazed eggplants etc) and they all turned out great! Your ingredient measurements and steps are trustworthy to follow. Thank you so much and looking forward to try more of your recipes.
Hi Joey! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my recipes. Thank you for your kind sweet feedback! 🙂
This is FANTASTIC and EASY!!!
I use enameled cast iron to brown and use the same skillet to finish in the oven.
Hi Dana! That sounds like a great plan! Happy Holidays!
Hi Nami San,
Can this recipe could be good if I put the soaked toasts directly into the oven with butter and skip the step of put the toasts in the frying pan with melted butter then the oven? have a great day 🙂
Hi Bruce! You “can” but you want to add the nice butter taste as well as the toasty char on the French toast… 🙂