This healthy French toast is made with wholemeal bread and served with fresh berries on top. An excellent sweet breakfast or brunch recipe.
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Not sure what to do with leftover sliced bread? This healthy French toast recipe is perfect for breakfast or brunch any day. A great way to use up stale bread, and you can serve it with any toppings that you like.
This is a really simple recipe, perfect for Sunday brunch, Mother's Day and more.
Why you'll love it
- Perfect soft sweet toast
- Amazing breakfast that's easy and fast to make
- Fewer calories and more fiber compared to the traditional recipe
- Easy to adapt the recipe to suit your preferences
- Top the toast with anything you like
- A family friendly breakfast - everyone can choose their favorite toppings
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Ingredients
Wholemeal bread (wholegrain / wholewheat bread): Use stale, day-old sliced bread. Wholewheat bread, also known as wholemeal bread or brown bread, is filling and full of fiber. Perfect to make healthy toast.
Maple syrup: Adds sweetness and flavor to the toast. You can also use agave syrup or honey.
Milk: Use your favorite milk. I prefer oat milk or almond milk in this recipe, but skimmed milk or soy milk are other excellent low fat milk options.
Eggs: Eggs are an essential part of French toast. Any size eggs will work well.
Cinnamon, vanilla extract + nutmeg: These add great flavor to the toasts. These ingredients can be omitted or substituted with anything that you like.
Instructions
- Prepare the bread: Prepare slices of wholemeal bread. Ideally you want to use dry and stale bread. I like to leave sliced bread out on the kitchen countertop overnight, but you can also gently toast the bread.
- Make the batter: Whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract and maple syrup together in a shallow bowl.
- Soak the bread: Soak the bread into the liquid batter for about 1-2 minutes on either side, or until the slices have soaked through.
- Cook the toast: Melt a teaspoon of coconut oil or butter in a frying pan or skillet on medium heat. Cook the French toasts one by one for 2 minutes on either side, until they are golden and slightly crispy on the surface.
- Serve: Serve with your favorite toppings and a drizzle of maple syrup.
Air fryer French toast
It's super easy to make French toast in your air fryer! This is a great option if you don't have access to a skillet, or if you simply prefer to cook with your air fryer.
Follow the instructions in this recipe to make a batter for the toast, and soak the sliced bread. Preheat your air fryer to 400 F / 200 C, and air fry for about 2 minutes on either side, or until the toast is golden and slightly crispy on the surface.
Top tips
- Don't leave the bread soaking in the milk for too long, or it could become too soft and soggy.
- French toast is the perfect way to use up leftover stale bread!
Serving suggestions
Healthy French toast is best served in the morning for breakfast or lunch. You can also serve it with a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon for afternoon tea, or even for dessert. Top your toast with amazing, flavorful toppings. Here are some ideas:
- Strawberry Basil Sauce - A simple but fruity sauce, perfect on French toast.
- Whipped Feta With Honey - Creamy whipped feta spread makes perfect topping.
- Chocolate Covered Pineapple - Chocolate + pineapples is such a good pairing.
- Air Fryer Pineapple - Or, try these easy grilled pineapple slices.
- Sugar Free Grape Jam - My favorite grape jam or grape compote.
- Blueberry Chia Jam - This easy blueberry jam adds a lot of flavor to the toast.
Variations
Flavored French toast: Add extra seasoning, such as cardamom, or other flavorful ingredients to the batter. Orange juice, pineapple juice, flavored extracts like toffee, gingerbread spice or pumpkin spice are all great options.
Toppings: Top your healthy French toast with chocolate chips, fresh fruit and berries, sweet sauces and syrups, Greek yogurt, jam, peanut butter or any other toppings that you like.
Add color: Add any food coloring, either gel colors, or natural food coloring powders, to the batter. Colored food is often popular with kids. Try red toast for Christmas!
Gluten free French toast: Use your favorite gluten free bread. Any bread will work great in this recipe.
Dairy free French toast: This recipe can be made with any milk. For a dairy free version, use dairy free or vegan milk such as oat milk, soy milk, almond milk or hazelnut milk.
French toast without milk: I usually make my toast with some kind of milk, either dairy milk a vegan milk alternative. But you can definitely make it without milk too! Use any other liquid, like orange, cranberry or pineapple juice instead works well. Keep in mind that if you omit the milk completely, the dish might not have the same texture as what you're used to.
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Leftovers
Store leftover French toast in a refrigerator for up to 4 days. Serve them cold, or reheat them in a skillet, microwave or air fryer and enjoy them warm.
This is a great meal prep breakfast, as you can prepare a big batch, and then eat the toasts throughout the week. This is a huge time saver on busy mornings!
Frequently asked questions
As with any food, you can make French toast more or less healthy. For a healthier version of it, you can use wholemeal bread, omit refined sugar and use low fat milk.
It might be soggy if you used too much milk in the batter, or left the slices of bread soaking for too long. Using old, stale bread also helps to prevent soggy toast.
French toast is best when made with dry bread. For the best results, you can slice bread in the evening and leave it on the kitchen counter until morning. If you're using fresh bread, you can gently toast it before use.
Any bread is good for this recipe. Sweet, soft types of bread such as brioche is usually used, but wholemeal bread is a tasty, healthy alternative.
No, you don't have to remove the crust from the bread before making French toast.
Nope! Stale bread is perfect for this dish.
You might also like these recipes
- Smashed Egg on Toast
- Healthy Greek Yogurt Pancakes
- Chilli Cheese Toast
- Smoked Salmon and Avocado Toast
- Butternut Squash Waffles
- Chocolate Overnight Oats
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
If you make this recipe, make sure to post a photo to Instagram with #hintofhealthy!
Recipe
Healthy French Toast
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 6 slices wholemeal bread (brown bread)
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup oat milk *
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare slices of wholemeal bread. Ideally you want to use dry and stale bread. I like to leave sliced bread out on the kitchen countertop overnight, but you can also gently toast bread if you prefer.
- Whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract and maple syrup together in a shallow bowl.
- Soak the bread into the liquid batter for about 1-2 minutes on either side, or until the slices have soaked through.
- Melt a teaspoon of coconut oil or butter in a frying pan or skillet on medium heat. Cook the French toasts one by one for 2 minutes on either side, until they are golden and slightly crispy on the surface.
- Serve with your favorite toppings and a drizzle of maple syrup.
Video
Notes
- Store any leftovers in a refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Milk: Use your favorite milk. Oat milk, almond milk, and skimmed milk are all great options.
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