French toast sticks that you can grab, dip, and eat are such a deliciously fun way to serve classic French toast and brioche French toast. This easy recipe makes PERFECT French toast sticks that are crisp and caramelized on the surface and creamy and custardy in the middle, without ever being soggy or floppy at all!
Recipe highlights
- These French toast sticks are super simple and so versatile.
- Crisp, caramelized surface and a deliciously custardy center, without being soggy!
- I share all the tips to make sure these French toast sticks are not floppy, and cooked through.
- These are kid friendly, and great to serve a crowd.
- Very simple ingredients that can also be changed to suit your taste.
I’ve shared my classic French toast, brioche French toast, and brioche French toast casserole recipes before. But these French toast sticks are also a super fun way to serve French toast.
The shape makes them easy to grab, dip, and eat! They are perfect for a brunch board where your guests can have a variety of food and toppings. But they can also easily enjoy these without having to eat at a table.
Ingredients for homemade French toast sticks
- Good quality bread, such as brioche or challah
- Milk, or a mix of milk and cream (for a richer taste)
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Cinnamon
Ingredient notes and substitutions
What’s the best bread for French toast sticks?
Do not use store-bought sandwich bread, as it’s very soft and can easily disintegrate in the custard. Bread with large holes / crumb won’t be great to cut into sticks either.
Any bread that is sturdy and that you can slice into thick slices is the best type of bread to use. And for even better flavor with your French toast, the flavor of the bread you use is obviously important too.
A lean bread such as an Italian bread loaf or this homemade white bread will still be delicious, but they are not a rich or sweet bread. In contrast, using a buttery, enriched bread such as brioche, challah, Japanese milk bread (or even chocolate babka or cinnamon babka for a flavor variation) will make your French toast extra delicious!
To make dairy free French toast sticks
Make sure the bread is vegan, or has no dairy (milk or butter). Replace the milk in the custard with a plant-based milk. I love using barista oat milk or almond milk.
How to make French toast sticks
Stale bread is the best kind of bread for these. That’s because stale bread is a little dry and will absorb the egg milk mixture (custard mix). If the bread is not stale, you can make it “stale” by letting it dry out a little bit in the oven.
Step 1 – Prepare the bread
Place a wire rack over a half sheet pan, and set it aside.
Cut the bread loaf into thick slices. Ideally, 3/4 – 1 inch thick (image 1). Trim off the edges to make a rectangle (image 2). Then cut the rectangle into sticks (images 3 – 4). The width should ideally be the same as the thickness of the bread slice. Place the bread sticks on the wire rack and set aside to make the egg custard (image 5).
Step 2 – Make the egg custard mixture
In a jug or blender jug, place all the ingredients for the custard. Use a stick blender or your blender to mix the ingredients until mixed through (images 5 – 6).
You can also use a whisk for this, but you need to make sure the cornstarch is dissolved in a little bit of milk first, before adding it in with the other ingredients.
It’s important that the egg mixture is completely mixed through. If not, the egg white will remain intact, and the custard mix will have thick gloopy pieces of egg white that won’t be absorbed well by the bread. So if you’re whisking by hand, make sure to whisk the egg mixture REALLY well, or use a blender for convenience.
Step 3 – Soak the French toast sticks
Place the bread sticks in the egg mixture (images 7 and 8). Make sure to soak each side for a few seconds to allow the custard to fully absorb. The bread should be at least half soaked in the custard all the way through.
The time for soaking for each side will depend on the size of your French toast sticks. For me, it takes about 10 seconds per side. Then place the bread stick back on the wire rack for at least 10 minutes to allow the custard to fully absorb into the bread (image 9). Otherwise, the outside of the bread will be soggy and the inside will be dry.
Step 4 – Pan fry / cook
Heat a nonstick pan or griddle over medium or medium low heat. When the pan is hot, melt a little butter in the pan and place the sticks in the pan (image 10). Make sure not to crowd the pan with the bread, since this will lower the heat and make the cook time longer.
The bread sticks should be cooked for about 2 – 3 minutes per side. The time will also depend on the thickness of the bread sticks. Once the sticks have caramelized on both sides, place them back on the wire rack.
Repeat with all the other bread sticks.
Step 5 – Keep them warm
Once you’ve cooked all the French toast sticks, you can place the baking tray with the sticks in the oven to keep them warm. This will also help cook through any sticks that caramelized too quickly and didn’t cook all the way through.
Just like my brioche French toast, let these bake in the oven for about 15 – 20 minutes or so, and then serve them while they are all hot and crispy! It’s the perfect way to serve homemade French toast sticks to a crowd.
Step 6 – Serve
You can serve these with a variety of toppings and sauces, so that there’s plenty of variety! See serving suggestions below for lots of options.
They can also be served as part of a brunch board.
Storage tips
Because these are made with eggs and cream, good food-handling practices are important for proper storage. If your French toast sticks were outside for a prolonged time, and they are repeatedly reheated and chilled, they will go bad much faster. And if there’s any change in smell, color, or texture, please discard.
You can store leftovers in the fridge for about 2 – 3 days in an airtight container.
French toast sticks will last in the freezer for about 1 – 3 months. If the French sticks are chilled as soon as they’re made and frozen, they will last for about 3 months. Leftovers that were stored in the fridge for a day or two, will have a shorter lifespan in the freezer, as they will taste more stale.
Reheating French toast sticks in the oven
If they were stored in the fridge, they can be reheated in the oven at 325 F for about 5 minutes or until heated through. The time will change depending on the thickness of your sticks.
For frozen French toast sticks, I prefer to cover them with a foil while reheating in the first few minutes to prevent them from burning. This is because the frozen French toast sticks will take longer to heat through. The time can be between 5 – 10 minutes, depending on how thick the sticks are.
How to heat frozen French toast sticks in an air fryer
Preheat the air fryer to 300 F and heat the French toast sticks for about 6 – 10 minutes. But if the sticks are darkening, cover with foil. The time will again depend on the thickness of the sticks.
My best tips for success!
- Choose a sturdy bread that doesn’t have large holes inside. This makes it easier to cut the bread into sticks.
- A bread loaf works better, so that you can cut thick slices and also cut taller rectangles to make sticks.
- Thick slices will make more sturdy French toast sticks that don’t go floppy. My recommendation is at least 3/4 inch thick and wide, or up to 1 inch thick and wide.
- The better the bread tastes, the better your French toast sticks will taste. That’s why I love using brioche bread, but Japanese milk bread also works well!
- Stale bread will absorb the custard much better than fresh bread. But if you don’t have time to let the bread go stale, you can also let it dry out a little in the oven as I explain in my brioche French toast recipe post.
- Let the bread pieces soak in the custard (not just dip). This will ensure that your French toast sticks have all the flavor in the middle of the toast as well, and not just on the surface. I explain this further in my brioche French toast post right here.
- A mixture of egg and milk (rather than just eggs) will make a creamier French toast. Swap out the milk for half and half / 10% cream, which will make the French toast taste even richer.
- Finishing the French toast sticks in the oven will ensure that your baked French toast sticks are cooked through AND make it possible to serve all of them together while they’re still nice and hot.
Recipe variations
- Cinnamon French toast sticks – In the recipe card below, I include the addition of cinnamon to the custard as an option. Adding cinnamon will make these cinnamon French toast sticks.
- Gluten free French toast sticks – Substitute the bread with gluten free bread to make gluten free French toast sticks.
- Chocolate French toast sticks – Add cocoa powder and extra sugar to the custard mixture to make chocolate French toast sticks. Alternatively, you can add hot chocolate powder as well.
- Gingerbread French toast sticks – Add ground ginger and gingerbread spice, along with some molasses to the custard mixture. This flavor combo will make your French toast warm and spicy, just like gingerbread!
- Eggnog French toast sticks – Add some nutmeg and rum to the custard mixture to make eggnog flavored French toast sticks (and serve with some homemade eggnog for a cozy seasonal variation!).
Serving suggestions for French toast sticks
Sweet accompaniments
Savory suggestions
Frequently asked questions
French toast can be soggy if the wrong type of bread was used and the bread disintegrates / falls apart when soaked in the custard.
But it can also be soggy if it’s not cooked through. The middle of the bread should have a lovely custard-like texture when cooked through. But it will seem soggy and wet if it isn’t cooked through.
If this happens, transfer the sticks to the oven to cook through completely.
You can reheat French toast sticks in the microwave, but they will lose the crispness on the surface. That’s because the microwave causes the French toast to steam, which in turn causes the surface to be soft and soggy.
Yes!
These French toast sticks can be stored in the freezer and reheated in the oven. So, they can easily be made ahead of time!
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French Toast Sticks
Yield: 4 servings (about 3 – 4 sticks per person)
Cuisine: American, Canadian, North American
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: servings
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Instructions:
How to quickly stale fresh bread in the oven
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Preheat the oven to 250°F / 120°C (conventional oven). Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and place a wire rack on top.
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Slice the bread loaf into ¾ – 1 inch thick slices. Store-bought will work, but use a sturdy bread. I use my brioche bread recipe here, but you can use my Japanese milk bread recipe as well.
6 thick slices of bread
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Cut off the crusts to form a rectangle of bread. Then cut the rectangle into 2 – 3 sticks (depending on the size of each bread slice).
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Place the bread slices on the wire rack and transfer the baking tray into the preheated oven. Bake the slices for about 10 minutes, or until they feel stale and a little dried out. Be careful not to let the bread slices brown or dry out too much.
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Remove the tray from the oven and allow the brioche to cool down to room temperature before dipping in the custard. You can also do this step the day before you need to make these French toast sticks.
Prepare the custard
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In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with just enough milk to create a smooth paste with no lumps. Place this in a shallow dish that’s suitable to soak the bread sticks.
15 g cornstarch
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Add the rest of the milk into the cornstarch slurry, while whisking.
240 mL full fat milk
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Add the eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, zest, and spices (if using). Whisk until the eggs have no “gloopy” texture. Let it rest for about 5 minutes (ideally).
3 large eggs, 50 – 66 g maple syrup or brown sugar, ¼ tsp sea salt, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp lemon zest
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STICK BLENDER – You can also place all the ingredients in a taller container and use a stick blender to blend the ingredient together to form a smooth mixture. Let it rest for 5 minutes and then pour it into the shallow dish.
Soak the bread sticks
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Soak each bread stick in the custard for about 10 seconds, per side. The soaking time will depend on the thickness and staleness of the bread sticks. They should be fairly saturated without becoming floppy or breaking apart.
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Once each piece is soaked, remove it from the custard and place it on the wire rack again. If the bread breaks apart, then the bread was soaked for too long and you must shorten the soaking time.
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Repeat with all, and let the bread sticks sit on the wire rack for about 5 – 10 minutes to absorb and distribute the custard properly throughout the bread. This will prevent the custard from pooling in the pan when you’re cooking them, AND create a more evenly soft, custardy center that is not soggy.
Cook the French toast sticks
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Preheat the oven to 300°F / 150°C (conventional oven).
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Preheat a large non-stick skillet or griddle on medium heat. The heat level might be different depending on your stove.
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When the pan is hot, add a little butter to the pan and let it melt and spread it on the bottom of the pan. Place the custard soaked brioche bread sticks on the pan, taking care not to overcrowd the pan.
Butter and / or oil for frying
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Cook the bread sticks for about 2 minutes. The bread sticks should slowly caramelize and turn golden brown in that time. If the bread is caramelizing too fast, then turn down the heat. If the bread is caramelizing slower, then increase the heat a little.
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Flip the bread sticks over and cook for another 2 minutes until they are caramelized on the other side. Add a little butter to help add color to the other side as well (optional, but recommended).
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Place the caramelized French toast sticks on the wire rack.
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Repeat with the rest of the pieces. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan when frying the French toast sticks.
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Once they have all caramelized on both sides, place them all on the wire rack that’s on top of the half sheet baking pan.
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Place the baking pan in the preheated oven to cook through the French toast. This will take about 15 minutes.
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Remove the French toast sticks from the oven and let them rest for just a few minutes to cool down slightly.
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Serve your French toast sticks while warm. They can be plated individually or on a platter with a variety of dipping sauces and sides. See the post for serving suggestions and options.
Berries, Maple syrup, Butter, Whipped cream or yogurt
Tips & Tricks
Note on eggs and milk
I like to use 1 egg per ⅓ cup / 66 mL of milk. But for a more eggy flavor, you can add an extra egg to the recipe, so that you use ¼ cup milk per egg.
Use half and half instead of milk for richer French toast sticks, especially for special occasions.
If you can’t find half and half, mix 50 % milk and 50 % whipping cream (35% fat) to get half and half.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 160kcal (8%)Carbohydrates: 21g (7%)Protein: 6g (12%)Fat: 5g (8%)Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 131mg (44%)Sodium: 227mg (10%)Potassium: 164mg (5%)Fiber: 0.4g (2%)Sugar: 16g (18%)Vitamin A: 285IU (6%)Vitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 113mg (11%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
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