This Coconut French Toast is made with thick, dense bread, crusted with coconut, smothered in fruit, and drizzled with honey.
Guys, I love French Toast. As in, it's my favorite breakfast EVER. I like pancakes, I get excited for waffles or crêpes, but my absolute top lazy-day breakfast choice is-- most definitely-- French Toast.
I don't want just any French Toast though.
No, no-- I want it to be made with thick, dense bread, crusted with coconut, smothered in fruit, and drizzled with honey.
Just thinking about it makes me ravenous.
If you too crave this sweet, custardy bread, this Coconut French Toast will make you smile.
What Kind of Bread Should I Use?
Did you grow up eating French toast with white sandwich bread? I did, and it was yummy. Years later, though, I realized that it was SO MUCH better with a thicker, denser bread.
The bread absorbs more of the custard sauce, and can be warm and soft on the inside, but crisp and golden on the edges. What kind of bread should you use?
Unofficially, I'm gonna say that you should probably make French Toast with a French baguette.
That makes sense, right?
Your day is pretty much guaranteed to succeed when you use French bread for your French Toast. Tragically, however, I don't always have a French baguette in my pantry.
When this happens, and I feel like I just can't make it through my day without my favorite breakfast, I've gotten desperate and used croissants. (These are also French, so to me this makes total sense.)
I've also used leftover dinner rolls, ciabatta rolls, and made a few batches of culturally confused (but delicious) English Muffin French Toast.
What I've learned is, you can make your toast out of pretty much any thick, dense bread you want, and it will taste delicious.
Some of the combinations, though, will be ugly. (I'm looking at you-- English Muffin French Toast!) If you care about how things look, stick with the baguette. If you're only interested in taste- use whatever bread you've got on hand.
How to Make Coconut French Toast
To make a Coconut French Toast, start by slicing up some stale bread. The number of slices you need will really depend on the type of bread you're using.
French baguettes are usually small-- about 2 ½" wide, so you'll probably want about 4 slices per person. If you're using a larger Italian loaf, you'll probably serve two slices per person.
Next, mix together the milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Soak your bread until it's softened, but not falling apart, and then set the pieces onto a hot buttered pan. Coat the top sides of your bread with coconut, and flip the toast over after about three minutes (or when it's golden brown).
Cook the toast about three more minutes, and then serve your hot custardy slices of Coconut French Toast with a little more coconut, some honey or syrup, and fresh berries. Then, start planning your next French Toast Day!
Want more BREAKFAST ideas? Try these:
Want some COFFEE or TEA to go with your breakfast? Try these:
Coconut French Toast
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups milk OR milk substitute
- ½ baguette, sliced (For small French baguettes, serve 4 slices per person. For larger Italian baguettes, serve 2 slices per person.)
- 4 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- Optional Toppings: more coconut, honey, maple syrup, berries
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla and milk until blended.
- Preheat pan over medium heat with half the butter.
- Set bread in milk mixture, and allow to soak 3-5 minutes. (Soak-time will depend on how stale your bread is and what kind of bread-- A French baguette can soak longer than Italian loaf. Don't let the bread start to fall apart.)
- Place the soaked bread in hot buttered pan, and coat the upward facing side with shredded coconut. Cook about 3 minutes, until golden brown, and then flip. Add the rest of the butter to the pan. Cook about 3 more minutes.
- Serve hot with desired toppings.
Platter Talk says
This coconut crusted french toast looks and sounds like something that I could fall in love with. I love this idea and flavors.
Luci says
This recipe looks delicious! I love that it is simple enough to make on a weekday morning as well. Yummy!
Liz @ Ready To Yumble says
Yes, I am totally team french toast! Growing up we used regular sandwich bread, and it was good and all, but....once I started making it with really dense bread and letting it soak, it was like the heavens opened up, haha! This recipe sounds like my next brunch!
champagne-tastes says
SAME! It's SO MUCH better with thick bread.. I can't go back LOL
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
French toast is something I love, but never make often enough! I HAVE got to try this one! It looks like a perfect recipe for a chill Saturday with lots of coffee 😉
champagne-tastes says
Thanks Dawn! It's definitely a lazy-day morning with coffee kind of breakfast!
Amy says
I love using challah bread for french toast. And can I just say AMEN to the honey on the french toast?! It's my favorite way to eat it but I had never heard of using honey on french toast until we were traveling through Cappadocia, Turkey and the hotel we stayed at served french toast with a big bowl of honey for drizzling over top every morning.
champagne-tastes says
Challah bread is an AMAZING idea! And yessss... I always use honey! I like it on my pancakes too 😀