Description
Thick slices of rich challah are soaked in the dreamiest vanilla custard, fried until golden, and tossed in heaps of cinnamon sugar.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
- 1 TB cinnamon
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
For the french toast:
- 1 loaf challah
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- 5 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 TB honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 2 TB butter (salted or unsalted)
- 2 TB vegetable or canola oil
For the glaze:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3 TB milk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250F/121C. Whisk the cinnamon, brown sugar and granulated sugar together, breaking up any clumps of brown sugar. Pour into a rimmed baking sheet and wiggle to even it out over the pan. Set aside while you prepare the french toast.
- Slice the challah loaf into slices that are between 1 1/2 – 2 inches thick. Combine the half and half, eggs, vanilla, honey, salt, and orange zest in a mixing bowl, whisking to combine very well. There should be no egg whites left that you can see. I like using an immersion blender for this step. Set the bowl aside, and place a large skillet over medium low heat to preheat while the bread soaks.
- Pour the egg mixture into a rimmed baking sheet, and arrange the challah slices on top, taking care not to overlap them. Let the bread soak for 5 minutes, flipping the slices halfway through. After 5 minutes, remove the soaked bread to a wire rack set over foil to catch the egg drips. This way, the slices that don’t fit into the skillet right away won’t get too soggy while the first slices cook.
- Add the butter and oil to the hot skillet and allow the butter to melt. It shouldn’t take long. Add as many slices of soaked challah as will comfortably fit in the pan. Make sure you can still flip the slices easily. Fry on one side for about 3 minutes, and then cook on the other side for another 3 minutes.
- Remove the finished french toast to the pan of cinnamon sugar, and add the next batch of soaked bread to the hot skillet. While the second batch is in the skillet, thoroughly coat the first batch of cooked french toast with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Once coated, store the slices in the preheated oven until ready to glaze and serve. Repeat with the remaining slices until all have been fried and coated with cinnamon sugar.
- Whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract in a small bowl, adding more milk or sugar if needed until you get the right consistency. Drizzle the hot french toast with the glaze and serve.
- Refrigerate any leftovers for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 396
- Sugar: 56.7 g
- Sodium: 393.3 mg
- Fat: 9.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 72.3 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 7.3 g
- Cholesterol: 100.8 mg