Chocolate Sourdough French Toast
This is French toast, elevated. Chocolate Sourdough Bread with chocolate chips, raisins and walnuts makes for a special breakfast, brunch or even dessert.
(I’ve shared a video of this recipe on my Instagram and Facebook pages if you’d like to see how it’s done.)
Lately I have been receiving some nice feedback on the chocolate sourdough recipes I have in the archives. They’ve been fun recipes to create over the years to expand my sourdough repertoire but admittedly, the sweeter breads don’t happen here very often…or sweet treats in general. One reason: we have no kids and two: anything sweet around here wouldn’t last very long even with just two people in the house.
When recently a reader sent me a sweet note about my Chocolate Chip, Raisin, Walnut Sourdough Bread I had to make it again, too, and I was reminded why my sourdough baking enjoyed a chocolate period.
My chocolate sourdough loaves are not enriched with sugar, eggs or dairy so the mild sweetness comes from the add-ins. For this recent bake, as I sliced into the loaf dotted with chocolate chips, raisins and walnuts French toast came to mind. I generally skip breakfast and when I have it it’s usually something savory but pain perdu, as the French call French toast, is usually served as dessert, and it sounded like a wonderful idea to set aside some of the loaf for a special treat.
How to Make Chocolate Sourdough French Toast
Three components make up French toast: the bread, batter and toppings. The batter here is a classic recipe with eggs, milk/cream, vanilla extract and salt. There’s no sugar in the mix since the maple syrup, powdered sugar and the add-ins in the bread provide enough sweetness for me but for a serious sweet tooth, there’s room for additional sweetness here. I will add that I don’t like an eggy custard so this recipe accounts for that. Feel free to adjust the amount of milk/cream to suit your taste.
The bread is what makes this particular recipe fun so if you should have some leftover chocolate bread (it doesn’t have to be sourdough) it would work here, too. My tip is to soak the bread in the batter for a minute or two to ensure that you get a custard center. Sourdough bread is a little heavier so it can soak a little longer in the batter.
Finally, top the French toast with your favorites. I’ve used the add-ins in this loaf in addition to maple syrup, powdered sugar and berries for my toppings but whipped cream and/or a dusting of cocoa powder would be nice, too. And if you’re serving this for dessert, a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream for Chocolate Sourdough French Toast a la mode would be even better.
More Chocolate Sourdough Recipes to Try
Chocolate Sourdough French Toast
This is French toast, elevated. Chocolate Sourdough Bread with chocolate chips, raisins and walnuts makes for a special breakfast, brunch or even dessert.
Ingredients
- 8-10 slices chocolate sourdough bread (or regular or brioche loaf), sliced in 1/2 – 3/4 inch slices
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/3 cups half-and-half (See Note)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
- pinch kosher salt
- few tablespoons butter for cooking (See Note)
- powdered sugar
Toppings (Select what you like)
- maple syrup
- walnut pieces
- chocolate chips
- fresh berries
Instructions
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Prepare the batter: Beat the eggs lightly in a bowl with a fork, just until there are no more egg white or egg yolk clumps. Add the vanilla bean paste (or extract), nutmeg, half-and-half, salt. Beat until well combined.
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Soak the bread slices for a minute or two in the batter. A heavier bread like sourdough can soak for a couple of minutes to properly absorb the batter. As they soak, preheat a skillet over med to medium-high heat.
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Add two to three tablespoons of butter (for a larger skillet). You can also substitute some of the butter for a neutral oil (see note below). The pan should be hot enough that the butter sizzles when you add it to the pan. Take the bread slices, drain the excess batter, and add to the pan. If you have a large skillet you can cook four at a time, depending on the size of your slices. Cook for two to three minutes on each side. Remove from pan, arrange on a plate, sprinkle powdered sugar on top and add the toppings you like.
Recipe Notes
Bread: This recipe will work with whatever bread you have. If you happen to have chocolate sourdough, even better! I have several recipes in the archives. There’s enough batter here for 8-10 1/2 inch slices of bread. If you use thicker slices, the batter may not go as far and adjust cook time accordingly.
Half-and-half: I don’t like an eggy French toast so this has a little more liquid. Feel free to adjust to your liking.
Butter: You can substitute some of the butter to raise the smoke point of the cooking fat. I use only butter but watch my cooking temperature. Either way is fine.
Goodness this is a dream breakfast! Who would not love this.
This was certainly a treat, Mimi. Thanks! 🙂
this sounds delicious!
Thanks so much, Sherry. 🙂