These crunchy French toast sticks are sure to be a new family favorite. Enjoy them over the weekend or freeze them for busy mornings when you don't have time to cook this delicious breakfast!
My family loves French toast sticks. They're delicious, easy to make, and it's fun to dip it in syrup! But have you ever tried CRUNCHY French toast sticks? Holy moly, try them and they'll change your world! You'll never want to eat plain ole' boring French toast again.
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Add in the fact that they're shelf cooking-friendly and you're guaranteed to pretty much be able to make it whenever you want with whatever you have on hand. Want to see what all of the fuss is about? Keep on reading!
CRUNCHY FRENCH TOAST STICKS INGREDIENTS
Here's what you'll need to make the crunchy French toast sticks:
- Eggs
- Half and Half (or make your own by using half heavy whipping cream and half milk)
- Vanilla Extract
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Bread crumbs (make your own bread crumbs using any stale bread that you have)
- Sweetened cereal (like Cap'n Crunch)
- Salted Butter
- Bread (any type that you have on hand)
Are you seeing why this is such a great shelf cooking recipe yet? It really is so easy to adapt it to what fits your needs! #ThatsWhyILoveShelfCooking
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE FRENCH TOAST STICKS
I have a lot of kitchen tools. You don't necessarily need all of these to be able to successfully make these delicious French toast sticks. However, they will make your life much easier!
- Food processor – My food processor allows me to crush several cups of food at once and that has made my life so much easier!
- Silicone baking mats – In my kitchen, these are a necessary item! They make clean up a breeze and I don't have to worry about scrubbing the tar out of my baking sheets to clean them. You can also use parchment paper if you don't have these – I'm just trying to help make clean up easy for you!
- Freezer bags – Now these ARE a necessity! These are the only way that you're going to be able to keep your food fresh when you freeze it. Just make sure that you get all of the air out to help prevent freezer burn!
- Toaster bags – If you like to heat messy things up in your toaster and you're tired of having to clean it all of the time, then here is your answer! We use these bags to heat up our crunchy French toast sticks and they really help to contain the mess.
HOW TO FREEZE AND REHEAT FRENCH TOAST STICKS
When I make up a big batch, I go ahead and bake it all, then flash freeze and put in a freezer bag in the freezer (make sure that you get out as much air as possible). Then, we heat them up in toaster bags in the toaster as needed on busy mornings.
If you plan on needing to reheat a whole tray of them, then I would suggest flash freezing them BEFORE you bake them. You can throw the whole tray in the oven and have a batch of freshly made crunchy French toast sticks without having to go to the hassle of preparing them!
We serve this delicious recipe with our house secret recipe Nana's Buttermilk Syrup and fruit. We always have it on hand since it is a family favorite! Try it and you'll never want to use plain ‘ole maple syrup again.
FRENCH TOAST STICKS RECIPE
We took the Pioneer Woman's recipe and gave it our own spin, adding a special ingredient that takes it from wow to woah in about 2.5 seconds! Check it out…
Crunchy French Toast Sticks
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- ½ cup half and half
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 ½ cups bread crumbs
- 1 ½ cups sweetened cereal, crushed to fine crumbs
- 2 Tbsp salted butter, melted
- 12 slices bread, cut into 3 strips
Instructions
- Crack the eggs into a shallow dish, like a pie plate. Add the half-and-half, vanilla, ¼ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Whisk lightly until combined; set aside.
- In a separate shallow dish, stir together the breadcrumbs, crushed cereal and remaining ¼ cup sugar, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Use a fork to stir in the melted butter.
- Dunk the bread strips in the egg mixture, turning to coat. Then lay them in the dish with the crumb mixture, turning them over, sprinkling, and pressing so the crumbs totally cover the surface. Place on a lined baking sheet to either bake or flash freeze for later.
- To bake, preheat the oven to 425°F. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 10-12 minutes (15-18 minutes if baking from frozen).
Alright, well there you have it! One of our favorite ways to eat French toast to spice things up a bit and make them feel more fun. What's your favorite way to eat French toast? Share with us in the comments below!
Want more breakfast ideas?
- Try these great make-ahead breakfast ideas!
- Whip up these freezer smoothie packs to make your mornings easier.
- Learn how to make these easy egg muffin cups.
- Start making homemade freezer waffles (aka DIY Eggo waffles)!
These were very dry even adding syrup I used panko bread crumbs (maybe I should of blended those up to make them less coarse before coating them on the bread ) I used the capt’n crunch like the recipe stated but they were def not very tasty wouldn’t make again.
We’re so sorry to hear this! We always use regular bread crumbs and we’ve never had an issue with them being dry. And we make them a lot! Panko bread crumbs are known for not absorbing oil when you’re frying them and this recipe doesn’t call for enough butter to help with that. If you were to make it again using Panko, you’d probably want to use a whole stick of butter! Or try making it as-is with regular bread crumbs.
Can these be warmed by heating in the microwave, or does that turn them soggy?
It doesn’t turn them soggy in a bad way, but they definitely won’t be crispy. They do make toaster bags that you can put the sticks in and heat them up that way. You can also heat a bunch up in the oven if you needed to do that as well!
Can you use all cereal instead of bread crumbs? What kind of bread do you buy for this as well? I feel like store bought white bread will fall a part but I’m not sure. Thanks!
You could definitely use all cereal instead of bread crumbs, it would just make it even sweeter. (But is that really a bad thing?!) Plain white sandwich bread works perfectly well, as well as whole wheat or any other type of store-bought bread. Enjoy!
I’ve made these a few times now and my family loves them. I use Panko bread crumbs and I don’t think they are dry at all. We reheat them in the air fryer and they are perfect!
Oh yay, so glad your whole family loves them! How long do you reheat in the air fryer?