Ice Cream French Toast is the easiest breakfast hack that you didn't know you need. While your traditional French toast is made by dunking bread into an egg and milk custard before frying it up, we're going to use melted ice cream as a wonderful little shortcut method. You'll never go back to traditional French toast!
You know my thoughts on this, bestie. French toast is deliciousโฆbut a melted ice cream French toast? Sign me up. I don't know need to hear anymore. Just feed me.
Honestly, the only problem with this recipe is that I'm entirely unfamiliar with the concept of leftover ice cream.
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How to make ice cream French toast
Making French toast using ice cream instead of a traditional milk and egg custard is super easy. So easy, I wonder if this even qualifies as a proper recipe. There are two basic steps:
- Soaking the bread in melted ice cream
- Frying the ice cream-soaked bread. And that's it. It's delicious.
(It's literally bread soaked in ice creamโฆand then fried in butter. How could that not be delicious?)
If you want, you can watch the Ice Cream French Toast recipe video on YouTube as well.
Ingredients
As with anything that has so few ingredients, you'll want to use the best quality that is available to you.
What kind of ice cream to use
I'm using vanilla ice cream for this recipe as it's the classic option. However, you can swap it out for any ice cream flavour you want to experiment with. Ideally, look for an ice cream that was made using milk and eggs (think: your local ice cream shop's French vanilla) as that will result in the richest French toast.
Additionally, make sure you use actual ice cream for this recipe - don't try to switch it out with gelato or anything else.
What kind of bread to use
Thick-cut brioche and challah are ideal for French toast. However, you can switch this out per your preference. Regular sandwich bread will work fine, but if you're not going for the richer breads, I'd suggest mixing it up using a bread with sprouted seeds or grains for a bit more texture.
Variations
Different ice cream flavours
You can use whatever ice cream flavour you prefer - even the funkier varieties with peanut butter ribbons and raspberry whathaveyous will create an interesting result! If you're not sure where to begin, I'd suggest starting with plain ol' vanilla before taking a baby step over to something like chocolate or strawberry ice cream.
Fruits and toppings
Making ice cream French toast feel different is easy when you mix up the toppings. Berries like cut strawberries or raspberries are my favourite toppings, but caramelised bananas are another great option.
As for syrups, maple syrup is a staple in my home. But pancake syrup, honey, and chocolate syrup all work great, depending on the other flavours you've got going. (One of the good things about a vanilla ice cream custard is that it pretty much goes well with everything!)
Eggnog
For a fun and festive twist, you can swap up the melted ice cream custard for eggnog! The principle remains the same.
Tips for the best ice cream French Toast
One of the best things about this recipe (other than it being a two ingredient French toast!) is that there is very little special or technical knowledge to make it work. Your standard French toast tips will serve you well here:
- Use slightly stale bread so that you can absorb plenty of custard without worrying about your bread breaking apart.
- How long you soak your bread in ice cream/custard will largely depend on how dry or custardy you want your French toast to be. If you want it crispier/more dry, then don't soak the bread in the ice cream for long - a quick "plop and pat" will do the trick in most cases.
- Heat management - too much heat and you'll burn the outside of your toast; too little, and you'll dry out the toast before it's cooked through (in the sense that you won't have a delicious soft custardy centre!). If you have a tendency to burn your French toast, add a little vegetable oil to your butter.
In the case of a melted ice cream-soaked French toast recipe, I'd recommend using an ice cream that was made with a custard base (meaning it contains eggs and milk, which not all ice creams do these days)) as it will result in a richer more decadent brunch!
Storage
This recipe is best consumed fresh. However, it will keep for up to 3 days if refrigerated in an airtight container.
More French toast recipes
- Hong Kong-style French Toast
- Perfect French Toast (Twice Cooked!)
- Nutella & Dark Chocolate French Toast
- Cinnamon-Sugar French Toast
Helpful tools
The link below is an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to purchase using it, I will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). These small commissions help keep Chocolates & Chai going. Thank you.
You may have heard about ice cream soaked French toast on the Today Show, but I first heard of it on an episode of Jacques Pรฉpin's Cooking at Home, so here's a link to his and Julia Child’s book. Honestly, you can't really go wrong with JP - I've read a bunch of his books, and still watch episodes of his TV shows regularly. He's fantastic.
If you like what I’m doing here, and you want to help, why not go ahead and become a Patron? You can support Chocolates & Chai for as little as the price of a cup of coffee!
And that's it for today. Have you ever tried ice cream French toast? What did you think? It just makes senseโฆright? Let me know in the comments below.
๐ Recipe
Ice Cream French Toast
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 slices of ice cream French toast 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Ice Cream French Toast is the easiest breakfast hack that you didn't know you need. While your traditional French toast is made by dunking bread into an egg and milk custard before frying it up, we're going to use melted ice cream as a wonderful little shortcut method. You'll never go back to traditional French toast!
Ingredients
- 1–pint vanilla ice cream, melted
- 4 (1-1 ยฝ″-thick) slices challah or brioche
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
Instructions
- Pour the melted ice cream into a large baking dish. Add bread, turn to coat, and then allow it to sit for around 3 minutes. Flip bread and continue to soak until saturated (but not soggy), about 1-2 minutes more. (If you notice your bread starting to become soggy, shorten the times and remove it from the melted ice cream 'custard').
- Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Using tongs, carefully lift 2 bread slices from the melted ice cream, allowing for any excess to drip back into dish.
- Transfer to your hot pan, and cook until golden brown and the center of toast springs back when pressed, about 4 minutes per side. Repeat with 2 tablespoons of butter and the remaining slices of bread. Top your cooked ice cream French toast with a pat of butter, some maple syrup, and whatever else your heart desires.
Notes
- Make sure to use ice cream and not gelato or a sorbet for this recipe.
- This French toast hack came about in the 70s when ice creams pretty much all tended to have milk and eggs in them. Please be aware that not all ice creams these days actually contain milk and/or eggs! When in doubt, it's always a good idea to visit your favourite local ice cream shop.
- As with all recipes that only have a handful of ingredients, it's ideal to use the best quality available to you. With ice cream-soaked French toast recipes like this one, the bread often goes overlookedโฆget yourself a nice loaf. You deserve it, bestie.
- Ideally, use bread that has been left out overnight, and had a chance to become slightly stale. This will allow it to soak up more moisture without breaking.
- When soaking your bread, if you notice it starting to get soggy, remove it from the pan! If the bread becomes too wet, it will become too delicate and break when you try to remove It from the pan to cook.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: French
Collin Ansell
I made this recipe, when my wife got home, She said โWhatโs that wonderful smell, letโs eat! This was scrumptious!!
Collin
Riz
Hi Collin! Thanks so much for commenting, I’m very happy to hear you both enjoyed it so much!