Amazing what you can make with plain bread! Bacon French Toast: It’s like french toast, a muffin and pull apart bread had a baby……..A great make-ahead to feed an army. Also a superb morning-after recovery food. Highly recommend drowning in maple syrup for optimal experience.
“These are great food-on-the-go!”
These little morsels came about when I was having a bunch of friends over for brunch. I am insanely obsessed with french toast (as regular readers will know from the number of french toast creations I’ve posted!). But you can’t really make it for more than 4 people at a time because you need to stand at the stove making batch after batch.
A great option to make french toast for a crowd is french toast casserole, where you layer pieces of bread and egg mixture in a casserole dish and bake it up, then spoon it out like a casserole. I’ve made them in the past, but to be honest, I find that the centre of the bake is a little too eggy – that is, the proportion of crunch to soft/moist is too low. (Though I am thinking of making a version that dials up the crunch factor on top to get around this).
So rather than making one big casserole, I decided to make individual french toast muffins. And….well…..they worked! It was really handy being able to make 2 muffin trays (24) at the same time. And even better, I made most of it the night before then just assembled it in the morning.
“This is a great way to use up stale bread. And you can prepare ahead the night before!”
I want to be able to tell you that you can assemble them in the muffin tin the night before, but I don’t recommend it because the egg mixture in the bread cubes at the top of the muffins sinks to the bottom of the muffin tin so the bread cubes on top are not as moist as the ones at the bottom. So I recommend making up the bread-egg mixture the night before, as well as the bacon, then just spooning it into the muffin tin the next morning. It really doesn’t take that long!
Time to expose my embarrassing pudgy Baby-Hands again. But for good cause – so you can see that it’s like mini pull-apart breads! I love that you can just pick bits off and eat it with your hands. It’s great food-on-the-go, I just pop a couple in a paper bag and snack on them like muffins.
Having said that though, there is no denying that maple syrup catapults these into another universe. Come on, you know bacon and maple syrup is a match made in heaven! Can you imagine it? Each bite is crunchy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside with little salty bursts of bacon mixed with the warmth and sweetness of maple syrup. Bring it on. – Nagi x
More cute spins on French Toast
We all love classic French Toast – but sometimes it’s nice to try something different!
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Bacon French Toast
Ingredients
- 5 cups of bread , cut into 2cm/1" cubes (fresh or stale - see notes 1 and 2)
- 3 rashers bacon , diced
- Oil spray
Egg Mixture
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups milk (low or full fat)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 pinches salt
To Serve
- Maple syrup (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the Egg Mixture ingredients in a bowl and whisk with a fork until combined.
- Add bread cubes and mix well to each piece of bread is well coated with the Egg Mixture.
- If using fresh bread, set aside for 10 to 30 minutes in the fridge. If using stale bread, set aside for 20 minutes to overnight. If you're in a rush, use your hands to gently squeeze the cubes to help them absorb the egg mixture faster.
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Spray a medium fry pan with oil spray and heat on high heat. Add the bacon and cook until just starting to brown. Don't cook until it is very brown because otherwise it will overcook in the oven. Remove bacon from fry pan and drain on absorbent paper.
- Spray 6 holes in a muffin tin.
- Mix the bread-egg mixture to evenly disperse the egg mixture that will have settled at the bottom of the bowl.
- Divide 1/3 of the bread-egg mixture between the 6 muffin cups.
- Sprinkle with half the bacon, then press the mixture down with medium pressure using the back of a spoon.
- Top with the remaining bread mixture. Use your fingers to lightly compress them. Each muffin should be slightly mounded even after lightly compressing them. The bread cubes on top will puff back up when you bake it.
- Sprinkle with remaining bacon.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Let rest for 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tin.
- Serve with maple syrup, if using.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
The body of the blog says that you were able to make 24 muffins, but the recipe says it serves 6. Do I have to multiple the ingredients by 4 to get 24? Or are the muffin sizes different between the recipe and the blog (large vs regular)? Thanks! I’m hoping to try these this week.
Hi JB! In the post I was just saying that it’s handy that I can make 24 at the same time 🙂 But yes, the recipe itself is for 6, so to make 24 you need to multiply it by 4. Hope you love it!
Hi , I absolutely love this recipe! Just a little tip for if you do want to microwave them after they have been frozen, place a cup half full with water in the microwave with the muffin(s). This actually absorbs most of the moisture and stops them from going soggy. Can’t wait to make another batch of these, they’re addictive!
Wow Sarah, what a fantastic tip, thank you!! I will give it a try!
Sorry to be clueless, but how many slices of bacon is 3 rashers? This looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try it, but I don’t want to short them on bacon!
Hi Susan! Nope, it’s totally my fault, I should have been clearer with the instructions! 3 rashers of bacon is around 8 oz / 250g of bacon of bacon. 🙂 I hope that helps!
Hi Nagi. I think I’m addicted! In the last week I have made three of your French toast recipes. I LOVED these and the kids wanted more of the jelly jam “doughnuts”. Three weeks ago I was on a low carb, whole food crusade – until I stumbled across your blog. Thanks for turning me back from the dark side! Your enthusiasm and the delight you take in cooking (and eating) is an inspiration. Thank you.
Ooh, I’m sorry for busting your diet!!! 🙂 But welcome back to the dark side – SO MUCH MORE FUN! So glad you loved it 😉 I’m obsessed with french toast. I have a RIPPER of a french toast coming up next week – your kids will LOVE IT!!! Thanks so much for coming back to share your feedback! N x
I think I love you!
Well this is just about the nicest comment I’ve ever received on my blog!!
Love your French toast muffins are you married, cause I hope your husband deserves you…lol nah, I love your food and give me a holla 530 531 5873
Ha ha! Chris, this is the first proposition I’ve received on my blog! Too funny!
Maple syrup is never optional!! 😉
One of my favourite flavour combos is bacon and maple syrup so as soon as I saw these I had to have a sticky beak. Such a clever idea your French toast in muffin tins, they look really gorgeous 🙂
I agree!! When I first started having maple syrup with bacon 15 years ago, people thought I was craaaazy!! Now it’s all the rage!
Hallo Nagi, you have a lot recipes with bread, very creative. Normally I only eat bread with peanut butter, jam and nutella:-). I never made muffins with bread, I should try this. May I know how did you make the pouring shot? Did you use tripod? or need someone else to help? I always have problem with “Pouring Shot”. 🙂
Thanks Amallia! Yes I used a tripod for this one, but quite often I don’t use a tripod for pour shots. All I do is look through the lens and take the shot while I pour. It’s a bit tricky but usually works!
Very creative! I’m surprised how many things you can do with bread! Curious to try this combination with maple syrup on top 🙂
First! Yummy, great breakfast idea! I’m loving the bacon addition to it.
Bacon makes EVERYTHING better!