Looking to breathe new life into your leftover banana bread? This Crispy Banana Bread French Toast brings your loaf to the next level with a buttery, cinnamon-y, crispy exterior and sweet, soft center.
In this recipe to use up leftover banana bread, you will learn my go-to homemade French toast technique! I’ll show you how to make an egg wash, my tips and tricks for getting the best texture, and the frying method that gets you that golden brown exterior.
It’s super easy and foolproof, and so good that I always make sure to save some slices every time I make my 4-Ingredient Banana Bread so I can make this!
Because as a busy mom who LOVES an epic breakfast but doesn’t want too much hassle, this quick French Toast recipe is an all-time favorite.
Banana Bread French Toast Ingredient Highlights
I use unsalted butter in this recipe, but salted will work, too!
Both light and brown sugar work here as well. I used light.
Leftover Banana Bread French Toast Tips and Tricks
How to Make French Toast with Banana Bread
It’s hard to mix sugar and cinnamon into eggs, but I do have a trick that helps it more easily integrate! Mix the milk, cinnamon, and sugar in a shallow bowl. Then, add the eggs.
Best practice is always to crack the eggs in a separate bowl first, so you have a chance to remove any eggshells, but I’ll leave that up to you!
The most critical part to getting the perfect French toast is the timing. Once your egg wash is ready, do not start dunking your bread until your pan is ready.
Starting with about 1 tablespoon of butter, melt it in a pan over medium heat and allow it to get nice and hot. You want your French Toast to sizzle when it hits the butter.
Now, you can slowly lower your banana bread into the wash. Dip the bread into the egg wash until it’s completely coated on both sides. Don’t leave it to soak, this may make your breakfast soggy.
Add your egg wash-coated banana bread to the hot pan. Give it about 5 minutes before peeking underneath by lifting and tilting the bread with your spatula. If you peek and see that it’s golden brown, it’s time to flip it!
Avoid overcrowding your pan to allow enough room for easy flipping. I usually just cook two or three slices at a time. This gives you ample room to slide your spatula underneath your bread so you can flip it.
Once you do flip your French Toast, let it cook on the second side until golden brown. Again, this should take about 5 minutes over medium heat.
You always want there to be a steady, thin layer of melted butter on the bottom of your pan, so continue to add butter as needed.
Serving Your Banana Bread French Toast
This Banana Bread French Toast is ridiculously delicious on its own or with just a little bit of maple syrup. Still, if you want to add a little something, here are my favorite toppings and sides to serve this fun French toast with for some out-of-this-world breakfast ideas:
- Whipped cream
- Fresh berries
- Sliced banana
- Chocolate chips
- Chocolate syrup
- Apple butter
- Peanut butter
- Over Hard Eggs
- Vegan Breakfast Sausage
- Sliced avocado with salt and pepper
How to Store and Reheat Leftover French Toast with Banana Bread
French toast will keep fresh for up to 1 week wrapped and sealed in the refrigerator after preparing it. You can also freeze this Banana Bread treat for up to a month!
From the refrigerator, reheat on a frying pan for about 5 minutes on each side, or until thoroughly heated through. If frozen, you will likely need about double the amount of time.
You can also reheat it in the oven at 375°F for 10 minutes from the refrigerator or 15 minutes from the freezer.
The microwave will also work in a pinch but does tend to change the texture and can even make it a little soggy or rubbery.
If you just have extra egg wash, you can save that, too. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator to make more French toast over the next 3 days.
Banana Bread French Toast
SAVE RECIPE TO COLLECTION PIN PRINT RATEIngredients
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup milk (or half and half, or heavy cream)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 6 slices banana bread (day old or stale is best)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (for frying)
- ¼ cup maple syrup for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Add the milk, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and cinnamon to a shallow bowl and whisk to combine. Then, add the eggs and whisk again to form your egg wash.3 large eggs, ¼ cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Add about 2 tablespoons of butter to a large frying pan over medium heat and allow butter to melt, tilting the pan to coat the bottom with butter.4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Once your pan is hot and butter is melted, dip the banana bread into the egg wash, one slice at a time, coating both sides and transferring immediately to the hot pan.6 slices banana bread
- Allow your French Toast to fry for 2-5 minutes before flipping and cooking on the other side. Both sides should be golden brown.
- Repeat for all 6 slices of bread, adding more butter to the pan as needed. Serve hot with maple syrup!¼ cup maple syrup for serving
Pro Tips
- It’s best just to dip the bread in the egg wash, rather than letting it soak. This will help you avoid soggy French toast.
- Keep the French Toast warm in the oven at 200°F until ready to serve.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan—it will make your French toast harder to flip.
- Depending on the size of your eggs, there will be enough egg wash for 4-6 slices of French toast.
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