Crunchy Baked French Toast Sticks
These crunchy baked French toast sticks take French toast to a whole new (delicious) level! Easy to make, they’re sure to become a favorite breakfast! Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside!
We’re getting creative with our time at home and in the kitchen right now.
Even though technically on paper we should have all the time in the world to whip up whatever elaborate creation we want (pies! breads! cakes!), some days, the mental energy that would require (and the lack of some more extraordinary ingredients) has us running straight for the super easy recipes.
The ones we can make in just a few minutes…and that can be eaten right away. These easy drop biscuits and granola bites are a few favorites right now.
Easy Peasy Recipe
And now I’m adding these easy crunchy baked French toast sticks to the list.
My kids go crazy for these things. We eat them for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, and any time in between. And…they are easy enough for my kids to make.
There is just something about the lightly sweet crunchy coating and soft slices of bread that make them irresistible. Also, my kids would like me to mention that they are waaaaay better than just normal French toast.
Sure, you could make the whole slice of bread into a crunchy French toast wonder. But it’s a heck of a lot more fun to make French toast sticks.
Is that the stay-at-home in us talking? Maybe. But I think even when we are able to talk to other real, live humans face-to-face again, we’re still going to be making these as little sticks.
They’re cuter. AND they make for better portions (especially if you’re serving younger kids who may not eat a whole slice of French toast).
Start with good bread
The bread is important here.
Flimsy, thin, fall-apart bread won’t work. You’ll be cursing my name as the bread disintegrates during its dipping session.
You want a soft but sturdy loaf. White or whole wheat, it doesn’t matter.
Storebought: Texas Toast or another similar thick-sliced loaf
Homemade: this white sandwich bread or homemade French bread would work great (in the pictures below I’m using the white sandwich bread recipe)
The bread should be sliced about 1-inch thick (more or less). And you need 4-5 slices for this recipe. It can easily be doubled or tripled.
Cut the slices of bread into thirds. If your bread is more wonky-shaped and slicing it just in half or into fourths works better, that’s ok, too!
You just want to end up with some rectangles of bread for the French toast sticks.
Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture. Don’t let it soak too long.
It should be a fairly quick dippy-do into the eggs and milk.
Then press the bread into the cornflake mixture:
- crushed cornflakes
- touch of brown sugar
- cinnamon if you dare
- melted butter
I like to coarsely crush the cornflakes so they still have some texture for a good amount of buttery, sweet crunch.
Turn the bread to coat all the sides pretty evenly with the cornflake mixture. If the cornflakes aren’t sticking very well, sprinkle the cornflake coating on the bread with your fingers and gently press into the bread.
Bake the crunchy French toast sticks until they are golden and no longer soggy in the middle!
Unless you happen to like soggy middles of bread. At which point, I may need to reexamine our friendship. 🙂
In all seriousness, though, the bread will still be soft in the middle after baking, but unless you let it soak for an irresponsibly long amount of time, it shouldn’t be super wet.
The French toast sticks will puff every so slightly while baking to let you know the egg mixture cooked all the way through.
These adorable and delicious crunchy baked French toast sticks are fantastic with a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Or a drizzle of syrup.
Or fresh fruit.
Jam, maybe? Nutella, definitely.
I mean, the options are wide open!
If you’re looking for an easy, totally doable, quick baking project, French toast sticks might be the recipe you never knew you needed.
One Year Ago: One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Muffins {Whole Grain Option!}
Two Years Ago: Thai Mango Chicken Red Curry with Coconut Rice {Quick and Easy}
Three Years Ago: Instant Pot Indian Vegetable Rice
Four Years Ago: {Pressure Cooker or Stovetop} Chicken Coconut Curry
Five Years Ago: Sweet Molasses Bread {Restaurant Knock-off}
Six Years Ago: Homemade Marshmallow Easter Eggs
Seven Years Ago: Italian Lasagna Rolls
Eight Years Ago: Chocolate Cupcakes {Perfected}
Crunchy Baked French Toast Sticks
Ingredients
Crunchy Coating:
- 3 cups cornflakes
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
Egg Mixture:
- 4 large eggs
- ⅓ cup milk or half and half
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
French Toast:
- 4-5 thick slices of bread (see note)
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- Syrup or fresh fruit, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- For the crunchy coating, place the cornflakes in a gallon size ziploc bag, seal, and lightly crush with your hands (or a rolling pin) until the cornflakes are in coarse pieces. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon to the bag and shake until combined. Add the melted butter and mash/mix until evenly combined. Pour the cornflake mixture into a shallow dish and set aside.
- For the egg mixture, in a shallow dish, whisk together the eggs, milk (or half and half) and vanilla until well combined.
- For the bread, cut each slice of bread into thirds. Dip each piece of bread into the egg mixture giving it a quick soak on both sides (don’t overly saturate the bread or it will fall apart).
- Immediately press the dipped bread into the cornflake mixture, turning to coat all sides and gently pressing the cornflakes into the bread pieces. Place French toast sticks on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until the cornflakes are golden and the French toast is baked through (if your oven bakes hot, watch closely so the buttery cornflake coating doesn’t burn).
- Serve warm with a dusting of powdered sugar, syrup, fresh fruit, or however you like to eat your French toast!
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
110 Comments on “Crunchy Baked French Toast Sticks”
No judgement… we make this recipe using crushed Captain Crunch! It’s sooo yummy! I freeze them in batches and my kids just pull out however many sticks they want and cook them in the toaster oven. Thanks Mel!
These are exactly like the French toast I used to get at a diner in my town. I was so sad when they closed. These taste exactly like that French toast and it makes me very happy. Thank you for sharing!
Is there any way to prep this in advance? I’m thinking of maybe egging and coating the bread at night, and then baking it in the morning. Think that’ll work? Has anyone tried something like that?
I haven’t tried making this in advance…I think the bread will be much softer/soggier, but it’s worth a try. I believe someone tried freezing once the bread had been dipped in egg and coated…and it worked out ok. (I believe they baked from frozen).
Just made these for my family! Super, super yummy and an instant hit with the kids! They saw me making them, and were a little skeptical at first but as soon as they came out of the oven (smelling AMAZING) they were all over them. Love how fast and easy they are for a lazy dinner day.
We make this a lot and my family loves it!
Corn chips on homemade honey wheat bread are not a good substitute, just in case anyone was wondering. I’ll buy cornflakes next time
Is it fair to rate a recipe when you didn’t make the recipe posted? I don’t think so.
Mel, I’ve read several times that mushing middles of bread and egg mixtures can make you gag. So, why not try toasting your bread before you make say, French Toast!. My daughter (Bridget on America’s Test Kitchen) told me recently that that’s how she makes it. Give me a nod if you try it next time.Well I fell the same thing when we are out and I order my eggs “over medium” and they come to me with the white part near the yolk still not cooked. I just push them away! Yuk! I still love to dip my toast in the yolk, tho so I want it still uncooked.
Great idea – thanks, Linda!
My family LOVES Bridget!!! Please let her know she has fans!
These were so good! We had leftovers so I plan to freeze them then throw them in my air fryer for a quick eeek day breakfast.
Great idea!
This recipe is so great!!
Thanks mucb!
These are amazing! Everyone in the family likes them. I have made them 3 mornings in a row!
These french toast sticks are sooo good! I served them for Father’s Day breakfast and everyone loved them. The best part is that I actually got to sit down and eat with the family because the FT cooks all at once! Nice and Easy! Another great one, Mel.
Perfect Father’s day breakfast! Glad you guys loved them!
YUM! These were an excellent change from the monotonous same old same old breakfasts we’ve been having the last 80 days. (that’s how long our schools and things have been closed for quarantine.) I used frosted flakes and skipped the brown sugar. I loved that these were baked so I didn’t have to stand at the stove flipping 4 pieces of bread at a time, they were all done at once! The leftovers freeze well and reheat in the toaster oven perfectly.
I hear you on the breakfast monotony, Laura!
Fabulous! Another winner from my favourite blog. I added half a cup of crushed Cinnamon toast crunch (my guilty pleasure cereal I hide from the kids), and omitted the cinnamon and brown sugar. They were as hit with everyone including my husband who doesn’t like “sweet’s” for breakfast. Thank you !!
Love those variations!
Hey Mel – We just found out one of our sons can no longer have eggs whites. He is a huge breakfast fan so I am trying to learn all the tricks to still make his favorite foods – just without eggs. Blender Rollups are his absolute fave but I don’t think that one will be possible anymore. As for this recipe, is there something I could use other than eggs for the binding agent and still get similar results? This one looks too delicious to pass up! Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions you may have!
Hi Erin, I’m not an expert on egg substitutions but you might try googling “egg free French toast” and see what recipes pop up in the search results that could be a jumping point for this recipe. I did a quick search and it looks like some recipes call for cornstarch instead of eggs? Can your son have egg yolks? If so, you could use just yolks for this recipe.
These are incredible and I love all things French toast.
My husband and I loved them!
One teen girl who generally doesn’t like FT ‘will’ eat them with extra powdered sugar, and I added Fruity Pebbles into the last of the batch for my son. Those were a hit!
Thanks for another awesome recipe!
That’s a fun twist, Heather!
Mel, you are the best! My family has so many favorites that are recipes from your blog. We joke that you are my BFF. My daughter and I got Texas toast a couple weeks ago so we could make these. My hubby and her wanted to make them when I was sleeping in on the weekend and they automatically looked up your blog because they figured that’s where I’d seen the recipe Oh, and we made the soft pretzel bites 3 times last week. So yummy!
Your husband and daughter are AMAZING!! Thank you for sharing that!
These rocked.
Um, YOU rock. 🙂
I made these with hot dog buns. Not beautiful to look at, but so delicious!
I’m glad they worked out!
So yummy! It’s my kids new favorite breakfast meal. I subbed the milk for some french vanilla creamer I happen to have on hand and used Rice Krispies because I didn’t have corn flakes. Came out great! Thanks for the recipe!
Great changes!
These french toast sticks were so good!! I used some leftover french bread I had made and some store-bought wheat bread and they were both great! That crunchy coating is going to be my undoing, haha! Thanks so much for another great recipe, Mel!
Haha, mine too! 🙂
Hi Mel,
I am a long time reader, but have never commented. I have 9 children and pleasing all of them at a meal is really difficult. I also have a little guy that’s lactose intolerant. Today I made the baked French toast using his dairy free butter and almond milk. Wow, these were so good! I used French baguettes and the plates (every single one of them) were emptied and everyone had seconds. Needless to say, I doubled the recipe and I wish I could give it 11 stars from every single one of us. Thank you for your dedication to this blog. I do read it regularly and have made many of your recipes often. This one, I felt I owed you a written thank you. Please know that you are very much appreciated for all of the time and effort you give to make recipes and publish them (for free!) that are really very good. God bless you!
Jenny! Thank you so much! I’m so thrilled this recipe worked out for your family and adapted well to your lactose needs! Thanks for letting me know!
SO good! Even my kid who doesn’t like french toast “because there’s egg in it” loved these! Super easy. I took a suggestion from a comment and purchased the Sarah Lee artisanal style bread. Easy and delicious!
Thanks, Melissa!
Yummy! My boys and I loved this new take on french toast.
Thanks, Lisa!
You’ve outdone yourself with this recipe! I love me some French toast but now I don’t think I can go back to the basic recipe after these! I didn’t have corn flakes but I had corn Chex which tasted fantastic. It was Sat night at 9:30 pm when I started your white bread recipe so I could make this recipe this morning. It was worth the late night bread baking! Yum yum! The bread recipe is so easy and so good!
Thanks, Michelle! I love seeing other people’s cereal variations.
I made these for breakfast this morning! So delicious! We do not love French toast but we loved these. We used your white Bread recipe but made it cinnamon bread by adding cinnamon and brown sugar. Thanks once again for another fabulous recipe!
Sounds amazing, Becky!
My 10 year daughter set a goal to learn to make homemade bread. So we decided making your white sandwich bread for this recipe was the perfect idea. The bread was amazing (good thing it made 2 loaves so we could eat some fresh out of oven!), and so we’re these French toast sticks. I made extra and froze some so we’ll see how that turned out soon. My husband was obsessed with them, and I’m certain they’ll be made again in this house! We love allllll your recipes and are so happy to have a blog we know we can trust for yummy food!
I love your 10-year old’s motivation. That’s amazing! Thank you, Ashley!
I came on to grab one of your other french toast recipes, but found this! Didn’t have corn flakes, but I had frosted flakes 😉 and hey, since none of the calories count when we’re “safe at home” I figured, why not? 😀 My 2-year old helped me mix the egg mixture, the 4 year old helped me crush the flakes and put the bread in the mixture so they both had fun, and the whole family loved it (and my house smells divine now!) Thanks again for another winner!
Thanks, Allison – I bet frosted flakes work really well! Way to get the whole fam involved. 🙂
Made these yesterday for lunch. Everyone was home. My two teenagers and husband (and me too) loved them! My teenage son wanted them for breakfast again today! I made them with Texas toast. So easy and yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Jen! Always nice when things are teenager approved!
Have made them twice since. I think Texas Toast will be a permanent item on my grocery list. Thanks!
That’s so awesome to hear – thanks, Jen!
Have you ever made this recipe fried? Do you think it would taste good?
I haven’t – definitely worth a try!
I made this tonight for dinner, and it is a keeper! I used brioche bread because the bread was very picked over at the store, and it was the thickest bread I could find. This type of bread needed to be soaked in the egg mixture a little bit longer, but that’s okay! It had a wonderful texture from the Corn Flakes, and speaking of the Corn Flakes, I could eat just that mixture with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. It smelled so good! This also came together pretty quick, which was great because I was not in the mood to cook tonight!
Thanks for the detailed review, Taylor!
I am new to your blog and have loved it. You are a ray of sunshine!! Today I tried your Crunchy Baked French Toast Sticks. I had no corn flakes so I used Honey
Bunches of Oats, removing the larger chunks, and my homemade ww bread. They
were delicious. I had about 1/2 c of the cereal and some of the egg left over and no
more bread to use them with, so, being a person who abhors wasting food, I scrambled the eggs and used the cereal in some Greek yogurt.
Thank you for your great recipes and your fun blog. I love you humorous side
comments.
You are the sweetest of the sweet, Jean. Thank you so much! Love, LOVE how you used up those leftover ingredients. Sounds delicious!
I’m looking forward to making this! I like that this is baked, not fried, and everyone’s French toast is ready at the same time.
I think Sara Lee Artisano Bread will be perfect for this. It’s thick and a bit sturdier than regular white bread. Most grocery stores carry it.
Thanks for the recipe!
These are delicious! I used a variety of cereal, basically dumped the last bit out of a couple boxes, some of which was sweet and it worked great and was super yummy and crunchy! Big hit with the people!
Love the “use what you have” tactic on this recipe! I had a feeling it would be pretty darn adaptable. My kids suggested we try it with raisin bran this morning, but I did draw the line at that. 🙂
Lol. What about Grape Nuts? 😉
LOL. Actually Raisin Bran was one of my “last scoop in the boxes” that I used and it was pretty darn good. I tried to fish out the raisins but the ones that slipped through baked up soft and delicious and this is coming from a “don’t you dare put raisins in my cinnamon rolls” kind of person.
I feel like I don’t even know who you are anymore. You’re scaring me. Raisins???
Mel, where are you buying your vanilla extract these days? I’d love an idea or two. Have a hard time putting down $40 at my local Costco… these look super yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Yep it’s Coscto all the way for me. But I ration it. And I have a bottle of imitation in my pantry for things that don’t require the real thing (I’ve found a lot of recipes that need a touch of vanilla flavor but don’t require it as the main flavor – like vanilla pudding or creme brulee or frosting – do fine with imitation). It’s crazy how expensive pure vanilla extract is!
This is so interesting, and what a good idea to use imitation for some things! I should do that. And you could write a blog post about vanilla!
It’s very quick and easy to make in the instant pot and you save a load of money. My 13 year old made a big batch for Christmas gifts.
Made these this morning!! Totally hit the spot! Love your recipes Mel ❤️ CANNOT wait for the doughnut recipe
So happy you made these already! And I am finishing that donut recipe today and hopefully will have it posted Friday (or Monday the latest). Promise, promise!
Do you think rice krispies would work with these? I do not have corn flakes but am always drowning in rice krispies
I think you could definitely try! I would crush them much, if at all.
These are definitely happening this week. I wonder how they’d freeze and reheat for a quick breakfast. Have you tried it yet?
I haven’t because we gobble them up so fast, but I definitely think they would freeze GREAT!
These look amazing! And easy! Thank you for sharing…..adding corn flakes to the grocery list now. Have you ever made these with French toast bread?
Hey Tami – what do you mean by French toast bread? Like Texas toast?
Yes, it has the sturdiness of Texas toast but it has swirled cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla flavorings incorporated. I’m guessing if I used that, I could leave out the cinnamon and brown sugar that goes with the corn flakes?
Made these this morning (with plain Texas toast) and they were a huge hit. SO GOOD!!
Thank you, Mel!
Tami
Sounds delicious! If the bread is pretty sweet, then yes, I’d probably nix the sugar in the cornflake topping.
Try this with plain Captain Crunch cereal pulsed a few times in a food processor/blender in place of the corn flakes. It is seriously incredible!
Whoa.
This recipe also works well with original Special K, if someone has that on hand! I do NOT crush the Special K. Really good!!!
Thanks, Ruth!
I’ve heard that’s yummy! My poor deprived children don’t ever get Captain Crunch – we tend to have cornflakes on hand more often, but it might be worth a splurge! 🙂
I am so making these! They sound so good. I was wondering if you ever tried these in an air fryer?
I don’t own an air fryer so I haven’t – sorry I’m not more help!
Mel. It’s time to get an air fryer. 😉 Just think of the possibilities! You’d have so much fun with one! I sure do love mine! 🙂
I actually happened to have some thick sliced homemade white bread at home, and my kids love the store-bought French toast sticks, so I decided I had to try these. I actually forgot to add the melted butter on the first batch but I added it for the second batch and couldn’t really tell the difference. My kids gave it side eye when they first saw it but then they tried it and kept coming back for seconds and thirds. They just ate them plain without syrup or anything since they are little and get syrup everywhere. I even loved these and I’m not a big French toast person.
I was hoping to have more left over to freeze but they are almost gone. ♀️
Thanks for the review, Jenny! Super helpful! Glad your kids loved them (after a little side eyeing – haha)
My husband’s favorite french toast is coated with crushed up Capt’n Crunch! It’s actually really good, especially if you cook it in butter! We’ve also tried Cinnamon Toast Crunch! They’re both really sweet, so we like to add some berries on top. I love the idea of these fun sticks, and my kids would love them too! Thanks for the idea!
Thanks for the recommendations! 🙂
Do you think your small batch whole wheat bread recipe would work too? (I’m always trying to get as many whole grains in as possible…) thanks!
I don’t even have littles at home anymore- I’m making this for me!
Yes for sure! Just make sure to slice the bread thick (like 1-inch slices).
Mel YOU ARE INCREDIBLE! I had crunchy coated French toast more than 20 years ago at a fancy resort. I have been thinking about it ever since! I will be baking bread tonight to be able to make this yummy breakfast tomorrow!
Thanks, cute Amy! I hope you love this (and bonus points for making homemade bread tonight – it was amazing with that homemade white sandwich bread)
MAN, THIS IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED FOR MY ‘STAY AT HOME’ TIME.
I agree, Norm! It’s been a fun quarantine recipe!
I made amazing French toast which involved frying. I seriously thought about sending you the recipe but it has a slight soggy bread factor so I let things be. Something about quartene is bringing out French toast. I cant wait to try this one. Baked and no soggy bread, this will be such a winner.
You can always send me recipes, Lindsey! Even soggy bread ones. I’ll find a way to fix them. 🙂
Still killing it with the quarantine recipes Mel, and I’m still here loving it!!!
My kids are dying to make homemade donuts now and I told them it wasn’t happening until you post your recipe for them!
It’s coming, I promise! I’m hopefully going to post them Friday or Monday at the latest!! They’re amazing and totally worth the wait. 🙂
Oh, yum! This is going to happen at our house as soon as I can get my hands on some corn flakes!
Get some! 🙂
Have you ever made a large batch and frozen the extras? I’m just wondering if that’ll work and how you reheat.
I haven’t, Kim – but I bet it would work great!
I’ve done this and they reheat great in the toaster oven! They even retain a bit of that crunch which I wasn’t expecting.
I’m definitely in the camp of didn’t know i needed this recipe, but definitely do! Think I could use rice krispies instead of cornflakes to use up the bag after making your browned butter rice krispie treats?
Yes, try it!
Also as a follow up, I don’t know that I’d crush the rice krispies at all so they keep some of that optimal crunch.