Panettone french toast is the best way to bring a holiday twist to a classic breakfast!
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One of the great things about French toast is that it’s simple to make, and easy to double/triple if you’ve got a houseful of holiday guests! So if you need a simple but special breakfast option this December, try panettone french toast!
Panetone is an Italian Christmas bread. The most traditional version is a light, sweet bread packed with raisins and dried fruit. It’s a bit like the bread version of a fruitcake, and you can find it in every bakery and supermarket in December.
To be completely honest, I don’t love it the most traditional version of panettone. But lucky for me, there are ten million variations! So we’ve had fun trying the different types.
Unsurprisingly, the favorite is the one with chocolate replacing the fruit, making it chocolate chip bread. Which is obviously the best choice for making some holiday french toast!
You can, of course, make this with any kind of bread: challah, brioche, whatever feels special. Heck, I love french toast so much I’m not above using regular sliced sandwich bread.
The important thing for making french toast is to not make it too thick and to not leave it too long in the mixture. You want a good eggy coating without soaking in and getting soggy. Dip the bread in the egg mix, coat, flip, and go straight onto the grill.
I like my slices to be about 1 inch thick, which means it doesn’t hurt to cook it for a few seconds on each of the edges too.
Tools you’ll need: pie dish and skillet or grill pan.
Panettone French Toast
Ingredients
- 8 slices panettone
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 1-2 Tbsp butter
Instructions
- In a pie pan, beat the eggs with a fork. In another small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Heat a grill pan or large skillet to medium and add some of the butter: half if you can fit four slices, or all if you can fit all at once.
- Add the cream, vanilla and spices to the eggs and beat together to fully combine. Dip a slice of bread in the mixture, turning to fully coat, and put on the pan. Dip the bread only if there's room in the pan for it; you don't want it to soak in.
- Fry the bread for a minute or two. Keep a close eye; you want the outside to be golden but not burn. When it's done, flip.
- If you want to, turn thick slices on their edges to cook for 30 seconds.
- Repeat until all the slices are cooked. Serve immediately!
I love to jazz up classic dishes for the holidays, so panettone french toast is a favorite! What are your go-to’s for feeding a crowd?
Some of my other hosting breakfast favorites are Christmas morning coffee cake, chocolate banana muffins and Thanksgiving stuffing – just throw some fried eggs on top and thank me later!
I totally want to try this!
Enjoy it! It’s super easy to put together!
Oh this French toast recipe sounds amazing!! Thank you for sharing
Thank you!! I hope you love it!!
Great recipe!! I make a French toast casserole with panettone too. Such a great use of the holiday bread I feel like nobody ever eats haha. Thanks for sharing! Beautiful job!
Ooh yum! I’ve actually been workshopping a french toast casserole recipe, and using panettone is a great idea!!