Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with this Irish Soda Bread French Toast recipe! Thick slices of Irish soda bread are soaked in classic French toast egg mixture and cooked until golden brown. It's a freezer-friendly recipe that will elevate your St. Patty's Day celebration or help you use up the rest of your Irish soda bread loaf.
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I've been making a lot of freezer-friendly French toast lately as an easy heat-and-eat style breakfast. I've mostly been making it out of brioche. But I recently started thinking about other types of bread I could turn into French toast. Well, with St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, Irish Soda Bread seems to be available in just about every grocery store and bakery. I thought it would make a good base for French toast and I was right!
What is Irish Soda Bread?
If you've never had Irish soda bread before, it's a dense bread made with buttermilk, flour, baking soda, and salt. It's typically dotted with raisins, but can also be made with other dried fruits like apricots, cranberries, currants. It's also sometimes made with caraway seeds.
It's not an overly sweet bread, which makes it perfect for toasting and topping with butter and jam, or fresh fruit. It can also be enjoyed with a drizzle of honey on top. You can even pair it with savory dishes like your morning eggs and bacon, soups, chilis, or cheeses like cheddar or blue cheese.
While I usually enjoy this seasonal bread as buttered toast in the morning, it's now become a favorite base to use for French toast. Because of its dense texture, it really grabs and soaks up the French toast egg mixture without getting crumbly. And because most Irish soda bread loaves are packaged unsliced, you can control the thickness of your French toast.
Irish Soda Bread French Toast
Just like basic French toast, this Irish soda bread recipe starts with your basic mixture of eggs, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla to create that rich, custardy texture. I don't add sugar to my egg mixture, but you can adjust the sweetness of your French toast. I usually like to add extra sweetness in the form of toppings.
So to start this French toast, we need to whip up our egg mixture. In a large shallow dish, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon together and stir in the milk.
Now, we're going to take some Irish soda bread slices and dip them into the mixture. You can let them sit in the dish and soak, but I find that dipping and evenly coating each side in the mixture is enough.
Then, add a generous pat of butter to a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Working in batches, if necessary, cook the bread on each side. Make sure that the mixture has set. The bread should look slightly browned on each side when done.
Serve the French toast with your favorite toppings. I like a sprinkle of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup on top. And because I have a lot of strawberries in the fridge at the moment, I also added some sliced strawberries on top.
Irish Soda Bread French Toast
Equipment
- 1 large shallow dish
- 1 large skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tbsps. butter for cooking
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 slices Irish soda bread about 1 inch thick
- Optional toppings: powdered sugar, fresh berries, maple syrup, whipped cream
Instructions
- In a shallow dish, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon together. Stir in milk.
- Dip Irish soda bread slices into the egg mixture, making sure to coat each side, allowing the mixture to soak in. If desired, you can let the slices soak in the mixture for about 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Grease a large skillet with butter. Over medium heat, cook the Irish soda bread until egg mixture has set and bread is browned on each side, about 3-4 minutes.
- Serve French toast immediately with powdered sugar, maple syrup, or other favorite French toast toppings.
Notes
How to Freeze Irish Soda Bread French Toast
This recipe is great for using up the last of your Irish soda bread loaf. You can make this French toast ahead of time and freeze it for later. To freeze this French toast, prepare it as instructed, then allow it to cool completely. Once cooled, freeze it on a baking sheet until solid. Then, you can portion the French toast into freezer-safe containers or add the slices to a large freezer bag.
Want to try some other unique French toast recipes? Give this Easy Pumpkin Spice French Toast Bake or Panettone French Toast a go!
Did you make this Irish Soda Bread French Toast recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #holokahome. Don’t forget to tag me @holokahome!
