Homemade French toast sticks with an easy and quick prep so the kids can help too. It’s a versatile recipe and ingredients can be adjusted to your liking.
This French toast sticks recipe is perfect for a meal prep. Make them ahead, throw them in the freezer and take out as many as you like whenever you like.
You will find more tips and FAQ’s as well as serving ideas below. The full recipe for make ahead french toast sticks is in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to make french toast sticks?
Once you have gathered all the ingredients and tools, the whole prep of about 30 sticks should take 15 minutes. You might be even quicker than that.
You will need 2 bowls. One for eggs and milk that you will need to beat. The second one is for breadcrumb mixture.
This is the part that makes these cinnamon French toast sticks different from the classic French toast sticks recipe.
Prepare a tray (preferably one that fits in your freezer). I like to line mine with a parchment paper. Then, cut all the bread slices into 4 equally looking pieces and dip each in egg mixture, then breadcrumb mix and place onto the tray.
Either bake or freeze for later use (more info in the tips section or recipe card).
How many calories in French toast sticks?
Each French toast stick contain about 59 calories. This number is calculated by a nutrition calculator and should only be a guide.
Here is why: In reality, the calorie count will be lower as you will not use all the breadcrumb mixture or egg mixture.
Also, you can omit adding sugar completely which will lower the final number.
How do you cook frozen French toast sticks?
You can either cook them in the oven or on a stove top or griddle. The difference will be in their texture.
Oven-baked French toast sticks will be crispier but drier on the outside while the ones made in a skillet with butter will be softer and richer in flavor (due to the butter used).
For oven, you can cook them from frozen or thawed (they only take 5-10 minutes to thaw).
For stove top/griddle, I recommend thawing them first.
Tips for making the best French toast sticks from scratch
- For the breadcrumb mixture I mixed dry breadcrumbs with mini pretzel crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. You can omit the pretzels and use corn flakes or any other cereals instead. You can also change the ratios of these ingredients, if you like.
- This french toast sticks recipe can be easily doubled or halved. If you are looking for breakfast recipes for a meal prep, this is definitely one of them.
- You can either prep + freeze and cook when you and your kids want to enjoy this sweet breakfast or prep+bake+freeze+thaw & toast in a toaster!
- If you can, use a day old (or more) bread. The sticks won’t break easily when coating them in egg and crumbs.
Serving suggestions:
There are so many options when it comes to toppings for these French toast sticks and it is entirely up to you what you like. For inspiration, here are a few ideas:
- Fresh berries
- Berry/fruit compote
- Fruit syrup
- Maple syrup
- Honey
- Fresh peaches – delicious combination with a jam of your choice (My favorites are Blueberry Sauce and Peach Jam).
- Whipped cream
Please note that when making French toast sticks in the oven, I highly recommend serving them with some kind of a syrup to make up for the dryness.
More French toast recipes for you to try:
All different but equally delicious and worth giving a shot! If you do try these homemade French toast sticks or any of the above mentioned recipes, please do let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Happy cooking!
French Toast Sticks
Ingredients
- 2 cups Pretzels (60 grams), see note 1
- ½ cup Dry Breadcrumbs (70 grams)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 4 Large Eggs
- ¼ cup Milk , see note 2
- 7 slices White Bread , see note 3
Instructions
- Process the pretzels in a food processor until crumb-like texture.
- Transfer them into a bowl/deep plate and add breadcrumbs, cinnamon and sugar. Mix well.
- Get another bowl for eggs and milk. Beat these together until well combined.
- Cut the bread slices into fourths.
- Dip briefly each stick into egg mixture, then crumb mixture and place onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment (optional). Repeat until you have used all the bread.
- Option 1: Freeze the sticks on the tray for 30 minutes, making sure there is a little space in between them. After 30 minutes, transfer them into a ziploc bag and keep in the freezer until ready to cook.
- Option 2: Bake them at 400° Fahrenheit (200° Celsius) for about 10 minutes, turning them over half way through cooking. Enjoy right away or let them cool and freeze the same way like in option 1.
- You can also cook them in a skillet or griddle with some butter for about 2 minutes per side (see note 5).
Notes
- Two cups of pretzels should yield a heaped ½ cup of pretzel crumbs. As a substitution, you can use cereals of your choice or graham crackers/digestive biscuits.
- Milk can be substituted with half and half (single cream) or whipping cream or use a combination of these.
- Instead of white bread, you can use wholemeal bread. An old bread works better!
- This recipe is enough for 28 french toast sticks. Serving size: 3 sticks.
- For more options and difference between the cooking options, please read the post above this recipe card.
- Cooking time may vary. This will depend mainly on your oven/stove. If not sure, leave them in for a bit longer.
Jill says
Pinning this to reference so I can make some for my kids this school year. They’ll love them. And what a great addition the pretzels are to the coating. Love it!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks, Jill!
veena says
Crispy and surely crunchy too. Love the cinnamon flavor to it.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks!
Luci says
You can’t go wrong with french toast sticks! I grew up loving them, and I can’t wait to make these for my little one. I know he’ll love them!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
And they are so good, aren’t they?
Beth Sachs says
I LOVE that you can make these french toast sticks ahead of time and freeze them. A big hit with my kids that’s for sure!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
These are addictive, right? :)
Kara says
I’m a big fan of make ahead meals and snacks. This recipe is great. I love the crunchy exterior with the pretzels (or cornflakes)! That’s a great addition.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
I am happy to hear that, Kara.
David Barnes says
I haven’t made these yet, but I will for my grandchildren soon. I’m surprised that no one mentions adding vanilla extract. I probably will do two batches, one with, one without because I’m old school😀.
Karen says
Awesome. I like this dish. I tried your recipe and I got it. Your recipe is easy to make. I want to make a double recipe, is that okay? What do you think?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Yes, Karen. You can easily double the recipe.