Strawberries and Cream French Toast is the perfect way to spruce up a boring breakfast routine in just 20 minutes. Start with egg-dipped brioche bread cooked until golden, add a super easy strawberry sauce, and top it with almond-flavored cream.
I love French Toast! You too? That’s great because I have so many recipes for French Toast. Some of my favorites include: Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Muffins, Cinnamon French Toast Sticks, and Apple Cinnamon French Toast.
Sometimes I like to make breakfast a big deal. Like, set the table kinda cute, add some flowers in vases, get out “fancy” plates and whip up a special meal just because.
The kids LOVE when I do this and I never let them know ahead of time, so it’s just something special they get to wake up to. Not for any special occasion, just because it’s so fun to see their smiles first thing and it really sets the tone for the day. I mean, how can you have a bad day when you see those little faces light up as though it’s Christmas morning?
But the caveat for me is that it has to be an easy breakfast. I want the kids to enjoy it of course but I don’t want to have to get up ridiculously early or anything! For our latest fancy breakfast, I decided to take one of our favorite breakfasts โ French toast โ and really do it up by adding sweet cream and strawberries. It’s so easy and delicious and everyone just gobbled it up.
Guests will love this breakfast too โ it’s great for all ages! Plus, you can substitute just about any other berries or your favorite fruit if you don’t like strawberries or have something else you need to use up.
Here’s What You Need
- Heavy cream
- Sugar
- Almond or vanilla extract
- Strawberries
- Flour
- Butter
- Sugar
- Brioche or other thick-cut white bread
- Eggs
- Milk
- Flour
Here’s How You Make It
This French toast breakfast dish is a three-parter, but don’t worry, they all whip up in a flash and you’ll want all three parts so you can layer them all together and make the toast look super pretty before you dive right in.
- Make the whipped cream by combining the heavy cream, sugar, and extract in a very cold glass bowl. Whip all the ingredients by hand or with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Cover and place in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
- Make the strawberry sauce. Toss the cut berries in 1 tablespoon of flour. Then, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the butter, strawberries, and sugar. When the butter melts, you can turn the burner down to low and keep cooking for another 6-8 minutes. Stir every once in a while to keep it from burning. Remove from the heat when it’s done.
- Prepare the french toast! Get out a wide, shallow dish (a pie plate works well for this) and whisk together the eggs, milk, extract, and flour for 2-3 minutes or until it’s all nice and mixed together. Preheat a griddle or skillet to medium-low heat and melt 1 tablespoon of butter in it. Then turn your attention to the bread.
- Dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture, letting it soak for a few seconds before turning it and doing the same with the other side. Let the excess drip off back into the pan before putting it in the skillet to cook.
- Let each side cook for 3-4 minutes before turning and cooking the second side for another 3-4 minutes. You can cook more than one at a time if your griddle or skillet is big enough, but leave room between so that they don’t touch while they’re cooking.
- Once you’ve used up all the bread, it’s time to put this fabulous dish together. Add 1-2 pieces of bread to a plate (a fancy plate if you’re feeling up to it), and top with strawberry sauce and of course a big dollop of whipped cream and serve right away!
Customize It!
Change up your strawberry french toast to suit you any way you like. Some of my favorite ideas include:
- Switching up the fruit. This recipe will work with any kind of berries, or you can use apples, pears, fresh cherries, or peaches.
- Sprinkle some slivered almonds or chopped pecans over the top of the whipped cream for a little crunch.
- Use sourdough bread if you like a little sour tang to balance out the sweetness of the fruit and whipped cream.
- In a rush? You can use your favorite berry jam (heat up a bit to make it more spreadable) instead of making the strawberry sauce.
- Add banana slices on top of the strawberries, but under the whipped cream to double up your fruit (and use up those overripe bananas).
More Popular Breakfast Recipes
- Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
- Easy Omurice (Japanese Omelet Rice)
- Japanese Souffle Pancakes
- Pumpkin French Toast
- Fluffiest Blueberry Pancakes
Did you make this recipe? I’d love it if you would give it a rating below!
Strawberries and Cream French Toast
Ingredients
for the cream
- โ cup heavy cream - very cold
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ยฝ teaspoon almond extract - may sub vanilla extract
for the strawberry sauce
- 2 cups strawberries - sliced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons butter
- โ cup granulated sugar
for the toast
- 8 sliced brioche toast - or other thick-cut white bread
- 2 large eggs
- ยฝ cup milk
- ยฝ teaspoon almond extract - may sub vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- extra butter - for cooking
Instructions
make the whipped cream
- In a medium, chilled glass bowl, combine heavy cream, sugar, and almond extract. Whip by hand or with an electric mixer (definitely the quicker method!) until stiff peaks form. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
prepare the strawberry sauce
- Toss strawberries with the 1 tablespoon flour.
- In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, combine butter, strawberries, and sugar. Once butter is melted reduce heat to low and simmer for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce darkens and thickens slightly. Remove from heat.
make the French toast
- In a wide, shallow dish, whisk together eggs, milk, almond extract, and flour for 2-3 minutes until flour is incorporated.
- Preheat a large, wide skillet (or griddle) over medium-low heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the skillet. While butter is melting, proceed with next step.
- Dip a slice of bread in the egg mixture being sure to let it soak for a few seconds, then turn it over and repeat. Lift the bread and allow excess to drip off before transferring to preheated skillet.
- Cook toast 3-4 minutes before turning over and cooking another 3-4 minutes until golden brown. You can cook multiple pieces of toast at the same time if you have room in the skillet, just be sure they aren't touching.
- Repeat with remaining pieces of bread. Top with strawberry sauce and a big dollop of whipped cream and serve immediately.
Notes
- This recipe makes about 8 slices of french toast feeding anywhere from 4-8 people depending on serving size. This feeds five of us in my house – two adults and three small kids.
- If you don’t have almond extract, definitely use vanilla extract BUT do yourself a favor and pick up some almond extract next time you’re in the spice aisle – it’s one of my favorite secrets to taking a good recipe to the next level!ย
- If you use a large griddle you can make several pieces of toast at the same time and cut down your cooking time by a lot, but it also works just fine to do one slice in a pan at a time if you’ve got a smaller pan.ย
- Using chilled cream (I even pop mine in the freezer for 10 minutes or so right before using) and a chilled glass bowl really speeds up the whipping process!
Creamy, fruity and a perfect crunch. Great valentines breakfast!
Thanks for your feedback, Emily! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Happy Valentines!
Can I use peaches? We don’t have strawberries in yet
For sure!