This buttermilk french toast needs just 7 simple ingredients! This fluffy french toast recipe is perfect if you have any leftover buttermilk hanging around your fridge, and I would absolutely love to make this for Christmas morning! Soft brioche bread is dipped in a buttermilk and cinnamon mixture before being fried until golden. I love serving it with fresh berries and a generous drizzle of maple syrup.

Two slices of homemade buttermilk french toast on a small plate, topped with raspberries and maple syrup being poured on top.

A lot of my blog is dessert recipes, but believe me, I LOVE breakfast. Especially a fancy, all-out breakfast of pancakes, waffles or french toast. This buttermilk french toast recipe is the kind of brunch I would love to be served at an old inn in Vermont (which I have stayed in, but they served us amazing gingerbread cake and refused to give me the recipe! Oh well)

I first thought about making french toast with buttermilk after I made an amazing french toast recipe from King Arthur using heavy cream! After that, I thought what else can I use to make french toast? And I've always got some buttermilk hanging out in my fridge since I'm always developing new cake recipes.

If you want even more fancy breakfast recipes, you have to try my overnight french toast casserole, apple waffles, brown butter cinnamon rolls, and sweet cream pancakes.

Jump to:

Why you'll love this recipe!
Grab your ingredients
Substitutions & Additions
How to make this recipe
My Top Tips
Serving Suggestions
Storage & Freezing
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Recipe

Why you'll love this recipe!

Simple Ingredients: you only need 7 simple ingredients to make this classic french toast recipe, nothing too fancy.
Crowd Favorite: not only is french toast loved by everyone, but you can easily make it for a crowd!
Easy: all you need to do is soak the bread in an egg mixture, fry in a skillet, and keep warm in the oven! This is one I can make before I've even had my morning cup of coffee.

Grab your ingredients

All the ingredients needed to make buttermilk french toast, weighed out into small bowls.

Eggs: a must to make french toast! The eggs will create the base for the custard batter that you'll dip the bread into.
Buttermilk: I've tested this recipe with buttermilk. This is going to give the custard base a slight tang!
Ground Cinnamon: I love adding some spices to my french toast. Cinnamon is a warm spice that compliments the french toast and goes great with maple syrup.
Vanilla Extract: I like adding a dash of vanilla extract to give more vanilla flavor to the custard base.
Sugar: adding a bit of granulated sugar will help sweeten up the buttermilk mixture.
Brioche Bread: I love using stale bread for french toast. It makes your french toast so much fluffier than regular sliced bread, plus brioche loaves are usually thick slices of bread which are really going to soak up that buttermilk mixture.

Substitutions & Additions

Bread: you could swap out sliced brioche bread for sliced chocolate chip brioche bread or challah bread. In a pinch, you could use regular sliced sandwich bread or white bread.
Sugar: feel free to swap out the granulated sugar for light brown sugar.
Spices: swap out the cinnamon for pumpkin spice or any of your other favorite spices!
Buttermilk: ok so technically if you swap this out it won't be buttermilk french toast! But you can use an equal amount of heavy cream (note that it makes the french toast super rich!) or you can use regular milk.
Bourbon: kick it up a notch and use 1-2 tablespoons of bourbon!

How to make this recipe

French toast buttermilk mixture in a white bowl.

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 400°Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg together in a shallow dish.

A slice of brioche in a bowl of french toast mixture.

Step 2: Melt butter or cooking spray in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Place one slice of bread in the buttermilk mixture, let one side soak for 20 seconds.

Step 3: Flip the piece of toast in the french toast batter so the other side can soak for 20 seconds.

A skillet with two slices of french toast being cooked.

Step 4: Place the eggy bread in the hot skillet. Cook until golden brown, flipping after about 2 minutes.

Slices of buttermilk french toasted on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Step 5: Once golden brown on each side, place the cooked french toast on the prepared baking sheet and place in the oven to stay warm. Continue cooking the remaining pieces of french toast.

Three slices of homemade buttermilk french toast on a small plate, topped with raspberries and maple syrup being poured on top.

Step 6: Once all the pieces are cooked, serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit!

Two slices of homemade buttermilk french toast on a small plate, topped with raspberries.

My Top Tips

I recommend keeping an eye on the pan's temperature as you cook the slices of french toast. You may need to lower the heat after you've cooked the first few slices or the french toast might burn, so feel free to turn it down to medium-low heat.
Dip one slice of toast at a time and let it really soak for 20 seconds on each side. You want to saturate the pieces of bread!
Once the bread has soaked, let any excess liquid drip off before you start frying it in the pan.
Using a shallow bowl is going to make it much easier to soak the bread! I used a shallow pasta bowl.

Serving Suggestions

Fall Breakfast: serve this fluffy buttermilk french toasted with a pumpkin spice latte, using my pumpkin sauce for coffee recipe!
Fresh Fruit: I love serving this french toast with fresh fruit like raspberries, blueberries or strawberries. You could even add some lemon zest for a bit of zing!
Breakfast Spread: if you're thinking of doing a big breakfast spread, serve the french toast with apple waffles, chocolate cinnamon rolls and brown butter cinnamon rolls!
Favorite Toppings: warm maple syrup is a must for me, but you can also add some unsalted butter, whipped cream, powdered sugar, or jam!

Storage & Freezing

I recommend enjoying the french toast right away. You can let the french toast cool down and place in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a nonstick skillet and serve.

Three slices of homemade buttermilk french toast on a small plate, topped with raspberries.

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If you've made this recipe, make sure to leave a ⭐️ rating and review below! I love seeing when you make my recipes, so tag me on Instagram @alpineella so I can see! You can also follow along on Pinterest, Facebook and TikTok!