Bananas Foster French Toast feature a caramelized brown sugar banana topping and a rich Challah french toast. The perfect start to any morning!
Yield:
2 -3
Prep Time:15minutes
Cook:15minutes
Tessa's Recipe Rundown...
Taste: The banana topping is deeply sweet with caramel flavors while the french toast itself is caramelized, rich, with a lovely hint of cinnamon. When it all comes together it’s DIVINE.
Texture: The French toast is caramelized at the edges, fluffy inside and the bananas are floating in a thick sauce.
Ease: The French toast only fries on the stove-top for a few minutes before finishing off in the oven, leaving you time and space to make the banana topping.
Appearance: Absolutely, positively mouthwatering.
Pros: Perfect for a birthday breakfast, a special brunch, or just when you feel like indulging.
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? Yes.
This is one of those recipes that’s so ridiculously indulgent and mouth-watering that it’s almost too good to believe.
I recently encountered someone who haaaates bananas with a passion. I had actually never met anyone like that before but it seems like since then I keep hearing about this banana hatred. Who knew? It’s shocking to me because bananas are so unassuming! I have to admit that I don’t much like to eat a banana straight up without a little bit of crunch somewhere. They’re so soft that I seriously feel like I’m a baby eating baby food when I eat a banana. Is that weird?
So anyways, I hope YOU like bananas! Not that you need to love them, anything doused in brown sugar and butter is bound to be fabulous.
Bananas Foster French Toast Recipe Tips
Don’t let all that I’ve written below intimidate you. This really is quite a simple recipe. I just want to always give you all the information you need to be successful in the kitchen, and to answer any questions you might have ahead of time. Plus I think it helps to really understand the details of a recipe so you can master it then really make it your own!
The Bread
The bread is clearly the base of any French Toast and should not be taken lightly!!! So that means no sad white sandwich bread here. My all-time favorite French toast bread will always be Challah bread. It’s already so rich and eggy that it really enhances the kind of light and fluffy yet custardy texture inside a thick slice of French toast. If you want a sturdier chewier texture, go for country-style bread or even Texas toast. Just make sure the bread you use is tightly crumbed, meaning it won’t have large holes or thick crusts.
The Milk & Eggs
Use good quality eggs and whole milk and whisk really well, there should be no unincorporated pieces of egg yolk or egg white. You could use 2% milk but you’ll loose out on some of the flavor and richness.
Cooking the French Toast
You can use a griddle, but I actually prefer a pan because I think it allows for better frying in an even layer of butter and oil. That’s right, I said oil. We’re frying in a combination of butter and oil to get the best texture and the best flavor. The oil helps to seal and crisp the outside of the bread so the inside stays nice and custardy.
As you get ready to cook, get your bread soaking in the custard mixture as close to the pan as possible to avoid drips that will make a gross mess. Let any excess drip off before you carefully place it into the hot pan. Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes per side. I like my French Toast pretty well fried and crisp at the edges! My favorite tool for slipping and remove the French toast is a fish spatula, it’s thin enough to slide right under and doesn’t pick up and transfer a bunch of grease because it’s slotted.
Bananas Foster
Don’t use overripe bananas, as they won’t hold their shape while they’re cooked.
Typically bananas foster calls for rum but I figured since this is a breakfast recipe that might be a little much. Feel free to add some after the sugar has dissolved in the butter, if you desire. It’d certainly be appropriate for a celebratory brunch!
Keeping Warm
Keep the finished slices of French Toast warm in a 250°F oven. Keep the topping warm over the lowest heat setting on the stove. This little trick makes easy work of having everything come to the table warm and ready to eat without hassle.
4.60 from 20 votes
How to make
Bananas Foster French Toast
Yield:2-3
Prep Time:15 minutesminutes
Cook Time:15 minutesminutes
Total Time:30 minutesminutes
Bananas Foster French Toast feature a caramelized brown sugar banana topping and a rich Challah french toast. The perfect start to any morning!
Ingredients
French Toast:
2large eggs
1/2cupwhole milk
1teaspoonvanilla
Pinchsalt
1/2teaspooncinnamon
1/4teaspoonallspice
Challah bread, cut into 6 1/2-inch slices
Unsalted butter, for frying
Vegetable oil, for frying
Bananas Foster Topping:
4tablespoons(57 grams) unsalted butter
1/4cup(50 grams) light brown sugar
2firm bananas, sliced
Pinchcinnamon
Directions
Directions
Make the French Toast:
Preheat oven to 250°F.
In a large shallow bowl or dish whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and allspice. Soak as many slices in the egg mixture as possible for 5 minutes, turning once.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and 1 tablespoon of the oil in a very large saute pan or griddle over medium heat. Add the soaked bread and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until well browned. Add more butter and oil to the pan as needed. Once all the bread is cooked, place it on a baking tray in the warm oven.
Make the Topping:
In a small skillet, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved into butter. Add banana slices to pan, stirring so they are covered in caramel sauce. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon. Bananas are done when they are warmed through. Pour bananas foster mixture over French Toast.
I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)
I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)
Have made this a few times now. My husband says it’s the best French toast ever, and I agree.
Definitely add (dark) rum, otherwise it’s not a true “Foster”. Sometimes if it’s more of a brunch and I’m feeling lazy (or hung over), I’ll add a another splash to the cooked sauce at the end for some extra kick. 😉
I highly recommend a little extra brown sugar, a splash of heavy cream, and a dash of cinnamon!
Brioche tends to fall apart so I always use challah.
Lastly, the sauce never seems to thicken properly so I always end up adding a tablespoon or two of corn starch slurry.
This is the best French toast I’ve ever had. Banana foster is my favorite & paired with the ultimate sweet breakfast food of French toast… heavenly! So easy to come together. Will definitely be making this again!
CHANDRAGIRI nagendra prasad
— July 23, 2021 at 6:51 pm
I tried this recipe in my home and share it with my family and friends. And they said it’s so delicious, thank you so much for sharing your experience.
First time making bananas foster. I used both Challah and Brioche bread and the brioche was way better. Also keep in mind, if you have kind of ripe bananas like me and are worried about them falling apart, I tried to make the sauce without adding the bananas. But the brown sugar and butter mixture literally would not turn into an actual sauce until I said to heck with it and added the bananas anyway (which by the way turned out to be just fine and kept their form, so don’t worry about not having firm bananas and just do it) once I added the bananas, the sauce actually started to take form, but at that point, the sauce was already burnt. I think I know what to do next time, but I really wish this recipe was written a little better.
I’m sorry you had an issue with your sauce burning! I’d lower the heat on your stove to ensure that doesn’t happen next time, which would allow you to cook the sauce longer. The biggest problem with this recipe is overripe bananas, which definitely won’t hold their shape when cooked. What type of brown sugar did you use, light or dark? How about your butter? If you use butter with a fat content higher than 82%, that may be the reason why your mixture wouldn’t combine.
This was so easy and I can’t even tell you how good! I added a little bit more cinnamon added like an 1/8th of nutmeg. I also substituted the bread with Brioche bread instead and it was delicious! Boyfriend cleaned his plate!
Good base French toast recipe but sauce needs major edits. Butter and brown sugar does not/did not come together as a cohesive sauce on its own. If you’re seeing it not come together, try the steps below:
Added 1 tbsp more brown sugar, after melting took off heat and added a couple of splashes of heavy cream (~2-3 tbsp). Put back on low heat and Whisk vigorously and it will come together nicely as a more “caramel-y” and smooth sauce. Add bananas after it’s cooled just a touch and sauté for just 20 seconds or so in the sauce before pouring over cooked French toast. I added fleur de sel as I wanted a more “salted caramel” taste.
With these edits lovely recipe, however the French toast piece is fairly basic and the sauce needed a lot more attention so only giving this 3 stars.
Made this and it was delicious! Only comment is I had to double the egg mixture because after dipping 3 slices of challah it was completely gone. Maybe I had extra absorbent challah! Also I found cooking 2 min per side was not enough. I had to do about 3.5 min per side.
I’m going to assume it is awesome and the failure was user error. I do have to admit that I never have good luck with sauces of any kind. This was no different. I only had dark brown sugar, so I thought it would substitute ok. What turned out was an unappetizing soup of melted butter and partially dissolved sugar. It also tasted really bad, but maybe that is because it started to smoke? It didn’t give a temperature, so I made the sauce on medium. I was hoping someone would have some input on my experience. I want to try this again, but with light brown sugar this time. I had never made French toast with butter and oil and my daughter loved it, so I do have that takeaway. 🙂
Just made this for breakfast with what I had on hand. Used artesano bread and halved the ingredients since I was. only cooking for one. Still came out delicious ! Simple recipe just what you need in the morning.
You need to put a hyphen between 61/2″ slices, I looked at that and said to myself 61/2″ slices what the hell. Actually should read 6-1/2″ slices, I am sure that is what you meant!!!!
I have a question about the Challah Bread recipe. Is there such a thing as over proofiing? I think I may have let my dough proof too long in the first proof. I fell asleep on the first proof. I also realized it was too cold in my apartment, and I turned on my oven to warm, and sat the bowl on top of the stove. That was when it began to expand. That was at 5am, and I was very tired. I said I would take a quick nap and punch it down. well it was three hours later before I punched it down. When It baked, it wasn’t as high as yours. Even though I proofed it a second time, and again after the braid.
I’ve actually been making my French Toast this way for a month or so and have fallen head over heals! Challah is definitely the best for this but I have a hard time finding it since the local grocer stopped carrying it. I would make my own but that’s a lot of work! I add a bit of honey infused Whiskey in the egg mixture and burn some off with the bananas, highly recommended!
The first thing that I noticed was the wonderful smell of the spices. Wow! I tried these out today for my late breakfast and I was amazed at how the flavours popped in my mouth! I could taste every single ingredient in the recipe, very, very indulging! It's been 6 years since I haven't eaten French Toast since they don't have it here in Brazil. But this recipe made me feel like I was in the U.S. again! Probably one of my favorite recipes I've ever tried out in my life.
This can be eaten at anytime of the day….it is definitely sweet, but not sickening sweet. I made it last week and it left my crew asking for seconds. Obviously, this will be a keeper for me. It is DIVINE just as described…when you put it all together the flavors blend so well. If you have not made this yet – you need to!
Oh, I am definitely making this one. I have made bananas foster biscuits before and used rum extract and it was delicious! Rum extract is also delicious in fudge!
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great breakfast idea
Fun tropical twist:
Add pineapple to banana topping & use Malibu rum instead of rum.
You have vanilla in the ingredients but nowhere in the making of the toast. I assume to just add it to the egg mixture?
Hi Candace! Thanks so much for pointing that out! I’ll fix it and add it to the directions now 🙂 Enjoy!
Have made this a few times now. My husband says it’s the best French toast ever, and I agree.
Definitely add (dark) rum, otherwise it’s not a true “Foster”. Sometimes if it’s more of a brunch and I’m feeling lazy (or hung over), I’ll add a another splash to the cooked sauce at the end for some extra kick. 😉
I highly recommend a little extra brown sugar, a splash of heavy cream, and a dash of cinnamon!
Brioche tends to fall apart so I always use challah.
Lastly, the sauce never seems to thicken properly so I always end up adding a tablespoon or two of corn starch slurry.
5/5 for the toast, 3/5 for the sauce.
This is the best French toast I’ve ever had. Banana foster is my favorite & paired with the ultimate sweet breakfast food of French toast… heavenly! So easy to come together. Will definitely be making this again!
Hi Emma! I’m so excited you loved this recipe! Thank you for letting us know 🙂
There’s no going back to plain French toast after this. My husband and son love this dish.
Yay! So happy to hear that 🙂
I tried this recipe in my home and share it with my family and friends. And they said it’s so delicious, thank you so much for sharing your experience.
So happy to hear that it was such a hit!
First time making bananas foster. I used both Challah and Brioche bread and the brioche was way better. Also keep in mind, if you have kind of ripe bananas like me and are worried about them falling apart, I tried to make the sauce without adding the bananas. But the brown sugar and butter mixture literally would not turn into an actual sauce until I said to heck with it and added the bananas anyway (which by the way turned out to be just fine and kept their form, so don’t worry about not having firm bananas and just do it) once I added the bananas, the sauce actually started to take form, but at that point, the sauce was already burnt. I think I know what to do next time, but I really wish this recipe was written a little better.
I’m sorry you had an issue with your sauce burning! I’d lower the heat on your stove to ensure that doesn’t happen next time, which would allow you to cook the sauce longer. The biggest problem with this recipe is overripe bananas, which definitely won’t hold their shape when cooked. What type of brown sugar did you use, light or dark? How about your butter? If you use butter with a fat content higher than 82%, that may be the reason why your mixture wouldn’t combine.
This was so easy and I can’t even tell you how good! I added a little bit more cinnamon added like an 1/8th of nutmeg. I also substituted the bread with Brioche bread instead and it was delicious! Boyfriend cleaned his plate!
So happy to hear you both loved this recipe!
Good base French toast recipe but sauce needs major edits. Butter and brown sugar does not/did not come together as a cohesive sauce on its own. If you’re seeing it not come together, try the steps below:
Added 1 tbsp more brown sugar, after melting took off heat and added a couple of splashes of heavy cream (~2-3 tbsp). Put back on low heat and Whisk vigorously and it will come together nicely as a more “caramel-y” and smooth sauce. Add bananas after it’s cooled just a touch and sauté for just 20 seconds or so in the sauce before pouring over cooked French toast. I added fleur de sel as I wanted a more “salted caramel” taste.
With these edits lovely recipe, however the French toast piece is fairly basic and the sauce needed a lot more attention so only giving this 3 stars.
This was delicious, but my French toast deflated while in the oven. I used a casserole dish and covered it. Should I have left it uncovered?
Made this and it was delicious! Only comment is I had to double the egg mixture because after dipping 3 slices of challah it was completely gone. Maybe I had extra absorbent challah! Also I found cooking 2 min per side was not enough. I had to do about 3.5 min per side.
Delicious! Added the rum for a decadent brunch!
I’m going to assume it is awesome and the failure was user error. I do have to admit that I never have good luck with sauces of any kind. This was no different. I only had dark brown sugar, so I thought it would substitute ok. What turned out was an unappetizing soup of melted butter and partially dissolved sugar. It also tasted really bad, but maybe that is because it started to smoke? It didn’t give a temperature, so I made the sauce on medium. I was hoping someone would have some input on my experience. I want to try this again, but with light brown sugar this time. I had never made French toast with butter and oil and my daughter loved it, so I do have that takeaway. 🙂
My family absolutely LOVES this recipe. Delicious!!!
Delicious! This was perfect for a special corona virus virtual brunch!
Just made this for breakfast with what I had on hand. Used artesano bread and halved the ingredients since I was. only cooking for one. Still came out delicious ! Simple recipe just what you need in the morning.
New family favorite. So decadent!
Can you make the banana’s ahead of time – and then re warm it? Im going camping – trying to do things ahead.
You mean the topping? Yes, definitely!
This is so good! I will definitely be making this again!
This was so gooooood and Yummy, and for 2 people even better
Had this for a Sunday Supper and I added some Rum extract with the Vanilla and even more Yum and topped with whipped cream talk about indulgence lol 🙂
Latreasem1: What are you talking about????? This is French Toast recipe not the bread recipe, Geeeeeezzz.
You need to put a hyphen between 61/2″ slices, I looked at that and said to myself 61/2″ slices what the hell. Actually should read 6-1/2″ slices, I am sure that is what you meant!!!!
My wife made it for my boy and I. For some reason the brown sugar became all clumpy in one blob. Any ?insight
I have a question about the Challah Bread recipe. Is there such a thing as over proofiing? I think I may have let my dough proof too long in the first proof. I fell asleep on the first proof. I also realized it was too cold in my apartment, and I turned on my oven to warm, and sat the bowl on top of the stove. That was when it began to expand. That was at 5am, and I was very tired. I said I would take a quick nap and punch it down. well it was three hours later before I punched it down. When It baked, it wasn’t as high as yours. Even though I proofed it a second time, and again after the braid.
Omg!! I made this for Thanksgiving morning!! Love love love!! Delicious!!
Wow!!!! I’m in love with this french toast! I wanna reach out and grab it! This is a must try!
I feel I were to use rum, how much should I use?
This is a great recipe. I did it this way and the traditional way both are great.
HOLY MOLY these look fantastic! And I totally feel you on the banana/baby food connection lol, I usually need a little texture with them too!
PHEW! Glad I’m not the only one 😉
I’ve actually been making my French Toast this way for a month or so and have fallen head over heals! Challah is definitely the best for this but I have a hard time finding it since the local grocer stopped carrying it. I would make my own but that’s a lot of work! I add a bit of honey infused Whiskey in the egg mixture and burn some off with the bananas, highly recommended!
Thank you for the lovely recipe. I love French Toast and this is a nice twist on it.
can you make this the night before and then place in a casserole dish to heat up to bring to work for a crowd the next day?
Made these for my husband. He loved it! Even my & year old kids ate it and loved it too! thank you! Will definitely make again for the family.
Found this on Pinterest and made it for breakfast this weekend. It was delicious! Thanks for sharing.
The first thing that I noticed was the wonderful smell of the spices. Wow! I tried these out today for my late breakfast and I was amazed at how the flavours popped in my mouth! I could taste every single ingredient in the recipe, very, very indulging! It's been 6 years since I haven't eaten French Toast since they don't have it here in Brazil. But this recipe made me feel like I was in the U.S. again! Probably one of my favorite recipes I've ever tried out in my life.
I'm making this Saturday!
Good heavens! We just made this for breakfast, and what a way to start a Monday!
best french toast i've ever had!
best french toast i've ever had!
Printing the recipe now…wish I had bananas. Looking forward to Saturday!
This was SOOO good. What a great recipe it was easy and perfect! I told my friends all about how this was the best french toast I ever had.
This can be eaten at anytime of the day….it is definitely sweet, but not sickening sweet. I made it last week and it left my crew asking for seconds. Obviously, this will be a keeper for me. It is DIVINE just as described…when you put it all together the flavors blend so well. If you have not made this yet – you need to!
Sure! Let's go for some rum! But at what point should it be added??
You can add the rum along with the butter and brown sugar 🙂
We made this last Saturday! Absolutely incredible, thanks a bunch!
Oh, it must be delicious. Perfect breakfast 🙂
Oh, I am definitely making this one. I have made bananas foster biscuits before and used rum extract and it was delicious! Rum extract is also delicious in fudge!
We just made this for breakfast… seriously the best breakfast I've ever had. Thank you!
Yay! So happy to hear that
Could always throw in a bit of rum extract… easily found in the baking aisle.
Good point! I don't think I've ever seen rum extract, though I guess I've never really looked.
This looks heavenly!
Oh yum, Tessa! I can just taste those crispy caramelized edges. 🙂
Those edges are my favorite part of French Toast!! 🙂
Wow, I want this like RIGHT NOW !!!
This looks so delicious! What a perfect Saturday morning brunch. Looks like I just found a use for the bananas ripening on my counter.
I could eat that for breakfast, lunch or supper!
Woah…this is crazy! Nothing like indulging in dessert for breakfast! And you're totally right…this would be a perfect birthday breakfast!