Happy Easter, everyone!!
I know we did BLOG Easter a few weeks ago with this deeeeelish quiche, but today is actual real-life Easter for us, so I couldn’t resist doing it up with another decadent brunch recipe! Sweet, not savory, this time. Because brunch is meant to include eggs AND French toast. Why choose when you can have both? Such is the beauty of brunch!
French toast is pretty much always my go-to favorite sweet brunch order, but often I think restaurants totally over-do it. I don’t want a coma-inducing sugar bomb of cream cheese stuffed, chocolate chip-topped decadence (I’ll save that for dessert, thank you). I just want simple, buttery pan-fried bread with a lightly sweet and flavorful topping. Is that too much to ask?
Not in my kitchen! At home, we get to brunch exactly how we want to. For our Easter morning brunch, I whipped up this challah French toast with strawberry chia compote, and it was absolutely freakin’ incredible. I took my favorite basic challah French toast recipe and topped it with a super simple, three-ingredient chia seed compote – just strawberries, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and chia seeds!
The combination of the sweet, rich, crispy-on-the-outside creamy-on-the-inside French toast with the fruity, full-flavored strawberry compote is just out-of-this-world. When I first tried the compote, I worried it might not be sweet enough, but combined with the French toast, it was absolutely perfect. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like a super sugary breakfast, this is the French toast of your dreams!! As an added bonus, I can’t wait to eat this super simple, naturally sweet compote on top of Greek yogurt for breakfasts this week – zero guilt involved!
Have a wonderful Easter Sunday! <3
- 3 cups sliced strawberries
- 3 tbsp. fresh orange juice
- 1 tsp. chia seeds
- 6 eggs
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 tsp. grated orange zest
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tbsp. honey
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- 1 loaf challah bread, cut into 10 slices (about 1” thick each)
- 3-4 tbsp. unsalted butter, for cooking
- First, make the strawberry chia compote. In a small saucepan, add the strawberries and the orange juice. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce to medium-low once bubbling. Cook for an additional 12-15 minutes, stirring and mashing the fruit occasionally, until thickened. Stir in the chia seeds. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool while you make your French toast.
- Next, make your French toast. Preheat your oven to 200°F. Place a large rimmed baking sheet in the oven to keep French toast warm after it cooks.
- In a large shallow bowl (I used a baking dish), combine the eggs, milk, orange zest, vanilla bean seeds, honey, kosher salt, cinnamon, and bourbon. Whisk until fully combined. Nestle as many pieces of bread as can fit into the mixture and let sit for about 2 minutes, then flip over and let sit for 2 minutes more. While the mixture is soaking, preheat a large skillet (preferably cast-iron) over medium heat and melt 1 tbsp. butter.
- Place as many slices as can fit into your pan and fry until golden brown on the outside – a few minutes per side. Once done, transfer to the prepared pan in the oven to keep warm while you fry up the rest. Repeat the soaking and cooking procedures for the remaining slices, adding 1 tbsp. butter to the pan when cooking each new batch and transferring finished pieces to the oven to stay warm.
- Serve warm, topped with strawberry chia compote!
- This compote is not overly sweet, so if you like a super sweet topping for your French toast, you might want to add a tablespoon or two of sugar! Just taste as you go and adjust to your taste.
- Allow leftover compote to cool completely, then store in a container in the refrigerator – just reheat before serving!
Looking for more awesome French toast recipes?
Bourbon Vanilla Bean Challah French Toast
