FRENCH TOAST MUFFINS
All the flavour of French toast, baked into individual muffins you can grab straight from the freezer. These are custardy in the middle, crunchy on top, and just the right size for one generous breakfast serve. Use up a loaf of raisin bread, raid the spice rack, and scatter seeds on top to feel virtuous about it.
Ingredients
Makes about 15 large muffins. I use individual silicone muffin pans but a tray with paper liners would also work. My individual pans ate huge, you may make more with the pan variety.
Custard
- 1 loaf raisin bread (Baker’s Delight or similar small, dense loaf – see notes), crusts removed, cubed. (I cut one direction into 4 and the other to 3 squares – about 12 cubes per slice)
- 6 eggs (about 300g)
- 250ml milk,
- 250ml kefir
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 60g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
Crumble Topping
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 30g cold butter (frozen is best — grate it in)
- ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
Seed Topping
- Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- Sunflower seeds
- Sesame seeds
Method
- Spread the cubed bread on a baking tray and dry it out at 120°C on the Bake setting in an air fryer or oven for 8–10 minutes. You want the cubes firm and leathery, not toasted or coloured.
- Preheat your oven to 170°C on combi steam (hot air with steaming). For a standard oven, use 180°C conventional.
- Lightly spray silicone muffin moulds or lined muffin pans with oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, kefir, vanilla, brown sugar, spices and salt together using a stick mixer — it only takes half a minute.
- Tip the dried bread cubes directly into the custard bowl. Press down with a plate weighted with something heavy and leave to soak for 10–15 minutes. Flip the bread over halfway through so the top cubes get an even soak.
- Using a large ice cream scoop, half fill each mould with the soaked bread mixture. Pour any remaining custard liquid evenly over the filled moulds — it will soak in during baking.
- For the crumble topping, grate the frozen butter into the sugar and cinnamon mix and toss together with your fingers. Alternatively, rub cold butter into the dry ingredients.
- Sprinkle the crumble topping over each muffin, then scatter pepitas, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds on top.
- Bake for 15 minutes on combi steam, then switch to conventional heat at 200–205°C for a further 5 minutes to caramelise and crisp the tops. In a standard oven, bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes until golden and the centres are cooked through.
- Allow to cool slightly before turning out. These are a generous single-serve breakfast size.
Notes
Bread: A Baker’s Delight raisin loaf is small, thick and dense. If using a standard supermarket loaf, expect more cubes that will absorb the custard faster — reduce the soaking time and check regularly to ensure the mix doesn’t get too too that breaks up.
Kefir: The tang of the kefir cuts through the sweetness of the brown sugar and spices. Start with a 50/50 kefir to milk ratio. If you prefer it milder, try 30/70 kefir to milk next time. Ordinary milk is fine.
Topping texture: Brown sugar clumps because of the molasses content. For a crunchier, more crumbly topping, try raw sugar instead of the brown sugar/white sugar mix in the crumble mix. The two-sugar combination of brown and white also works well for texture.
Rhubarb variation: Place a teaspoon of rhubarb compote in the bottom of each mould before adding the bread mixture. When you turn the muffins out, the rhubarb runs down over the top — the tartness cuts beautifully through the sweetness.
Apple variation: Place a single thin apple slice in the bottom of each mould before filling. Slice thinly so it cooks through in the baking time.
Freezing and reheating: Cool completely, then freeze individually. Reheat from frozen in the air fryer.
Serving: Serve with cream, jam, berries, maple syrup, or rhubarb compote.
Cross-links: See also French Toast and Rhubarb Compote.