Bobby Flay's Tips For Subbing Croissants Into A French Toast Recipe
It's nearly impossible to talk about Bobby Flay and not mention breakfast. That's his bread and butter, after all — pun obviously intended. As The host of Food Network's Brunch @ Bobby's, Flay has dished out delicious brunch spreads episode after episode, from cast-iron home fries to pumpkin-ricotta pancakes to carrot-orange mimosas.
One of his best recipes is croissant French toast, a trendy take on the classic that subs in flaky, buttery croissants for your typical sliced bread. French toast can indeed be made with all kinds of bread – French baguettes, brioche, and challah all work especially well — each of them delicious in their own right. But croissants take this already-decadent dish and elevate it even further.
All of Flay's recipes come with tips and tricks from the chef himself, offered in the hopes that we can take these tidbits of advice and recreate some of his magic in our own homes. So what tips does Bobby Flay have for us when it comes to making croissant French toast? It's all down to butterflying those flaky French pastries.
How to use croissants in French toast, the Bobby Flay way
In a clip from the episode, Bobby Flay shows viewers how he makes his almond croissant French toast with almond butter syrup. When it comes to using croissants in your French toast, Flay offers two main tips to keep in mind. The first goes against the grain. Most French toast recipes call for day-old or stale bread. Traditionally, French toast (aka "pain perdu," which means "lost bread") was made as a way to use up leftover bread, and the thinking goes that stale bread soaks up the custard better. But if you're making croissant French toast, Flay recommends straying from the usual stale bread rule and using fresh bread instead.
His other tip involves the way you cut and slice the croissants. Pretty much any French toast you see will be served as fully sliced bread, but Flay butterflies the croissants, splitting them open so that they rest open-faced, but aren't separated. From there, he soaks the croissants in the custard for around 10 seconds on each side, then toasts them in a hot buttered pan until they're golden brown and crisped up.
More ways to mix up your French toast
Croissant, challah, and brioche French toast aren't the only ways to take this favorite breakfast dish to the next level (although they're all definitely delicious). There are plenty more types of breads to explore. Sourdough, which can upgrade your French toast with its ideal structure and complex flavor, is a particularly great example.
There's also more you can do with the bread itself. For something even more decadent, you can stuff your French toast by layering a tasty filling in between the slices of bread. Stuff your bread with anything from cream cheese to fruit to Nutella to nut butter, then dip and fry away for oozing toast that melts in your mouth.
You can also try playing around with the custard that you dip your bread in; eggs and milk work wonderfully, but why not step it up a notch? Rachel Ray's secret is parmesan in her custard, which creates a savory take on French toast. Want to make things truly divine? Jacques Pepin used to dip his bread in melted ice cream for some added sweetness.