What's The Best Substitute For Milk In French Toast?

When it comes time to make French toast, the last thing you want to find out is that you're missing a key ingredient like milk. But all is not lost. If you approach the situation with a bit of ingenuity, you'll not only have the breakfast you desire, but you'll even upgrade your French toast in some cases.

The simplest solution is to make the toast without the milk. Just blend your go-to sweet spices and flavorings, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, in a bowl with a couple of eggs and some sweetener. A little brown sugar ups the flavor quotient here, too. However, if you feel like the eggs will be too thick, add a dash of water to them. The water will thin the eggs out as the milk would and help to fluff up the batter before you cook it. 

Once you blend the mixture, dip the toast in it as you normally would. Because this mixture still has eggs in it, your milk-less French toast will still take on that sweet and crispy crust that you associate with French toast.

Still, milk adds protein to French toast and even flavor. If you hate the idea that you're eating French toast without a bit of milk in the mix, don't be afraid to use a plant-based milk substitute. Soy, oat, hemp, almond, and coconut milk count among the many possibilities. However, as far as taste is concerned, you may want to settle on coconut milk. The coconut flavor will complement the other flavorings and spices in the recipe, making for a plate of sweet, fluffy, and nutty French toast.

The other option you have is to try celeb chef Jacques Pépin's hack to make 5-star French toast: French vanilla ice cream. It has to be French vanilla because it's made with eggs, milk, and vanilla flavoring — all your basic ingredients for French toast. You could use vanilla frozen custard in a pinch because it has an ingredient profile that's similar to French vanilla ice cream (though make sure it's custard and not soft serve). Allow the ice cream to melt, dip your bread into the warm pool of liquid, and fry it up as usual. You'll get the same crisp French toast you know and love.

Finally, if you're hankering for some extra sweetness, you can even serve a scoop or two of the frozen ice cream alongside the French toast. Just be sure to garnish it with cinnamon, powdered sugar, or even cocoa for some extra flavor and visual pizzazz.