I posted baklava French toast on my blog a long, long time ago. It got a great response and a few people made versions of it on their own blogs, which made me feel super warm and fuzzy inside since at the time I thought my blog was read by about 7 people.
But the post didn’t really have much of a recipe, just a method. And that’s fine, but the picture was also terrible and I wanted to highlight this again, anyway, because I love it.
The basic premise is taking the nut mixture that is found in baklava and sandwiching it between two pieces of eggy bread. I use tsoureki (still had some frozen from Easter), but challah or brioche will work equally well. After a quick egg/milk bath and getting fried on the griddle, the French toast is then topped with a honey-simple syrup mixture prevalent in a lot of Greek desserts.
This is definitely rich and very sweet, so if you like those kinds of breakfasts, this is totally your thing. It’s a great way to get the flavors of baklava without doing all the work—and it’s a good excuse to eat baklava for breakfast.
Baklava French Toast
1 cup shelled walnut halves
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
slice of orange peel (optional)
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
8 large slices tsoureki, challah, brioche, or other bread (preferably 1-2 days old)
3 eggs
2/3 cup milk
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
butter
Place the walnuts, cinnamon, and cloves in a mini food processor and pulse until combined and walnut pieces are crushed.
In a small saucepan, bring the honey, water, sugar, and orange peel and cinnamon stick (if using) to a simmer. Simmer until thickened and syrupy.
Place about 1/4 of the nut mixture on a slice of bread, and top with another slice of bread. Repeat with the remaining bread/nut mixture. You may have a little extra nut mixture and you can just use it at the end as a topping/garnish.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract in a baking dish or shallow bowl. Place the 4 “sandwiches” in the egg mixture and then carefully flip to soak the other side.
Heat a pan or griddle with butter and add the French toast. Remove the sandwiches from the custard and fry until golden; carefully flip and cook until the other side is nicely browned.
Serve the baklava French toast with the honey syrup (and additional crushed walnuts, if desired).
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Love this, Elly! Making yiayia proud, no doubt. I want to make tsoureki doughnuts!
I missed this the first time you posted this because believe me I would have remembered it! I love baklava and this looks absolutely amazing–just added it to my must make list!
Yum! I hope my family is kind enough to leave me some leftover challah on Rosh Hashanah so I can make this… on second though, I should set some aside before they chow down ;)
Sweet goodness, this sounds heavenly!
Omg I’m drooling. What a great idea. I missed your first post so I’m so glad you decided to share it again!
Oh heaven!
i had the best baklava of my life today, and now all I can think of is baklava!! This post was very timely. :)
I’m pretty sure I’ve never encountered anything baklava-esque that I didn’t absolutely adore! This French toast is most certainly swoon-worthy!
Wow…this looks extremely good. I love something like this, sweet and smell so good. Probably stuff some fruits like peach or avocado in between will be really nice too. :)
You are my culinary hero right now! I cannot wait to make this! I have so many childhood memories of my Greek side of the family involving baklava. Thank you!
What a fantastic french toast flavor!
This was heavenly and so easy to throw together!
Yay! So happy you liked it, Kelly.