How to Make Panettone French Toast

Panettone French Toast is what we eat for Christmas Day breakfast. This recipe comes together easily for a luxurious, delicious dish.

At our gabled home, we love traditions. One of them is to have Panettone French toast for breakfast on Christmas day. It is such a luxurious, luscious dish. We look forward to it all year and feel it’s perfect for this holiday morning.

Whether you have been looking for your family’s new favorite French toast recipe or a new Christmas breakfast tradition, you will love this twist on an old classic.

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Why you’ll love this recipe

French toast is delicious as it is. Using Panettone makes it extra luscious.

You see, Panettone is a yeast-leavened cake with dried fruits that is typically made and served around Christmas. It is particularly light and airy, adding to its lusciousness. Originating from Italy its ingredients are somewhat similar to the German Stollen. However, the latter is much denser and heavier.

Even though French toast is often served with a dusting of powdered sugar or some maple syrup, I find this Panettone French toast perfect as it is.

This recipe might sound complicated but it couldn’t be simpler. Both the number of ingredients and the process for making it will leave you a lot of time for all your other Christmas Day activities!

What are the ingredients for this Panettone French Toast

Here’s what you need:

• ½ loaf of Panettone: for 4 servings you might only need half of a loaf but trust me, you will either make more Panettone French toast or find it delicious on its own. Around Christmas time you should easily find them in local stores or here online. Of course, you can always find a recipe to make your own.
• 2 eggs: you will need those to keep the light, airy Panettone from falling apart.
• ½ cup of milk: this will make your French toast so luscious.
• 1 tsp of cinnamon: as is the case with most of my recipes, this Panettone French toast is very flexible. Feel free to add more or less cinnamon depending on your preference.
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract: I love making my own vanilla extract but you can use store-bought just as well.
• 3-5 tablespoons of butter: we will use butter to fry the French toast.

Useful tools and equipment

Having these tools and equipment ensures that you can easily and successfully make this recipe:

• a shallow bowl: anything will work but it is important that your bowl is wide enough to accommodate the Panettone slices. You also want it shallow enough so that you can easily flip and remove those slices. A pasta plate often works really well.
• a whisk: you could use a fork but a whisk makes beating your eggs a lot easier. It also helps with incorporating the cinnamon, vanilla, and milk in the end.
• 10.5″ cast iron skillet: cast iron is the material of choice in my kitchen for a whole number of reasons. I love it especially since once it’s well seasoned it is very non-stick. Of course, you can use any skillet you have!
• a spatula: the Panettone French toast slices can be a bit tricky to flip. Therefore, I prefer using the widest spatula I can find.

How to make the Panettone French Toast

1. If you are making a double batch or just want to keep the French toasts warm, I suggest you warm your oven to 200˚F.
2. Unwrap the Panettone. You will notice that is has paper around its bottom. You can gently peel all the paper off. If I want to preserve the other half of the Panettone for later, I often choose to leave the paper on.
3. Cut 4 slices off the Panettone. Note: No matter how you slice it, there is no way to make them evenly big. If you left the paper on, you can cut right through is with a good (bread) knife. Set the slices aside.
4. Carefully place the soaked Panettone slice into the hot skillet. Fry on the first side until golden brown.
5. With a spatula, carefully flip it onto the other side and fry until golden brown.
6. When done, remove the Panettone French toast from the skillet and transfer to a plate. You can keep it warm in a warm oven.
7. Continue with the remaining slices.
8. Serve the Panettone French Toast as is, with a dusting of powdered sugar, some maple syrup, fruit, or your favorite toppings.

Can you make the Panettone French Toast ahead of time?

I personally think that Panettone French toast is best when enjoyed fresh.

In order to save time, you can make the egg-milk mixture the night before and keep it in the refrigerator. You can also cut the Panettone into slices the night before. If you do, keep them in the Panettone bag or any other airtight bag to keep them from drying out.

Panettone French Toast substitutions and variations

Even though there are only a few ingredients in this recipe, I will give you some substitutions:

• gluten-free Panettone: a quick Google search revealed that you can both purchase a gluten-free Panettone, as well as find a recipe to make your own.
• other bread: of course, you do not have to use Panettone for this French toast recipe. You can use any bread, brioche, or cake you already have at home. Feel free to experiment here!
• alternative milk: this recipe is perfect if you want to use a plant-based milk since both the taste and the texture will be the same as with cow’s milk
• butter substitute: I think that the taste of butter really adds to the luxurious taste of this Panettone French toast. However, you can use any other oil or butter substitute.

Other Christmas recipes you might like:

German Christmas Stollen

Gingerbread Sauce

Lebkuchen (German “gingerbread”)

Cinnamon Star Cookies

Cheese Fondue

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Panettone Holiday Cake

Gluten-free Panettone

10.5″ Cast Iron Skillet

Stainless steel whisk

Stainless steel spatula

Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

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