Thick luscious slices of fresh challah bread from the farmers market soaked in a egg mixture to create the ultimate easy french toast topped with fresh strawberries perfect for a Mother’s Day brunch at home.

Fluffy slices of challah french toast topped with strawberries on a round plate

Less than a week from now is Mother’s Day 2020. This will be the first year that many won’t be able to celebrate at restaurants as we continue to stay home and practice social distancing. But all hope is not lost! Make a homemade feast for your special lady from the comfort of your own kitchen using bread from the market. Here’s a great farmer’s market inspired Mother’s Day Brunch option, Easy Challah French Toast.

One of the best things about farmers markets is the bakery. I absolutely love picking up a fresh loaf of bread or tasty pastry to enjoy through out the week. I finally decided to make my way to the market to stock up on food. It had been a while since I made a trip. To be honest, I was putting it off and was content on staying home as much as I could. My fridge was starting to look a little bare so I decided to make a trip.

The customer experience at the farmer’s market has changed soooo much within the last month and half. With my mask on, hand sanitizer on standby, and eyes watching the marks on the ground to practice social distancing I made my way through the line to enter the single entrance to the market. It was easily visible that there were less vendors present at the market. Regardless, I still found great options from some of my favorite vendors.

I didn’t touch any produce or products. Each table had someone diligently taking orders from customers. Sure, I had to wait in line a little longer to get help and to purchase but the entire experience went pretty smooth. I already knew going in that I wanted to make French toast. One glance at the only bakery vendor I spotted a single loaf of challah bread. It was the biggest loaf I’d ever bought. It was so thick, exactly what I was looking for. For the sake of this recipe I only used the smaller slices which near the ends ends of the challah bread to cook. The middle section was easily bigger than the entire size my entire hand (which is actually quite fine with me) but I wanted to focus on smaller pieces.

How to Make Challah French Toast

In a large bowl, add milk, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract. Whisk to combine. Place the slices of challah bread in the mixture in single layer. Allow the bread to soak in the mixture for about 1-2 minutes each side. Majority of egg mix will soak into the bread. Remove from and set aside.

Heat a large non stick skillet over medium heat. Add unsalted butter to melt. Next add slices of challah to pan. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until it becomes golden brown. Flip the challah slice and cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.

Top your challah french toast with with fresh fruit. I also picked up a small basket of the juiciest fresh strawberries while out on my farmers market run. I had no intention of eating them with this french toast but I couldn’t resist when I made a batch.

What I love about this french toast is that the slices are nice , thick, and fluffy. To be honest, there wasn’t a specific reason why I used challah bread over brioche or a french bread. It was simply what was available at the market.

Farmers market shopping tip: Come with a general plan but always be flexible.

You never know what the farmers market has until you get there.

Tips For Making French Toast

Challah bread is perfect for French toast because it’s thick and sturdy yet able to soak up the egg mixture flavor pretty well. Other types of bread great for French toast include brioche and French bread.

French Toast recipes often recommend using day old bread (bread that has sat in open air for a day or slight stale bread). It makes for the best French toast! If you can’t wait for your bread to get a little stale, let it sit out for a bit before starting or SLIGHTLY toast your bread before soaking in the egg mixture.

Take advantage of toppings and use fresh fruit like strawberries, bananas, sautéed apples, and jams to top off your French toast.

Looking for more? Check out my other recipes for Kale Caesar Salad and Raspberry Lime Sorbet.