Classic French Toast Is So Much Better When You Add This Second Breakfast Staple To The Mix

Few things say "leisurely Saturday morning" like a delicious French toast recipe. Quick, simple toppings like berries or hazelnut spread provide easy flavor upgrades, but if you really want to give your French toast a boost, go the whole hog and cook each slice in bacon grease.

This tip isn't just an excuse to fry up some bacon alongside your breakfast. The rendered fat will form a wonderfully crisp exterior on each piece of bread and deliver a satiating richness that you won't get from an egg bath alone. This savory depth comes courtesy of the bacon's glutamate, an amino acid that, in the culinary realm, ignites the tongue's enigmatic umami receptors. Sugars in the fat also facilitate the Maillard reaction, the chemical process that browns the outside of the toast and creates that desirable crunch. Need another reason to try this tip? The fat also leaves behind a tasty sheen that will keep your French toast moist even after the egg coating has cooked through.

Once you've saturated both sides of your bread in the egg mixture (also featuring milk, your seasonings of choice, and maybe some flour if you want an even fluffier French toast), place the slices in a pan of rendered bacon fat and cook for several minutes before flipping. You'll know each slice is done when the surface is brown and crisp, and the center bounces back after pressing.

As long as you're cooking with bacon grease, why stop at French toast? To give this classically sweet dish the savory treatment, fry up some chopped produce like mushrooms, onions, or tomatoes alongside the bread. After plating your crisp-yet-fluffy main, pour the veggies over the top and let the toast absorb even more of that umami depth.

The bacon itself can participate, too — it is, after all, one of the best ingredients for stuffing French toast. Rather than relegating the meat to the side-dish domain, finely chop a slice or two of bacon and stir the cooked pieces into your egg concoction before dunking the bread. This will amp up not just the bacon flavor, but that all-important crunch quotient as well.

Of course, this meaty ingredient doesn't have to be synonymous with savory. Maple and bacon are an undefeated pairing, so pour a bit of maple syrup into the egg mixture to bolster sweetness and lend the dish some contrast. As is true of so many foods, drenching your bacon-fried French toast in maple syrup won't hurt, either.