Give Your French Toast An Oreo Makeover With These Simple Moves

One of the most thrilling kitchen experiments someone can perform is to take two great things and discover if putting them together enhances their respective pleasures while simultaneously creating an even greater one. Such is the case with French toast, always a reliable vessel for creative additions, and Oreos, which have beaten out rivals like Chips Ahoy to become the world's best-selling cookie. Here's how to give your next batch of French toast an Oreo-boosted makeover with just a few simple steps.

There are several ways to incorporate Oreos into French toast, which all have the advantage of adding very little extra time or effort to its preparation. Begin by crushing some Oreos, and after dunking your bread in whatever mixture of eggs, milk, cream, or other ingredients you prefer, dip it in the crushed cookies. This is similar to a crumb coat, often the most important step for decorating cakes. But in this case, it will add the distinct taste and texture of the crushed cookies to the bread's surface (though you may need to press the larger pieces on by hand). As you pan-fry your Oreo-dusted bread in butter, this coating will form a delectable crust.

Alternatively, one can add finely crushed cookies directly to your egg mixture before frying. Then, to double down on the Oreo factor, you may combine powdered sugar, more crushed cookies, and a little milk to create a decadent Oreo syrup that can be drizzled over the toast once cooked and plated. In either case, you can also garnish the end result with a few heftier Oreo pieces to maximize the textural variety.

There are a few other tips you might want to follow to make sure your Oreo French toast is all that it can be. Many recipes recommend challah or brioche as the best breads to use — not only will they yield pillowy yet crispy French toast, but their gentle sweetness will complement that of the cookies (and let's face it — if you didn't have a sweet tooth, you probably wouldn't be making Oreo French toast). Ideally, the bread should be slightly stale, as this will absorb the egg mixture better than it would when fresh. When crushing your cookies, a mortar and pestle will allow you greater control than a food processor over the ratio between big chunks and fine crumbs. Finally, avoid stacking your French toast when it is straight out of the pan, as it is liable to stick together.

As you are probably aware, there's more than one kind of Oreo (check out our ranking of 14 Oreo flavors, from worst to best), so there's nothing stopping you from experimenting with the different varieties — or even a combination thereof — to see what produces the best French toast for you. And if starting your day with an Oreo-infused brunch has only left you hungry for more cookie-inspired delights, you can always avail yourself of our recipe for a luscious Oreo cheesecake.