This Orange French Toast with vanilla orange cream cheese and orange sauce is a beloved family favorite and the perfect holiday and weekend family breakfast.
What we love about this Orange French Toast Recipe
We love every part of this Orange French Toast! The orange french toast, vanilla orange cream cheese, and orange sauce are an amazingly delicious complimentary trio. The french toast is pictured with challah bread, a slightly sweet and very soft enriched bread which is excellent for french toast. The french toast is dipped in a creamy, sweet egg batter that has a touch of orange zest. It cooks quickly on a griddle and then is topped with a vanilla orange cream cheese spread and an easy 2 ingredient orange sauce. Our whole family loves this and it is perfect for special occasions and holidays. It comes together quickly and is insanely delicious.
This orange french toast recipe is also very versatile. Prepare it as a casserole to bake the night before, serve it with just maple syrup if desired, or add some berries. We like to sometimes top it with chopped walnuts and craisins. Any way you serve it, I can guarantee it will be a recipe you come back to again and again.
If you are looking for other sweet breakfast recipes, try our Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread, an amazing weekend breakfast treat, or our delicious Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Danish recipe.
What you need to make this French Toast with Orange Zest
You will need the following ingredients:
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar
- Orange zest
- Vanilla
- Orange marmalade
- Orange juice
- One loaf of thick sliced bread (Challah, Brioche, French, or Texas Toast)
- Eggs
- Half and half
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla
- Chopped walnuts (optional)
- Craisins (optional)
French Toast with Orange Substitutions
I know what it’s like when you don’t have everything on hand and the last thing you want to do is run to the store and pick something up. Here are a few ideas to substitute items on the ingredients list if needed:
- You could substitute milk for the half and half.
- Any thick sliced bread works great. We like challah, brioche, french bread, and texas toast.
- You can omit the walnuts and craisins as they are optional ingredients.
- Granulated sugar could substitute for powdered sugar.
- You could substitute dried orange zest but I recommend using fresh zest for both texture and flavor.
Step-by-step Instructions
Step 1. Beat together the powdered sugar, softened cream cheese, orange zest, and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate or set aside while making the french toast.
Step 2. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice and orange marmalade to make the orange sauce.
Step 3. Preheat a griddle to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, granulated sugar, vanilla and orange zest.
Step 4. Placed sliced bread into the batter and flip to the other side so both sides are thoroughly dredged.
Step 5. Place battered french bread on the preheated griddle and cook for 2-3 minutes on both sides until the bread turns golden brown.
Step 6. To serve, spread a piece of french toast with the desired amount of orange vanilla cream cheese and top with the desired amount of orange sauce. Garnish with chopped walnuts and craisins if desired.
Tips
- The type of bread used here is flexible. Challah bread and brioche bread are enriched breads that are delicious with French toast as they are a little softer and slightly sweet with the use of eggs, milk, sugar/honey, or other fats like oil. We also really like using a loaf of French bread or Texas Toast. We have used all of these for this French toast and they are all good, sometimes it just depends on what is available at the store. Challah bread can be a little hard to find, but our local grocery stores carry it from local bakeries that make it.
- Using freshly grated orange zest and freshly squeezed orange juice makes a huge difference in the flavor of this dish. When zesting oranges, I love using my microplane zester/grater to get finely grated orange zest. It is very sharp and makes it easy to zest the orange. Be careful not to remove the white pith underneath the orange peel as it has a bitter flavor.
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Frequently Asked Questions
| How should I store the french toast? |
| Refrigerate the french toast within 2 hours of serving and they will keep in the fridge covered for about 3 days. Refrigerate the toast, cream cheese mixture, and orange sauce in separate containers. The french toast can be frozen for about 2-3 months for best quality. The cream cheese mixture may not freeze as well and I recommend making that fresh with the french toast. |
| Can I make Orange French Toast advance? |
| a. The cream cheese mixture can be made several days in advance if needed. According to the USDA, cream cheese lasts for 2 weeks once opened. With the additional ingredients to the cream cheese, I would use it for the best quality within 7-10 days. b. For the orange sauce, while jam once opened can last up to 6 months in the fridge, freshly squeezed orange juice only lasts 2-3 days in the fridge, so I recommend using the orange sauce within 2-3 days and just making it the day before if necessary. c. The french toast can be made in advance the day before and reheated to serve or prepared casserole style the night before and baked the next day. |
| How do I reheat Orange French Toast? |
| You can lay the french toast slices on a cookie sheet and place them in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for about 5 minutes or until warm or place them in the microwave on a place and reheat for 30-60 seconds. |
Orange French Toast
6
servings10
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minutesThis Orange French Toast with vanilla orange cream cheese and orange sauce is a beloved family favorite and the perfect holiday and weekend family breakfast.
Ingredients
French Toast:
1 -inch thick slices of bread cut from one loaf of French bread, Challah, Brioche, or Texas Toast
8 eggs
1 cup half and half
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon orange zest (you need 2 large navel oranges for this recipe)
⅓ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
⅓ cup craisins (optional)
Orange Vanilla Cream Cheese and Orange Sauce:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
⅓ cup powdered sugar
¾ teaspoon orange zest
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup orange marmalade
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Directions
- Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, ¾ teaspoon orange zest, and ½ teaspoon vanilla to make the Orange Vanilla Cream cheese. Transfer to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate or set aside while you make the French toast.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the orange marmalade and orange juice for the Orange Sauce. Set aside.
- Preheat an electric griddle to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and ½ teaspoon orange zest. Grease the griddle or skillet with cooking spray or butter. Dip French toast one at a time into the egg mixture and turn so both sides are completely dredged.
- Place french toast on the preheated griddle or skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, until each side is turning golden brown.
- Remove from the skillet or griddle and place on a large cookie sheet while you cook the other French toast pieces. To keep the French toast warm, you can keep it in a 200-degree Fahrenheit oven.
- To serve, spread the desired amount of cream cheese over a slice of French toast and top with the orange sauce. Garnish with chopped walnuts and craisins if desired.
Notes
- If you want to prepare this as a French toast casserole and prep it the night before, that is an option as well. Place the slices of bread in a 9×13 pan (you may only be able to fit 8 or 10 slices) and pour the egg mixture for the French toast over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Remove the plastic wrap, bring to room temperature at least 30 minutes before baking, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-40 minutes. Serve with the cream cheese and orange sauce.
- You have the option to let the bread sit in the batter for longer so it is more saturated with the egg mixture and is more thoroughly dredged. I typically don’t do this, but it is an option. It will take more batter to do this, so you may need to increase the amount of eggs and milk.
- This french toast is also very good served with just maple syrup, but we prefer it with cream cheese and orange sauce. It really is incredibly delicious! The walnuts and craisins are optional but are a nice topping that complements the orange cream cheese, sauce, and French toast.
So delicious! This was a hit with the whole family. Added bonus, the recipe was easy to follow.
I love hearing this! Thanks so much for trying our Orange French Toast, I’m glad to hear it was a hit at your house! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!