Griddle French Toast
Texas toast, a jar of egg custard mixed at home, and a hot griddle at the campsite.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 74
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 5, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Texas toast | 10 slices | thick cut; thin sandwich bread turns to mush |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs | 8 | |
| Milk or cream | 1 cup | cream browns better and holds up in the cooler |
| Vanilla extract | 2 tsp | |
| Cinnamon | 2 tsp | |
| Butter | 1/4 cup | for the griddle, added between batches |
| Berries | 1 cup | whatever is in the cooler |
| Maple syrup | to serve | |
| Whipped cream | optional |
Method
- At home, put the eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon in a quart mason jar. Lid on, shake until no streaks of yolk are left. It rides in the cooler.
- At camp, shake the jar again and pour it into a shallow bowl or pie pan.
- Heat the griddle over the fire or burners to medium-high. Butter the surface.
- Dip each slice, one side then the other, and pull it out. A couple of seconds per side. Longer and the middle never sets.
- Cook about 5 minutes a side, until the surface is brown and firm. Add more butter before each new batch.
- Move finished slices to a cooler corner of the griddle while the rest cook.
- Serve with berries, syrup, and whipped cream.
This is a car-camping breakfast because it needs a cooler and a flat hot surface, and there is no honest way around either. What makes it workable in camp is doing the messy part at home: eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon go into a jar days ahead. In the morning you shake a jar instead of cracking eggs over a picnic table.
Thick bread is the whole game. Texas toast has enough structure to hold custard without collapsing, which is why the dip is short — two seconds a side, not a soak. Butter goes on between batches rather than all at once; it burns off, and browning stops when it’s gone.
Packing
Mix the custard at home and carry it in the sealed jar, laid flat in the cooler with the bread on top so nothing crushes it. Butter and berries go in the same cooler. Syrup is shelf-stable and can live in the food box.
Variations
- Brioche or day-old challah instead of Texas toast, same thickness.
- Swap the milk for shelf-stable boxed whole milk and skip one cooler item.
- Chocolate chips or powdered sugar on top instead of berries.
https://campfirefoodie.com/blackstone-french-toast-recipe