This French toast batter contains extra protein from protein powder, meaning that 1 serving provides you with 26 grams of protein! I LOVE French toast. Really, truly, deeply, I can’t resist a sweet, soft, crispy, golden brown slice of French toast drizzled with maple syrup. What a treat. Enter your email & we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week! By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Hurry the Food Up. However, the classic French toast recipe that I ate as a kid used sliced white bread, margarine and refined sugar…not exactly a healthy start to the day. So I thought, why not tweak the recipe. Lower the fat, up the protein, focus on healthy ingredients, and voila! A french toast recipe that fits with my fitness regime, is the perfect post-workout meal and (this is the best part) still has all the lovely nostalgic flavors that I love so much.
Why I love lots of protein for breakfast
A high protein breakfast is a good idea for many reasons. Protein is one of the most important macros, as it is the building block of all cells, and vital for your body’s healthy functioning. If you want to build muscle, you need to eat plenty of protein, as this is pretty much what muscle is made out of! You will also want to keep your protein levels high if you are trying to lose weight. This is partly because of the general importance of protein, but also because it is the most filling macro.
Protein keeps you full
Protein-packed meals are going to keep you feeling full for the longest, meaning that you are more likely to stick to your meal plan and maintain a calorie deficit, because you won’t get as hungry between meals! You might not be trying to build muscle or lose weight – protein is still super important for your overall well being. A delicious breakfast with plenty of protein is a great way to get a large chunk of your daily protein needs first thing in the morning. Check out our FREE 7-Day High Protein Meal Plan to learn more about getting enough protein as a vegetarian.
Ingredients
So, what goes into this protein french toast to make it both delicious, healthy and protein packed?Let’s have a look now. Sliced sourdough bread (preferably stale) It is best to use whole wheat bread, because whole grain foods contain far more nutrients and less refined sugar than white bread/refined grain foods. I like to use sourdough for similar reasons – it has higher levels of nutrients than most other types of bread. The reason I recommend using stale bread is because when you let the bread soak in the egg mixture, fresh bread can become a bit too soggy. Stale bread tends to hold its texture better. Plus its a great way to avoid food waste! Eggs Whole eggs are the basis of your batter. Usually these are the sole source of protein in a french toast recipe. While eggs are a fantastic source of protein and other health benefits, not enough are used in French toast to really make an impact. That’s why I add protein powder! Sugar I try to keep sugar levels fairly low in this recipe, though a little bit is needed to bring out the flavors and give your toast that lovely sweet kick. There is only 1 tbsp of sugar between two servings. Seasoning: cardamom, cinnamon powder, vanilla extract This combination of flavors gives a delightful warmth and sweetness to your toast. If you don’t have these specific spices, you could also try grated nutmeg, cloves or even almond extract! Lemon zest For an added zing which also helps to balance the sweetness, a sprinkling of lemon zest is just what you need. This can be replaced by a dash of lemon juice if you don’t have a lemon to zest, or left out altogether if you don’t have anything to hand. Protein powder Choose your favorite protein powder and whack it in! Vanilla protein powder or other ‘plain’ flavors are preferred. The best protein powders are always the natural ones. The density of protein content in these powders is what makes this one of our high-protein breakfast recipes. Milk of choice It’s up to you what you choose when it comes to milk. Plant based and dairy milk all work! Butter, ghee or vegetable oil Whatever fat you have to hand works here. Try to stick to unprocessed healthy fats, but don’t worry too much about it as you’re only using 1.5 tsp so you’re not exactly going to compromise your health and wellbeing if an unhealthy fat sneaks in there! Berries or diced apple You can get creative with this one. Any berries work – I am partial to raspberries and blueberries, but I could also imagine this working really nicely with chopped strawberries. Diced apple is also a good choice (maybe toss it in cinnamon and a bit of sugar first?). I can even see a version of this French toast with cherries and sliced almonds…Bakewell French toast anybody?
How many calories are in protein French toast?
This protein French taost contains 430 calories per serving.
How much protein in French Toast?
And it contains an awesome 26g protein per serving. Here’s a quick overview of 1 serving:
Health benefits
You might be surprised to hear how healthy this French toast is! French toast is not the first thing you tend to think of when looking for a healthy breakfast recipe. Let me talk you through all the choices I have made to ensure that this is the healthiest it can be. I’ve already explained the benefits of upping the protein levels in this dish. At 26g protein per serving that is already coming up to half the RDA of protein for most people.
Not too sugary
I have also made sure to control the sugar levels in this recipe, limiting it to 1.5 tbsp of sugar in total. Consuming too much sugar has wide ranging health impacts, from diabetes to heart disease, so it is important to lower sugar levels wherever possible. Furthermore, sugar causes spikes in insulin levels which can lead to sugar highs and crashes, affecting your energy levels throughout the day. A healthy amount of daily sugar is between 2-3 tablespoons per day. One serving of this french toast is less than half your daily intake. For context, a 45g bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk contains 2 tablespoons of sugar. Our protein toast is also lower in fat than a traditional recipe. This is thanks to the fact that it is baked and not fried. This requires considerably less fat to be used, meaning that the overall fat content of this recipe is just 11g per serving. Most of this is from healthy unsaturated fat!
How to make the best protein French toast
Hopefully I have answered any questions you might have about this recipe here. If there’s anything I have missed, drop me a comment at the bottom of this page below the recipe card and I will get back to you!
Variations and alternatives
You might be surprised to hear that it is possible to make this recipe both vegan and gluten free. For gluten free french toast, simply swap your normal bread for your favorite gluten-free bread. To make it vegan is a little bit more complicated. You can also cut the slices into protein French toast sticks if you’d prefer. Our vegan french toast batter uses an unusual combination of almond milk, buckwheat flour and sparkling water (it works trust us!). You can also make vegan french toast batter from plant based milk, cornflour and flaxseeds, or using one of these egg alternatives you can get in supermarkets. Follow the recipe as usual, just substitute the egg for whichever alternative you most like the sound of.
More french toast recipes and other protein breakfasts
If you like this french toast recipe, why not try our healthy french toast with stewed apples, or our delicious savory vegan french toast recipe. If you are looking for more high protein breakfast recipes in general, I also have you covered. Our scrambled eggs recipe contains 22g protein per serving, this protein powder oatmeal with wintery apples contains 24g per serving. For a real protein bomb, this vegetable frittata contains a whopping 30g protein per serving! I hope you enjoyed this protein french toast recipe, it’s definitely one of my favourite high protein vegetarian breakfasts! Let me know what you think in the comments.
