Love and Olive Oil
French Toast Shooters

French Toast Shooters

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French Toast & Maple Syrup Shooters - Brunch party appetizer recipe

We wanted our brunch party full of brunchy bites, edible tidbits that could (for the most part) be eaten without a fork or other utensils. But when I decided wanted to serve French toast, it proved to be a bit of a bite-sized dilemma.

The solution came to me from above (actually, just Pinterest) where I saw bite-sized sticks of French toast served in shot glasses of maple syrup.

Brilliant and perfect.

French Toast Sticks in Maple Syrup Shot glasses

I added some bourbon to my favorite basic French toast recipe, which seemed more than appropriate seeing as I was serving it in shot glasses.

My motto? Where a vanilla is good, bourbon is better.

French Toast & Maple Syrup Shooters - Brunch party appetizer recipe

I used these slanted cylinder cups (since I didn’t exactly have 20+ shot glasses on hand and wouldn’t have wanted to wash them even if I did), but small jars or dixie cups would work here too.

French Toast & Maple Syrup Shots

My favorite French toast recipe is below, spiked with a bit of bourbon for good measure, but you can use your favorite recipe, or mix it up and make something extra special like this Horchata French Toast or even Boozy Salted Caramel French Toast (served with a shot of boozy caramel sauce instead of straight maple syrup).

French Toast Shooters

French Toast Shooters

A perfect brunch party recipe, these individual sized French toast sticks are served with a shot of maple syrup.

Ingredients:

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon bourbon or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • 1 loaf brioche bread, sliced into 8-10 1-inch thick slices
  • butter, for cooking
  • maple syrup, for serving

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange bread slices on a foil-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 5 minutes or until bread is slightly dried out and toasted,  but not yet starting to brown.
  2. To prepare batter, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, bourbon or vanilla, and salt. Pour into a shallow baking dish (a small-ish casserole dish is usually perfect for this).
  3. Preheat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
  4. Dip bread slices into batter, working one batch at a time (so if your pan can fit 2 slices, only dip 2 slices at once). Let soak for 10 to 15 seconds then flip and soak other side for another 10 to 15 seconds.
  5. Add 1/2 tablespoon butter to skillet, it should sizzle upon hitting the pan (if it doesn’t, the pan isn’t hot enough).
  6. Gently lift bread slices out of batter, letting excess drip off. Place into hot skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown, then flip and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining slices.
  7. Once all slices are cooked, cut each slices vertically into fourths, creating long ‘fingers’ of French toast. Return to baking sheet, then bake at 350 degrees F for 5 to 10 minutes or until heated through, slightly longer if the French toast was completely cooled before baking. The French toast can be pan-cooked up to an hour ahead of time and then baked just prior to serving.
  8. To serve, fill shot glasses with about 1/2 inch of maple syrup, then place a single piece of French toast inside it. You can serve a platter of shooters with another plate of extra pieces alongside, since the syrup in one glass is more than enough for a few slices.
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15 Comments

  1. Rating: 5

    I make these all the time. Excellent. And I freeze them. I reheat in oven or air fryer.

  2. I’m wanting to make ahead for a shower…do you think freezing them & reheating in oven is an option for this recipe?

    • I’ve never frozen french toast before so I can’t say, sorry! I’d worry the texture would be sort of mushy, but if you intentionally undercooked them before freezing, maybe? Definitely let me know if you try it.

  3. Love this! So cute 
    How did you keep them warm, looking to do this at a shower!

  4. What is a good maple syrup? I don’t want one that’s too runny-I want it fairly thick, but super rich in flavor (& NO corn syrup!!!)

  5. An interesting recipe .. would be perfect if served when hanging out with friends or family .. Thank you for giving this recipe

  6. These so ridiculously cute. Would love to serve these at a brunch party. Thank you for putting bourbon in them!!!

  7. These shooters look fab! I love bite size desserts or any food really :) so a huge YES from me :)

  8. If you like bourbon with your French Toast, you should look for Pappy Maple Syrup: maple syrup stored in retired Pappy Van Winkle bourbon barrels for several months before bottling. I received a bottle last Christmas and judiciously using it for only the truly worthy breakfast foods. It is really delicious.

    • Dang, that sounds amazing! I have some Trader Joe’s bourbon barrel aged stuff, which is pretty fantastic, but it’s no pappy!

  9. This is my kind of breakfast!

    Paige

  10. Oh, I love these! What a fun idea! I think I maybe have one or two shot glasses left in the house these days and I’m not a hard liquor drinker, but I would buy more for this kind of shooter!

  11. This is so cute. For the past several years, it’s been very trendy in France to serve very small portions in tiny glasses or mini glass dishes called “verrines”–verre means glass. They are almost like tapas and served mostly as appetizers or desserts. The ideal verrines can be easily served in small quantity and take advantage of the transparent presentation to show off layers. One that I love (from a book about verrines) is a pineapple-mascarpone parfait: https://francetaste.wordpress.com/2017/01/17/pineapple-mascarpone-parfait

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