Gluten Free French Toast Cups (With Video!)

Gluten Free French Toast Cups – Make French toast for a crowd with this easy French toast cups recipe. Perfect for brunches or family meals! Scroll down for the full recipe, flavor variations & the how-to video!

These days, I’m often doing more than one thing while I’m cooking dinner, whether that’s practicing spelling words with one child, double-checking math homework, rinsing out lunchboxes, or cooking *with* a child and needing to keep my attention on more than one thing at a time.

Because of that, I love a good hands-off recipe. In the same way I want to high-five my slow cooker or Instant pot, or give three cheers for a good one-pan recipe, I love recipes where I don’t have to stand and stir, flip, or monitor them too closely.

We’re a big breakfast-for-dinner family, so I’m always looking for ways to enjoy my favorites without too much fuss. So when Sophie requested French toast recently, I started thinking about ways to make it less of a process (you know–dipping, soaking, flipping, soaking, cooking, flipping, repeat).

Enter: gluten free French toast cups. They’re all the BEST parts of French toast without all the hands on time–perfect for breakfast, brunch, or breakfast for dinner!

French Toast Cups: What They Are & Why I Love ‘Em

French toast cups are basically all the same flavors and textures of classic French toast, but made in muffin cups. They get delicious crispy outside and that signature custardy center that French toast is known for. In my opinion, French toast cups are even better than the original. Here’s why I love them:

• They’re made in a single batch – No standing by the stove and flipping! This method takes the guesswork and the repetition out of the process. Instead you mix everything up, let it sit, scoop it into muffin cups, and bake it all at once. No repeating. No flipping. No monitoring.
• They’re gluten & dairy free (or not) – You can easily make these French toast cups gluten and dairy free like we did, or use traditional wheat-based breads and dairy milk (or any combination of the two!). It’s up to you!
• It’s easy to add different flavors – The classic French toast cups recipe is DELICIOUS, and I love mixing and matching different flavors to keep things interesting. (I’ve listed my favorites in the next section!)

Spice Things Up! Try one of These Fun Flavor Variations for Gluten Free French Toast Cups:

The base recipe is delicious on its own, and pairs beautifully with all sorts of flavors. If you want to kick it up a notch, here are some of my favorite ways to add a little flavor boost to my gluten free French toast cups…

• Add blueberries. Add about 1/2 cup berries to the bread/egg mixture. They’ll burst in the oven and add lots of blueberry flavor. (Or, try with other favorite berries!)
• Try peaches. Peach French toast cups, anyone? In the summer, you can cut up peaches and use about 1/2 cup diced peaches mixed in with the bread/egg mixture. Serve with additional peaches on the side.
• Top with cinnamon-sugar. Mix 2 Tbsp sugar (white, brown, coconut–whatever) with 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of each French toast cup right before you put the pan in the oven.
• Sprinkle with coarse sugar – Turbinado sugar (sometimes sold as raw cane sugar or sugar in the raw) is very coarse sugar and creates a really pretty sparkly finish. You only need a tiny bit on top right before they go into the oven.
• Use chai spices instead of cinnamon. I sometimes use my chai spice mix instead of cinnamon for a yummy twist. The warm spices are so good!

FAQ & Tips For the Best French Toast Cups:

Let’s talk muffin pans – I usually LOVE and swear by my nonstick silicone muffin pans because they’re as nonstick as it gets and super easy to clean. That said, I recommend using a metal muffin pan for these if you can because you’ll get a better crispy finish. The edges will brown better and the overall texture works best with a metal pan.

What kind of bread is good for gluten free French toast? I’ve tried these gluten free French toast cups with all our favorite brands. We’ve used Canyon Bakehouse, Schar, Glutino, and Three Bakers brands. All of them have worked! Schar and Canyon Bakehouse maintain their structure a bit more if you want a more defined look, but all of them will work for this recipe. (I used Three Bakers for the video)

What Kind of Milk Can I Use for Dairy Free French Toast? Just about any! My favorites are unsweetened almond and cashew, but you can use whatever you drink (rice, soy, oat, etc.). Not dairy free? You can use cow’s milk without a problem.

Not Gluten Free? No worries! These French toast cups will totally work with wheat-based breads as well. I used to make mine with sourdough or a baguette before going GF. Use whatever you have!

Can I Make it Vegan? You can absolutely use vegan bread if you like. However, I haven’t tried this with any kind of egg substitute. Most vegan French toast recipes I’ve seen use some kind of flour or cornstarch to act as a binder instead of eggs. I’m not sure you’d quite get that custardy center or the same puff using just flour or starch, but you might be able to get away with using a powdered egg substitute, like Ener-G or Bob’s Red Mill (follow the directions on the package). Again, I haven’t tested it, but that’s where I’d start if I were going to try.

Looking for more brunch faves? You Might Like:

• Easy Paleo Mini Quiche
• Honey Lime Fruit Salad
• Roasted Breakfast Potatoes and Veggies
• Green Chile Frittata
• Potato & Egg Breakfast Tacos

Gluten Free French Toast Cups (Dairy Free, too!)

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• Author: Emily
• Prep Time: 5 minutes + 15 minutes to soak
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 12 servings
• Category: breakfast, brunch
• Method: Oven, Baking
• Cuisine: American, French American

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Description

Gluten Free French Toast Cups – Make French toast for a crowd with this easy French toast cups recipe. Perfect for brunches or family meals! (Gluten free & dairy free)

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Ingredients

• 8-10 slices* gluten free bread, cubed into 1/2-3/4″ cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
• 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup (can sub honey or brown sugar)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• pinch salt

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease each cup in a 12-cup muffin pan with butter, ghee, or nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cube bread and place in a large bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. It’s okay if there are some small beads of cinnamon. (They’ll blend right in with the bread. If you prefer it completely smooth, you can blend it with an immersion blender instead of whisking)
4. Pour the egg/milk mixture over the cubed bread. Gently stir the bread with a spatula to coat with the liquid. (Try not to break up the bread too much)
5. Let the bread sit in the milk mixture for about 15 minutes to absorb more of the liquid. Stir once if you like.
6. After 15 minutes (or, when ready to bake), scoop the bread in to the greased muffin pan. Pour any remaining liquid into the muffin cups with the cubed bread.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the outsides are golden brown. Let rest 2-3 minutes in the pan, then gently remove from the muffin pan.
8. Serve with maple syrup, fresh fruit, powdered sugar, or your favorite toppings!

Notes

*Using 8 slices will give you smaller, crispier French toast cups, where 10 slices will produce larger, more custardy ones. Its up to you! (I used 10 slices in the video + nutrition facts)

Keywords: gluten free french toast, french toast cups, gluten free french toast cups, dairy free french toast, french toast recipe, breakfast, brunch