How To Turn Leftover Cornbread Into The Breakfast Of Your Dreams

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Cornbread is one of the most versatile quick breads in the culinary world. It is a cinch to make, and whether you prefer your cornbread sweet or savory, it is altogether delicious. You can certainly serve it with chili or barbecue (which are both excellent options), but don't underestimate its use as a breakfast food. For guidance, we turned to Bryan Quoc Le, a food scientist, founder of Mendocino Food Consulting, and author of "150 Food Science Questions Answered." He suggested that enjoying cornbread in the morning is about way more than covering it with butter and honey; he likes to elevate it into French toast.

Quoc Le told us that, despite cornbread being rather crumbly, turning it into French toast works. He explained, "Cornbread has a higher fat content and a coarser crumb due to cornmeal, which changes both the absorption profile and structure under heat. Compared to lean breads like baguette or enriched ones like brioche, it results in a denser, more crumbly final product with a toasted corn flavor and a more savory baseline."

Still, cornbread's crumbly nature needs to be taken into account when you dive into creating this dish. Quoc Le told us, "Because cornbread is more fragile and has lower gluten development, it's prone to disintegration in custard. Letting it stale slightly increases firmness by reducing free water." 

Don't soak your cornbread for too long when making French toast

To make cornbread French toast, you follow the steps you'd generally take with other French toast recipes but with a few important tweaks. Bryan Quoc Le explained the process: "Slice the cornbread thick — at least one inch. Prepare a standard custard (whole eggs and milk or cream, plus salt, sugar, and spices), and dip the slices briefly to prevent oversaturation. Pan-fry in butter or neutral oil on medium heat until both sides are golden and the custard is set internally. A short rest post-cooking helps the texture stabilize." The thick slices, short soak, and resting period are all key for making cornbread French toast successfully.

You can top it in the traditional way with butter and maple syrup or shower the slices with powdered sugar. However, you can also play off of the unique, toasty corn flavor with many other sweet and savory elements. According to Quoc Le, "Cornbread leans savory with a sweet undertone, so toppings that highlight contrast, like citrus curd, berry compote, crème fraîche, or even hot honey, add textural and pH variety. Ingredients with acidity or umami can balance the richness of both the cornbread and the custard."

Try swapping normal butter for thick cream, mascarpone, or quark cheese. Toasted nuts play up the flavors of cornbread and add a nice crunch to the dish. If you want a totally savory cornbread French toast experience, top your slices with some caramelized onions (they don't have to take long), softened mascarpone or cream cheese, and a crispy, basted fried egg.

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