Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Food

Rosh Hashanah Leftovers: Orange Challah French Toast

There are few things more wonderful for a creative cook than the challenge of figuring out how to repurpose leftovers well. Leftover roasted chicken adds protein to a spinach salad and rice from Monday can make Wednesday’s soup hearty. But thanks to the back-to-back scheduling of Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat this year, many of us are currently left with overwhelming amounts of round challahs, that are on the verge of becoming stale.

Instead of freezing the challahs (bread really is best when fresh), I will be using them to celebrate the New Year this week at my dinner table. Orange challah French toast served with turkey bacon, puts a spin on a favorite brunch food and makes a delicious dinner.

For this recipe, regular or raisin challah works well and the turkey bacon provides a nice salty contrast to the sweetness of the bread. Simply, replace the milk with orange juice in the egg mixture and add a dash of cinnamon as well. Orange zest adds a brightness to the flavors. Serve it with maple syrup or orange marmalade.

Orange Challah French Toast

1 large challah
6 large eggs
1 1/4 cups orange juice
1 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1) Slice the challah into thick slices, approximately ¾ inch.

2) In a bowl whisk together the eggs, orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon, salt and honey.

3) Dunk the challah slices into the egg mixture until they are just saturated on both sides (you can also pour the egg mixture over the slices in a lipped sheet pan, turning the bread after 2 minutes)

4) Melt margarine on a griddle or in a large frying pan, coating the surface well.

5) Place the challah slices on the pan or griddle and cook for two to three minutes per side, until golden brown and slightly crisp around the edges.

6) Serve with turkey bacon and syrup.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.