Portuguese Oven Baked Christmas French Toast • Rabanadas no Forno

Rabanadas are a beloved traditional Portuguese Christmas treat, similar to a French toast, typically deep-fried to golden perfection. This recipe offers a delightful variation by baking the rabanadas in the oven instead of frying them. While the classic fried version is known for its rich, tender texture and lasts well for a couple of days, this oven-baked version brings a unique twist with a crispier exterior.

The oven-baked rabanadas are perfect for enjoying fresh on the day or even a few days later when paired with your favourite jam or syrup. This method provides a wonderful alternative for those who prefer to avoid the traditional deep-frying process while still capturing the festive spirit and delicious flavours of this cherished Portuguese Christmas dessert. Lets check out the recipe!

Portuguese Oven Baked Christmas French Toast • Rabanadas no Forno

Servings: 8
Time: 45mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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These Portuguese Christmas French Toast (Rabanadas) are a kinda sorta a little healthier version, because they are oven baked hehehe.

Ingredients

Bread – 1 Rustic Baguette (Rabanada’s Bread)
Milk – 700ml
Sugar – 100g
Lemon – 1 Peel
Cinnamon – 1 Stick
Eggs – 2
Butter – For Greasing
Sugar – For Sprinkling
Cinnamon – For Sprinkling

Directions

As with any French toast, it is best to cut the bread at least one day in advance (so that it dries more easily); the drier the bread, the better the French toast.
When it is time to make the Rabanadas, preheat the oven to 200ºC and prepare a baking tray or ovenproof dish generously greased with butter.

Heat the milk with the sugar, lemon peel, and cinnamon stick until it is very hot, but do not let it boil.
Pour some of the milk into a large dish and whisk the egg in another dish.

Dip the bread slices in the hot milk, allowing each slice to soak up the flavoured milk, then dip them in the whisked egg and place them on the ovenproof dish.
Repeat until you have no more bread, then place the dish in the oven until golden brown. You will see that they will start to swell and then brown. Remove when they are golden brown, you can open half way and turn them if you want extra crispy or you dont have a strong enough oven.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. They are now ready to serve. IF you are going to have them for more than one day, serve also with some syrup or jam. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Notes: A Rustic Baguette, a French Toast Baguette or Pão de Rabanada, is a type of bread sold in Portugal but only in December around Christmas time, it looks like a very thick and chuncky round boring white baguette (it’s not even cooked to golden), if you eat it plain it will taste a bit bland and dense not at all like a baguette, feels like the sort of bread they would make in a factory to cut in slices and make commercial toasts, but that is the point of this bread its one of the best to make rabanadas, because it holds a lot of liquid without falling apart, and its dense flavourless nature is also perfect because you will be adding so much other stuff, from flavoured milk, oil, syrups, sugar, spices… so there is no point in having good flavour or a crunchy exterior, it’s just a vehicle type bread.

For a crispier texture, ensure the rabanadas are baked until golden brown on the outside, like i said above these are best eaten in the day.

This oven-baked version is a great alternative for those who prefer to avoid frying but still want to enjoy the traditional festive flavours

Serve with traditional accompaniments like honey, cinnamon sugar, syrups or fruit preserves for added sweetness and to add a bit more humidity, since in the fried versions the oil keeps the bread moist.

Also some recipes for oven baked Portuguese rabanadas will sprinkle the bread with lots of sugar and cinnamon before going to the oven, but that will make more a caramelized bread, it’s delicious, yes, but it’s going a bit too far away from what a rabanada should be.

This recipe for Portuguese Oven Baked Christmas French Toast • Rabanadas no Forno was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Tradicionais Rabanadas no Forno foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.