French Toast for a Crowd

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Is there anything better than French Toast?  When cooking for a crowd, French toast is an easy way to feed a group. French Toast for a Crowd is easy to make and they are the first recipe in my Summer Outdoor Cooking Series. 

One of my passions is cooking for any kind of family or church function.  For many years, I went camping with the girls in my church and made all the food for 45-60 people for a week of three meals a day.  Then I was asked to cook for 350 people at a larger gathering of women and girls for a week. Now that was fun! People who are not campers will love the experience if the food is delicious. If everyone is well fed, with good food, the experience will be so much better!

Being out in nature speaks to my soul.  My family camps every summer in Wyoming. We have our own equipment and do white water rafting on the Snake River between Alpine and Hoback Junction. We usually invite anywhere  between 15-45 people.  I love to prepare and cook great food while we are camping.  My Summer Outdoor Cooking Series will give you menus with tips and tricks to cook for a large group of people and we are starting with French Toast.

How To Make French Toast for a Crowd

When planning for a crowd, it is nice to start with a recipe for one person. You can multiply the recipe for how many people you have in your group. I have some conversions below for 6 and then again for 12 people.

The Buttermilk Maple Syrup Recipe is at the end of the post.

Here are a few products I like to use when making French Toast For a Crowd
When you purchase items from the Amazon links below, I receive a small commission.

Instructions for making French Toast for a Crowd

The following instructions have references to making things ahead if you are cooking the French toast for a gathering somewhere else besides your kitchen.

1.  Mix cinnamon sugar and place in a container before you go.

2.  Beat the eggs and add the cinnamon sugar.  Mix for a minute or two with a wire whisk.  This step is important to do before adding the milk.  The sugar changes the chemistry of the egg yolks and is the beginning of a beautiful custard for delicious French Toast.

Beating the sugar into the eggs is an important step.

3.  Add the milk and beat well.  Stir this mixture every time you dip in a piece of bread to keep the cinnamon well mixed in.

4.  Get the griddle hot and be prepared to burn a few pieces of bread.  Please plan on this when deciding how much bread you need.

More Breakfast Ideas from Dina’s Diner

5.  The key to making great French toast is turning it once.  You want a nice brown crust on one side and then turn it over and cook it until you get another great crust on the other side.  No one likes soggy French toast.  

If possible, turn the heat down once you have turned the bread over the first time.  This will continue to cook the bread and not burn the outside. You will need to adjust the heat back up when adding the next pieces of bread to the hot griddle or skillet.

You might need to burn a few pieces getting your campstove griddle the right temperature.

6.  Serve the French toast as soon as it comes off the griddle.  People are happy to wait for perfectly cooked French toast.

7. Cut strawberries into small pieces. Four strawberries per person is what I plan. There are about 30 strawberries in a 2 quart container. Place the cut strawberries in a bowl next to the warm syrup. Place the syrup in some kind of a pitcher from which it can be easily poured. Some people will take the strawberries and others will not. I usually run out of strawberries because people love fresh berries on their French toast.

6 people 
12 pieces of bread
12 eggs
1 Cup Milk
2 Tbsp. Cinnamon Sugar
24 Strawberries (2 quarts of strawberries, about 30 strawberries)

12 people
24 pieces of bread
24 eggs
2 Cups Milk
4 Tbsp. Cinnamon Sugar
48 Strawberries (about 3 quarts of strawberries)

If you make French Toast for a Crowd, I would appreciate if you could leave a comment and a star rating.

Remember when planning for a group of people, some people will only eat one piece of French toast and others will eat three.  That is why I plan for 2 pieces per person.  It seems to even out.  Boys tend to eat more than girls. If your group is boy heavy, you might want to up the recipe to 3 pieces of bread per person, then adjust the rest of the ingredients. If your group is girl heavy, you might want to plan for 1 1/2 pieces of bread per girl, then adjust the rest of the ingredients.

Make the Buttermilk Syrup ahead and store in a glass quart jar.

When making syrup for a crowd, I double this recipe and store it in glass quart jars.  The jars pack well in a cooler and are easy to heat on a camp stove in a saucepan.  Place the glass jar in a saucepan with about 2 cups of water.  Place the glass jar in the saucepan and bring the water to a boil.  The glass jar will not break.  

Well, it has never broken for me, but I watch the heat and turn it down once the water begins to boil.

Stir the syrup in the glass jar as it heats up. I like using a dinner knife.  It is long enough to get to the bottom of the jar and I can easily wipe it off on the rim of the jar.