Gourmet Toast Recipes for Homemade Bread

With all of our recent posts on baking bread, we started thinking about new ways to use loaf after loaf of homemade goodness. Then we had a snack of fig and prosciutto toast over the weekend, and voilà! We knew exactly what we wanted to explore next: gourmet toast recipes. In this post, we'll share recipe ideas that go beyond basic breakfast toast.

The Basics of Gourmet Toast

We support creativity in the kitchen, which means we encourage our readers to make up their own concoctions while following some loose guidelines. The guidelines for gourmet toast are even looser than usual. If your ingredients sound good together, and you can spread them or stack them on lightly toasted bread, then we say go for it! That said, we do have a few recommendations that will help your gourmet toast vision come together deliciously.

First, consider spreading your toast with a creamy base, like nut or seed butter, ricotta or cream cheese, or even hummus or yogurt. This base will help hold your other toast ingredients in place. Then add solid ingredients like meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts or seeds. Finally, top your toast with a drizzle of liquid (just like you would top a salad with dressing) and a pinch of seasoning such as salt, pepper, cinnamon, or other favorites.

For our most creative readers, who know their kitchens inside and out, and have a talent for putting together delicious combinations, this guidance might be enough to get started. But if you want specific recipes, we have several ideas you can choose from. Feel free to tweak them to your personal tastes too!

Gourmet Toast: Keep It Simple

We love these tasty ideas from Live Eat Learn that you can probably whip up with ingredients you already have on hand. They're geared toward breakfast, and they all incorporate protein, which is essential to a filling breakfast. Cottage cheese is a great option for your base spread, and it's versatile enough to work with sweet and savory toppings. Greek yogurt often features sweet flavors, so it is well-suited to fresh berries, honey, and cinnamon.

Naturally, avocado is on the list too, but don't dismiss it before you've tried it. With a mild taste and "good" fats, avocado plays well with an array of ingredients and keeps you feeling satisfied. Pair it with an egg -- over easy, poached, or even scrambled -- and season it with salt and pepper and a dash of lemon or lime juice.

Gourmet Toast: Take It Up a Notch

If you're ready to try some gourmet toast recipes with slightly longer ingredient lists, check out these ideas from The Kitchen Whisperer. You might look at the photos and think, Whoa. That's a lot of effort! But once you scroll down to the recipes, we think you'll feel confident you can pull off these gourmet toast creations.

For example, the Mediterranean Toast looks super fancy, but there's not much to it: hummus, feta, pomegranate arils, pepitas, fresh mint, and a drizzle of olive oil. Likewise, the Caprese Toast features a base of smashed avocado seasoned with dried herbs, halved grape tomatoes, and mini mozzarella balls, plus some fresh basil and olive oil. The results are impressive! If we were feeling extra-motivated, we might even reduce some balsamic vinegar on the stove to a more syrupy consistency, and then drizzle it over the top too.

Truly Gourmet Toast Recipes

When you want to make gourmet toast into a meal that will draw oohs and ahhs from your guests, check out this collection of recipes from Delish. These concoctions are definitely more time-consuming, but they look and sound amazing. We're especially curious to try the Toasts with Ricotta and Warm Balsamic-Caramel Apples, the Crab Salad Toasts, and the Ratatouille Toasts with Fried Eggs.

We hope this post has given you even more reasons to try baking homemade bread. If you do make some of your own gourmet toast, we'd love for you to share pictures of the results with us!