Toast makes a surprisingly chic sweet snack, especially if you’re smearing it with frangipane (aka bostock), or brownie batter. I’m always looking for my next toast to dazzle and delight, but I fear I may have discovered the peak of it all. Today, I bring you lazy dulce de leche toast, and it’s the best toast I’ve ever had.
Dulce de leche is a milk caramel spread made from slowly cooking sweetened condensed milk. It’s one ingredient, but the slow, consistent heat changes the sticky, runny, dairy into a thick spread, like softened butter. The color changes from creamy white to latte brown, and the alluring flavors of milk and sugar gain complexity with toasted, malty notes. The only problem is dulce de leche takes a hell of a long time to make (about two or three hours of cooking and another hour of cooling), and there’s a small risk of the milk can exploding if you do it wrong.
Lazy dulce de leche toast is for the impatient dulce de leche lovers out there, like myself. It takes a mere 30 seconds to assemble, and three minutes to make. None of that cooking for hours, or worrying about exploding cans. The air fryer makes this snack comparatively lightning-fast, with little to no clean up.
Set the air fryer to 350°F on “air fry” mode to preheat. Pop a can of sweetened condensed milk, or pull out the leftovers you have in the fridge. Spread a couple tablespoons of the gooey stuff onto one side of a slice of bread. I used the thick cut brioche bread I had available, but any slice of bread will do. Put the milky bread into your air fryer, milk-side up, and let it cook for 3 minutes. Make sure you set the timer because this can change from caramelized to burnt if you forget about it. Take it out and enjoy your dulce de leche toast immediately.
Back: Lazy banana dulce de leche toast. Front: Lazy regular dulce de leche toastPhoto: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Please note, this is not true dulce de leche (such things happen when you’re lazy), but cutting corners certainly has its benefits. You’ll notice as soon as you take a bite; the top layer will have the complex, caramelized, and butterscotch-esque flavor of dulce de leche, with a layer of creamy sweetened condensed milk underneath. The combination of flavors–toasted meets creamy–is sumptuous, but it’s the texture that wins all the beans. Unlike with real dulce de leche, which retains its moisture, the sugars of the condensed milk exposed to the circulating heat of the air fryer caramelize and crisp on the edges, giving your toast a milk-candy top, with a creamy underside. Against the bread’s plush interior, it gives the illusion of a creamy, custard-like layer in the middle of the toast.
Lazy dulce de leche toast is a real treat. For a fittingly easy modification that tastes like banana candy toast, add sliced banana to the bread and spread the condensed milk over the top before baking.
Lazy Dulce de Leche Toast
Ingredients:
1 slice of soft bread2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milkPreheat the air fryer to 350°F on “air fry” mode. Spread the condensed milk evenly on top of the bread. Place it in the air fryer and cook for 3 min, or until the desired level of caramelization is reached.
