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Believe it or not, adding crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal is the secret to great French Toast!
When I woke up this morning I was thinking about French Toast. That’s not a usual Friday morning breakfast for me. I have toast with peanut butter, or an egg and cheese sandwich–something quick that doesn’t make a lot of dishes. Often I even eat breakfast standing up, because if I sit down and get on my computer there’s a good chance I’ll stay there all day.
But I wasn’t in a huge rush this morning, and I had some thick-cut white bread, so French Toast seemed perfect.
And then I got downstairs, and saw that my son had left the Cinnamon Toast Crunch on the counter, and I had a thought: would my French Toast be better with a nice coating of cereal?
I’d had something like this in a restaurant before, where they’d coated the French Toast with crumbled Corn Flakes. But honestly it had been too crunchy, and the Corn Flakes didn’t really add any flavor. But I thought that Cinnamon Toast Crunch might work better! I wanted to completely crush the cereal, because I think if the Corn Flakes had been crushed, that French Toast would have had a better texture.
I wasn’t sure enough to sacrifice my entire breakfast, though, so I tried coating just one slice with crushed cereal. If it wasn’t good, I’d still have a normal slice.
I made my French Toast like usual (if you’re looking for a good French Toast recipe, just follow mine, leaving out the cereal step, but trust me, the cereal will make it so much better!), but I put some Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the little mini food processor that came with my immersion blender and crushed it. I would not have gotten out my real food processor for this, so if you don’t have a mini one, I would suggest putting the cereal in a zipper baggie and crush it with a rolling pin.
The rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward, but here’s a tip: if you have a little milk frother, use that to mix up the batter. Cinnamon is hydrophobic, so it’s almost impossible to get it to un-clump in a thin liquid. But if you mix it with a frother, it will break up no problem.
Another important tip is to make sure you’re measuring the cereal before you crush it. Three cups of crushed cereal would be a MASSIVE amount. If you have a scale, just weigh it—so much easier!!
Finally it was done, and it was time to try it. My big fear was that it would be too sweet, too cinnamony. In fact, if I’d thought to leave the cinnamon out of the batter, I would have.
But it was PERFECT. Not only that, but I never would have been able to guess that it had been coated in Cinnamon Toast Crunch!! It gave just the right texture—not too sweet, not too much cinnamon—and added a bit of flavor without being overpowering. You could just tell people that this is French Toast. Really, really good French Toast. I wish I’d made both slices that way.
You might notice that there’s a wide range of servings in this recipe. That’s because it depends on how thick your bread is, and how dense it is. Some breads absorb more of the batter than others. You’ll have to try it with your bread of choice and see what your result is.
Now I’m wondering what other cereals would be good on French Toast. I’m thinking that Cap’n Crunch would be a great candidate!!
Cinnamon Toast Crunch French Toast
You would never guess that there was crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch on this French Toast. It just has a great flavor and a little crunch!
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Large pinch fresh grated nutmeg
- 123 grams (3 cups) Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, crushed
- 4-8 slices thick-cut white bread, challah, or brioche
- Butter for pan
Instructions
Put the eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl and beat it with a fork until uniform (if you have a milk frother, use that at the end—it will break up the cinnamon); pour into a wide, shallow dish that can fit at least a couple slices of bread
Put the cereal crumbs onto a large shallow plate
Preheat a large pan (preferably not non-stick) to about 350 (about medium-low to medium, depending on your stove)
When the pan is preheated add about a teaspoon of butter per slice that will be cooked at the same time (if it browns, the pan is too hot!!!)
Soak as many pieces of bread as you can fit in the batter in a single layer, turning after 30-60 seconds to coat the other side (the thicker and denser the bread, the more time it will need to soak); make sure to remove it before it's so saturated that it falls apart!!
Put the soaked slices onto the plate of cereal crumbs, and press crumbs into both sides, as many as will stay on
Put the slices into the pan and cook until golden brown on both sides
Serve immediate, with syrup
Notes
Make sure you measure the cereal before you crush it!! Or, just weigh it, which is easier all around.
I've found that the easiest way to crush the cereal is in a mini food processor. If you don't have that, put it in a zipper baggie and crush it with a rolling pin.
The kind of bread you use is up to you, but make sure it's thick and/or dense enough to hold up to the batter. I like it to be sliced about an inch thick. Any thicker than that and the inside is completely raw.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 2416Total Fat 45gSaturated Fat 13gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 28gCholesterol 328mgSodium 4240mgCarbohydrates 421gFiber 23gSugar 51gProtein 81g
Nutritional information is an estimate only. Especially in this case. I think it's calculating the cereal amount wrong, so I wouldn't pay any attention to this estimate.