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Lazy weekend mornings are made for this caramelized Cinnamon Sugar French Toast. Light and airy cinnamon sugar french toast, made with a warming vanilla bourbon egg custard, nutty browned butter, and sweet cinnamon sugar. Every piece of toast is soft, buttery, and custardy inside, but crisp and caramelized on the outside with just the right amount of cinnamon sugar. Serve this french toast with whipped mascarpone and a drizzle of maple…beyond delicious.
It’s been so long since I shared a good breakfast recipe. No idea why, but I’ve been very into the cookies and cakes this month. However, something about this weekend really required a deliciously sweet breakfast. It’s been the longest week. I’m feeling like a lazy weekend breakfast is exactly what we all need.
Enter this french toast. It’s half cinnamon sugar toast and half french toast. And well, it might just be my favorite breakfast…because I will forever have a deep love for cinni-sugar toast.
Growing up, my brothers and I sure ate a lot of cinnamon sugar toast. It was my dad’s specialty and my personal favorite. He’d do his French toast up really simply, using whatever bread my mom bought that week. Then he’d use so much butter, and even more cinnamon sugar. Oh my gosh, it was good. Dad would always make his cinnamon sugar mix heavy on the cinnamon and lighter on the sugar, so that’s how I do mine too. And we loved it. You can never overdo it on the cinnamon in my opinion.
For whatever reason, I’ve been thinking so much about his cinni-sugar toast recently. So
much so that it ended up being the inspiration for this French toast. It reminds me of being a kid. When everything in life was stressfree, carefree, and my biggest concern was what outfit I was going to wear to school.
Here are the details.
Like most French toast recipes, this is pretty simple to make and requires nothing fancy. I like to soak my bread slices in an egg “custard-like” mix. I always add a splash of both bourbon and vanilla. Using a small splash of bourbon really helps bring out the rich flavors of this toast and gives it something a little extra special.
So…soak the bread in the egg mix, then pan fry with a bit of butter until golden on either side.
Very basic, but then…
The cinnamon sugar.
Once you’ve cooked both sides of toast, you’ll want to sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar. Then simply flip the french toast over, cinni-sugar side facing down. As the french toast cooks, the sugars caramelize and turn the top of the toast into the most roll your eyes back delicious treat.
It’s similar to creme brûlée, in a way, but with the flavors of cinnamon sugar toast and just the slightest bit of crispiness.
And finally the mascarpone cream.
If you LOVE tiramisu, you’ll definitely want to make this whipped cream. It’s made with mascarpone cheese, which gives it the perfect light and creamy texture and the best flavor. Again, it adds something a little extra special to this French toast.
All it requires is just mascarpone cheese, whipped with cream, and a touch of vanilla. Seems so easy and simple, but do not let that fool you. It makes for the creamiest topping, and is perfect atop these french toast slices.
As soon as the french toast comes off the skillet, finish it with a light sprinkle of cinni-sugar, a dollop of mascarpone cream, and a drizzle of real maple syrup. Again, nothing not to love here.
When the whipped cream hits the warm toast it begins to melt over top and creates an even more custard-like french toast. The whipped mascarpone, in addition to the caramelized cinnamon sugar and sweet maple…mouthwatering! Sorry, cheesy, but I mean, I think you’ll agree.
Hoping so, because I really cannot stress enough just how good this French toast really is. My mom and causing Maggie said they could not get enough. This is one of those recipes that you’ll look forward to making every chance you get. The toast is warming, cozy, and so easy to make. Serve these up for weekend breakfast/brunch, then save the leftovers as a weekday on-the-go breakfast/treat/snack. Or work them into your upcoming Easter or Mother’s Day menus…crazy these holidays are already on the horizon.
Spring is coming!
Looking for other breakfast recipes? Here are some favorites:
Cinnamon Sugar Brown Butter Popovers
Za’atar Eggs with Lemony Yogurt
Cider Pumpkin Waffles with Salted Maple Butter
Lastly, if you make this Cinnamon Sugar French Toast be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Cinnamon Sugar French Toast
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 670 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- kosher salt
- 1 loaf challah bread, sliced into 1 inch slices
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- butter, for the pan
Whipped Mascarpone
- 1/4 cup mascarpone or cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1. In a large 9×13 inch baking dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, bourbon, vanilla, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. Add the bread slices, and turn to coat. Let the bread sit 10 minutes, then flip and let the other side sit another 10 minutes. 2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. 3. To make the cream. Using an electric mixer, whip the mascarpone and cream together until soft peaks form. Add the honey (or maple) and vanilla. Whip to combine.4. When ready to cook, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the toast until light golden 2-3, then flip and cook 3-5 minutes, until deeply golden. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of each piece of toast. Flip the toast, cinnamon-sugar side facing down, and cook 2-3 minutes, until the sugar is golden brown and caramelized. 5. Plate the french toast cinnamon sugar side facing up. Sprinkle each piece lightly with cinnamon sugar. Serve with whipped cream and maple syrup. Enjoy 🙂
This post was originally published on February 26, 2021
I’m sure it’ll be in my breakfast tomorrow. I just prepared it using my pop-up toaster. It’s really yummy. Thanks for sharing pretty cool stuff.
Hey Kathleen,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad that it was enjoyed! Have a great week:) xTieghan
So good! I made homemade challah for this which was super fun to do. I cut my pieces a title to thick but still so delicious!
Hey there,
Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try, I am thrilled that it was enjoyed! Have a great week:) xTieghan
Thank you! I’m making it this weekend. I’ll let you know how it turned out.
I hope you love the recipe Nina! xTieghan
Hello, I was wondering if you are able to bake this in the oven as oppossed to on the stove top?
Hey Nina,
I would do 375 for 35-45 minutes in a 9×13 inch baking dish. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made this today for breakfast and loved it! Very delicious
Hey Anna,
Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed. Happy Sunday! xTieghan
OMG, this was amazing!! Sprinkling on the cinnamon-sugar at the end of toasting is a game-changer! And definitely sprinkling on more when serving ups the crunch factor. I only soaked the bread slices for 15-20 seconds on each side, and they came out perfect. I skipped the whipped topping and the rum, but I’m sure they would add a whole other dimension! But for me, just a pat of butter on each piece and a swirl of syrup was just perfection! I will never make French toast any other way again! And I love that this is so quick and easy when the mood strikes and you are craving it – no refrigerating overnight or baking for an hour! Instant gratification! ?
Hey Ellie,
I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks so much for giving it a try. Have a great week! xTieghan
My family devoured this. Another wonderful recipe!!
Hey Perrin,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
Super yummy!
Thanks so much Tracy! xTieghan
This recipe is so delicious! I omitted the bourbon since we didn’t have any, but it still turned out great. The whipped cream is SO GOOD. My daughter just said, “this is the best dinner I ever ate!” ?
Hey Krista,
I am so thrilled this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a try!! xTieghan
This was so yummy! I absolutely love this recipe, it’s delicious and looks super cute 🙂 I also appreciated how easy it was. I ended up using whiskey because I didn’t have any bourbon handy, and it worked out great.
Hey Priscilla,
Thanks a bunch for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad it was enjoyed! xTieghan
I wanted to give a try to these french toasts, but they came out super soggy. In my opinion, 20 minutes is too long time to soak up those bread slices in the egg-milk mixture. I’m actually from Finland and here we tend to only dip those super quickly and then fry on pan, so the bread don’t get soggy. I don’t know which way is more common.
So next time I only dip the bread slices! Other than that, thank you for always creating such a good recipes, I love to try them and I always love the results as well.
Thanks for giving the recipe a try Juulia! xTieghan
Made this morning, unfortunately I think leaving the bread soak for as long as the instructions call for is too long & resulted in a soggy texture in the middle. So sad because nearly a full recipe went in the garbage 🙁 However it had great flavour & I will make again but less time soaking the bread.
Hey Nicole,
So sorry to hear this, was there anything you may have adjusted? The nature of a French toast is for the inside to be a little soft. Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
WOW! I made this recipe for breakfast, it is delicious. I used stale sourdough bread instead of challah and I was sorry I didn’t have any mascarpone cheese on hand. the next time I will.
Can I make it the night before and refrigerate? I also think the batter is so delicious I wonder if you could add bread cubes, refrigerate overnight and bake? it would make a wonderful Christmas morning breakfast.
Thank you for your easy great breakfast.
Hey Cindy,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! I think it would be fine to soak overnight and then the bread cubes should work too! I hope this helps! xTieghan
Wow! This met with rave reviews from my family. Made challah the night before and let 6 fat slices dry a bit. Turned out those 6 used up all the “sauce” but were also the perfect amount (2 each) for our three-adult family. I spaced and got ricotta instead of mascarpone so I found a recipe for whipped ricotta and followed that–very delicious. Thanks for helping us celebrate the last Sunday in February!
Hey Rebecca,
Thanks a lot for giving the recipe a try, I am delighted that the recipe was enjoyed! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
This is an update to my previous comment** I printed out the recipe before the changes made to use 2 1/2 cups of water ( I used 1-1/2) adding the extra water would make the pasta consistency perfect! Again I love this recipe!
Thanks Rachael! xTieghan