Cinnamon French Toast

Three pieces of French toast on a plate with butter pads, syrup and powdered sugar.

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5 from 1 vote

Soft, sweet, cinnamon and brown sugar swirled French bread, hand battered and cooked on a griddle until golden brown.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Rise Time1

Total Time2

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cinnamon French toast, cinnamon roll French toast

Servings: servings

Calories: 309kcal

Author: Erin

Cost: $1.60

Ingredients

For the Bread Dough

3 ¼ cups all-purpose or bread flour
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 ¾ tablespoon instant yeast
½ cup milk or buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon plus more for the swirl
2 ounces cream cheese cut into pieces

For the Bread Swirl

½ cup brown sugar packed
1 tablespoon cinnamon

For the French Toast Batter

8 eggs large
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions

In a stand mixer combine flour, eggs, sugar, salt, instant yeast, milk/buttermilk, vanilla, and cinnamon for the bread dough, adding pieces of cream cheese one at a time until dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough seems too dry add one tablespoon more water, if it's too wet add add a bit more flour, one tablespoon at a time.
Grease a large bowl with butter or oil and place dough in it, turning it over a couple of times to coat the surface with oil. Cover, and let rise in a warm, non-drafty place for 60-90 minutes until doubled in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size, turn dough out onto a floured surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into about a 15x18 inch sheet. It doesn't need to be exact.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To create the swirl, sprinkle rolled out dough evenly with brown sugar, then cinnamon, roll it up, and place it seam side down on a baking sheet. If necessary, cut it in half to make two shorter loaves.
Let the uncooked loaves go through a second rise, for about one hour (can take anywhere from 30-90 minutes) lightly covered with plastic wrap.
Bake for 20-24 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let cool enough to handle.
Slice evenly into about 1-inch thick slices.
Preheat griddle to 375 degrees. Whisk the 8 eggs, vanilla and cinnamon until combined.
Begin to dip each piece of swirl bread into the egg mixture and transfer straight to the griddle. Grill on one side until it is completely golden brown (about 4 minutes) before flipping over to repeat on the other side.
Working in batches, repeat until all of the pieces of French toast are grilled. Serve with butter, syrup, or toppings of choice. Leftovers freeze well for easy reheat.

Notes

Soften cream cheese prior to using in the recipe, and cut into pieces.
If desired, allow dough to rise overnight in the fridge (covered).
It's better to over bake the bread, rather than under bake it because it dries out the bread and dryer bread is better for French toast.
Don't allow the slices of bread to soak in the egg batter, it will lead to soggy French toast.
Finished cinnamon French toast can be stored in freezer zip lock bags and frozen for up to two months.

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