cinnamon baked french toast

I love french toast and when I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen it looked so easy and yummy I couldn't resist. I had all the ingredients, so I put it all together on Sunday morning and these came out delicious. The sweet sugar and cinnamon with the moist toast was exactly what I was looking for.

Cinnamon Toast French Toast adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 8 slices  white sandwich bread
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a small dish. 

Line two large baking sheets with foil. Place the bread slices on the baking sheets in one layer. Spread each slice of bread with 1 teaspoon of butter, then sprinkle each slice with one teaspoon of the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Toast the trays of bread in the oven until the bread is golden for about 7 to10 minutes. 

Generously butter a large baking dish and arrange the cinnamon toast down in the pan.

Whisk the milk, eggs, salt and vanilla.

And pour over the toast. Let sit for 15 minutes for all the pieces to entirely absorb.

Sprinkle any extra cinnamon-sugar over the toast before putting it in the oven.

Next, bake for 30 minutes, until puffed and golden.

The above photo has a little nibble on it, couldn't resist it before I took the photo. I poured agave syrup on them with some more cinnamon and it was delicious.

Next time, I need to add lots of fresh strawberries or blueberries.