These Cinnamon Sugar French Toast Waffles are the perfect easy recipe for a special breakfast: Slices of bread are dipped into an egg custard, then cooked in your waffle iron. Dip them in cinnamon sugar while they’re hot for the ultimate treat!
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A Note from Nora
I love french toast, and I love waffles. As evidenced by the large collection of both French Toast recipes and Waffle recipes on this blog!
These French Toast Waffles are a combination of those two loves: French toast that’s cooked in a waffle iron – so easy, so quick, and absolutely delicious. For an extra-special brunch, I dip them into cinnamon sugar right as they come out of the waffle iron – absolute bliss!
How to Make French Toast Waffles:
Read on for the detailed step-by-step ingredients and instructions, or scroll down for tips and the printable recipe card.
Ingredients for French Toast Waffles:
You only need a few staple ingredients to make one of the best weekend or holiday breakfast recipes, ever.
For the cinnamon sugar, you need:
- sugar
- cinnamon
(duh)
For the french toast waffles, you need:
- bread
- eggs
- milk
- breadcrumbs
- oil
For the maple frosting dip, you need:
- cream cheese OR greek yogurt
- maple syrup
Feel free to use a soft whole wheat bread for this recipe if you prefer.
As with all french toast recipes, stale bread works best here. If you don’t have any day-old bread, you can bake the slices at 300°F for 10 minutes, then cool them before making the french toast. It’s not necessary to bother with this though, fresh bread is just a little more delicate to handle.
Allergy-friendly: It’s fine to use your favorite plant-based beverage to make these dairy-free, I cannot recommend any substitutes for the eggs though. They work fine with gluten free bread and breadcrumbs. Make sure to check all your ingredients if allergies are present.
The dip is entirely optional. But it’s also not, because it’s absolutely delicious. It’s also fine to skip the cinnamon sugar coating to make these more weekday friendly.
The Key Steps to French Toast Waffles:
The perfect french toast waffles are easy to make, but they require a few steps and a few different shallow dishes:
- one dish for the egg custard
- one dish for the breadcrumbs
- and one dish for the cinnamon sugar
The rest is an absolute breeze!
1 Soaking the bread:
Once you have combined all ingredients for the egg custard, you’ll want to soak your bread in it. I recommend cutting your bread into roughly 1 – 1.5 inches wide pieces for easier handling before starting.
Make sure to leave each slice in the custard for a minute (thick, stale bread closer to 2 minutes; thinner fresh bread closer to 30 seconds) – don’t just quickly dip them.
Soaking the bread for a little while will give you the fluffiest french toast waffles.
2 Coating with breadcrumbs:
Before you cook the French toast in your waffle maker, you’ll dip them in bread crumbs.
This may seem unnecessary and excessive, but trust me when I say it’s good to be a maximalist sometimes.
Coating the bread pieces in breadcrumbs does three things:
- Adds crispiness: The breadcrumbs add an amazing crispiness, much like when I make my Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast.
- Creates a golden color: The breadcrumbs make the outside of the French toast beautifully golden for a perfectly appealing look.
- Makes the French toast waffles a little sturdier: The added sturdiness helps so the waffles don’t fall apart, don’t stick to the waffle iron – and to make them perfectly suited to use as finger food, to be dipped into frosting.
3 Cooking the waffles:
Once you’re ready to waffle, make sure to grease your waffle iron well.
French toast waffles can be a little harder to gauge when they’re done. But as a general rule of thumb, wait until there’s no more crazy steam escaping from the waffle iron before opening to check – that way you can avoid ripping the french toast waffles apart when they’re not done yet.
The waffles should be crispy and golden in color when they’re done.
4 Dipping in cinnamon sugar:
Once the waffled french toast is done, dip it into the cinnamon sugar straight away. The sugar sticks best when the waffles are hot!
These definitely taste best eaten straight away. But if you need to store them for a few minutes until you’re done making a few batches, place them on a wire rack so they don’t get soggy.
And in case you need to clean your waffle iron now… Read this: How to Clean a Waffle Iron.
What to serve with French Toast Waffles:
These are a treat for breakfast all by themselves! I like serving them with fresh berries (and that delicious maple frosting dip).
But if you’re looking for a more filling side, try one of these recipes:
Print the French Toast Waffle recipe here:
Printable recipe
Cinnamon Sugar French Toast Waffles
Recipe details
Equipment
- 3 Shallow Dishes
- waffle iron
Ingredients
For the cinnamon sugar:
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
For the French toast:
- ½ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup breadcrumbs
- 8 thick slices bread day-old preferred
- Oil for the waffle iron
For the dip:
- ½ cup Greek Yogurt OR Cream Cheese
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat your waffle iron on a medium-high setting. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in the first shallow dish. In a second shallow dish, whisk together the eggs and milk. To a third shallow dish, add the breadcrumbs.
- Assemble French Toast: Cut the bread into even sticks (this makes waffling easier), about 1 – 1.5 inches wide. Soak two bread pieces (or as many as will fit into your waffle maker at once) in the egg mixture, then coat in breadcrumbs. Grease both sides of the hot waffle iron and add the French toast pieces, careful to avoid them touching each other. Cook until browned and crispy but not dried out, approximately 3-4 minutes.
- Finish: When the pieces are done, immediately dredge them through the cinnamon and sugar mixture and sprinkle it all over the waffle indents as well. Proceed with the remaining bread pieces the same way. Serve immediately or set aside on a cooling rack for a few minutes.
- To make the dip: Mix the yogurt or cream cheese with the maple syrup. Add a little milk if needed to give it a creamy but not liquid consistency. Serve with the French Toast Waffles.
Julie shapero says
what kind of bread crumbs should I ise
Nora says
Just regular old breadcrumbs are fine, Julie! Some readers use panko for more crunch.
Sue C. says
This was nice. I made some changes:
I added an extra egg, pumpkins spice and vanilla extract to the egg mixture. Instead of bread crumbs, I ground up Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Kids ate it all.
Dee says
O-M-G!!!! Yum!!!!! I need to make these now!!!
Nora says
YES you do 😉 Thanks Dee!
Stacey @ Stacey Homemaker says
OH em geeeee. I’m literally drooling right now. These look so delicious! I’m going to make them for brunch this weekend! I can’t wait for sunday!!.
Nora says
Yay, awesome Stacey, hope you’ll like them! Thanks for stopping by!
Mariah @ Mariah's Pleasing Plates says
You totally took waffles to the next level Nora! I love these! Cinnamon sugar is my favorite!
Pinned!
Nora says
Thanks so much Mariah, and thanks for pinning <3
Amy @ A Healthy Life For Me says
Lordy girl, those look freaking amazing! Beautiful photos too!
Nora says
Aww thanks so, so much Amy!
Krista @ Joyful Healthy Eats says
Holy Hannah this looks incredible! LOVE churros, can’t wait to try these!
Nora says
Yay, a fellow churro lover! Thanks Krista!
Nicole @ Or Whatever You Do says
I am so on board with this!!!
Nora says
Thumbs up, Nicole!!
heather | girlichef says
These are brilliant! They look absolutely delicious…and I’m pretty sure I want a big batch asap.
Nora says
Wish I could send you some 🙂 ! Thanks Heather!
Nutmeg Nanny says
Oh my! These little french toast strips are amazing looking! Love that sugary coating…yum!
Nora says
Thanks so much 🙂
Tammi @ Tea For Tammi says
WOW. This is delicious recipe and life hack rolled into one. *mind blown*
Nora says
Haha, you’re too sweet!
Dannielle @ Zamamabakes says
Nora these waffle sticks look and sound amazing! And that dip, yippy yummo!
Thanks for linking up with Fabulous Foodie Fridays.
Wishing you a beautiful weekend and gorgeous Mother’s Day 🙂
Nora says
Thanks for making the link up happen, Dannielle! Hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day 🙂
Lauren @ Create Bake Make says
Do you think if I leave my computer open on this page my husband will get the hint that I want these for breakfast on Sunday morning?? I’ve already got a waffle grill on my birthday wish list and after seeing this recipe it’s now on top of the list!
Nora says
Haha, I hope he did get the message 😉
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
Whoaaaaa, how did I miss this?! These look incredible!!
Nora says
Haha, thanks so much Katrina!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
Don’t get me started on Grey’s!!! OMG. And these sticks are the BEST!
Nora says
Aaaaah I know!! Let’s just not mention it ever again and instead eat all the french toast sticks we can!! Thanks Dorothy!
Melanie @ Carmel Moments says
These look phenomenal! Pinning.
Have a great weekend!
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
NORA! This is amazing! I. Can’t. Even.
Nora says
<3
Denise | Sweet Peas & Saffron says
Nora, these look to die for! Gimme!
Nora says
Haha, thanks Denise! I’ll send some over 🙂
Liz says
Nora, anytime you bring waffles into the equation, I’m in. Pumpkin waffles. Waffle sticks. You had me at waffle.
Amazing.
Nora says
Aww Liz, you’re the sweetest! I’m so happy to hear this!
marcie says
I’m not a big churro fan because I’m not into fried foods too much, but this is a churro treat I can totally get behind! I love this waffle twist, and this would be so fun to serve my kids!
Nora says
Yes, no frying here 🙂 Oh it’s so great for kids – Baby Savory looked seriously sad she wasn’t allowed any 🙁 Thanks Marcie 🙂
Stacey @ Bake.Eat.Repeat. says
That looks like the best breakfast/brunch! Love the churro effect, that is such a great idea. Plus, combining french toast and waffles?! Genius.
Nora says
Aww thanks Stacey!