Cinnamon French Toast Bites Recipe

These adorable cinnamon French toast bites may be tiny, but when it comes to taste, there's nothing small about them. There's no doubt about it: This recipe, brought to you by recipe developer Jennine Bryant of The Marshside Pantry, will be your newest breakfast obsession. "The only real difference here [compared to standard French toast] is the shape of the bread," Bryant says. "Instead of a slice of bread to make French toast, you use cubes of bread, which allows for a greater surface area of delicious fried goodness! A quick toss in some cinnamon and sugar, and they're definitely a win in my book."

They're also a great-tasting and great-looking crowd-pleaser that are deceptively easy to make. "These aren't too difficult to make at all," Bryant confirms. Just keep in mind that you really can't make them all that much ahead of time. "It's best to eat the French toast bites fresh. They lose that initial texture when left to go cold, so gobble them all up as soon as they come out of the pan. My personal thoughts are that you need to make more than you think you will eat, because they are super delicious and you'll be left wanting more," Bryant advises, based on her experience making and enjoying these sweet delights.

Despite how charmingly delicious and rather fancy-looking these easy cinnamon French toast bites turn out, the ingredients involved are really nothing out of the ordinary. You'll need enough slices of white bread to be chopped into about 4 cups of 1-inch bread squares, full-fat milk, large eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, granulated sugar, and butter for frying.

"When it comes to serving the French toast bites, I recommend keeping it simple," Bryant says. "Some maple syrup or honey for a little more sweetness, and either some chopped banana or some fresh berries to cut through the sweetness." And that's it!

Once you get to the active cooking phase with this recipe, it's a pretty hands-on experience, so take the time to prepare yourself properly during this part of the process.

First, cut slices of bread into roughly 1-inch squares, creating about 4 cups of chopped bread, and then put it to the side. Next, mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, and move that to the side.

Then, in a large bowl, whisk the three eggs together, and then add the milk. Mix these ingredients thoroughly, then add the vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg before mixing again to combine everything well.

Put a pan on stove, and set the burner to a medium-high temperature. Then, add half of the butter to the pan, and wait for it to melt. Move the pan about so the butter coats it evenly.

Next, dip half the cubed bread into the eggy spiced mixture. Then, using a slotted spoon (or your fingers if need be, just be ready to wash them), transfer the coated bread from the bowl straight into the hot pan.

Note that Bryant says, "You want to make sure the bread is well coated in the [egg] mixture, but don't leave it in there too long, as it will get soggy and fall apart."

Allow the coated bread to fry for a minute or two without touching it, and then gently turn the pieces in the pan using a spatula or wooden spoon. Keep periodically turning the bread until it's nicely browned on all sides.

Next, transfer the hot French toast bites into the bowl with the delicious sugar and cinnamon mixture, and toss them around to make sure they are nicely coated with the sweet mix before putting them into a serving bowl.

Repeat the whole process with the second batch of bread cubes, then mix the two batches together. Now, serve your breakfast (or brunch) treats with maple syrup and berries.