It’s hard to beat the creamy, eggy, cinnamony deliciousness of French toast, and, by all rights, such a decadent breakfast food certainly belongs on your shower brunch menu. But really, unless you’re hosting a more formal sit-down gathering, French toast, and all of it’s goo-ey, syrupy goodness, is pretty tough to serve to a crowd.

Until now, that is. I give you … the French Toast Muffin!

Yes. French toast you can hold in your hand – without the syrupy mess. And if you wrap these beauties up in cupcake wrappers from Big Dot, I dare say your table will be nearing perfection. Oh my, but your guests are going to love you.

French Toast Muffins

These muffins are fantastic as printed below, but for an extra special treat, you could mix some peeled, chopped apple and/or a handful of raisins into the batter. And if you’re feeling extra fancy-schmancy, dust them with a bit of powdered sugar once they’ve cooled a bit. Yum.

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (or milk, if you prefer)

¾ cup packed brown sugar

3 Tbsp your favorite oil (or applesauce)

1 teaspoon vanilla

For topping:

2-3 pieces bread, crumbled or cubed

1 egg

¼ cup maple syrup

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 400º, and then grease a muffin tin and set it aside. In a small bowl, scramble the egg for the topping, then mix in the syrup, milk and cinnamon until they’re well-combined. Add the bread to your topping bowl, and stir until all the bread is coated, adding a bit more bread if it seems extra runny; set aside to soak while you prepare the muffin batter.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, then stir in the yogurt, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla; set aside. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, and fold the batter together gently until everything is just combined. Fill each cup of your prepared pan about ¾ full of batter, dividing any leftover batter evenly among the cups. Spread the egg/bread topping evenly over each batter-filled cup, and sprinkle with a bit of granulated sugar if you’d like. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until the tops have crisped a bit and the muffins pass the toothpick test. Remove the pan from the oven, let the muffins sit for 2 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan to a rack.

Enjoy!

Posted by Shannon, a Dot-arilla blogger