How to Use Cinnamon Chips with Selected Recipes

Lou Ann’s Super Luscious Cinnamon Chip French Toast

This stuff is incredible. It's not like ordinary French toast, not even like other stuffed French toast. Stuffed French toast way better than ordinary French toast.and this is way better that other stuffed French toast. It's the best French toast ever.

I shared Lou Ann’s recipe with Sharyn, my good friend in the neighborhood. She made it for her family. They gobbled it up—mostly before she got her share. Now she’s making more.

Usually when we think of cinnamon chips, we think of banana bread, zucchini bread or cookies. But French toast? But this French toast is fried in a skillet with enough butter that it turns crispy like French fries. And it’s got a filling of whipped cream cheese and cinnamon chips that melt in the cooking for a burst of sweet cinnamon in every bite.

The batter for dipping is more like tempura instead of just an egg wash. It's luscious! And it’s easy to make. 

Sharyn dusted hers with a little powdered sugar.

If you can make a grilled cheese sandwich, you can make this.It's just better than a grilled cheese sandwich.

This is a breakfast masterpiece you really ought to make for your family. Your breakfast will be legendary. Your family will gobble this up too.

We recommend caramelly Buttermilk Syrup for this. Buttermilk syrup is caramelly with notes of butterscotch. It makes everything better. 

Consider Italian Country Bread for this French toast.  It's a rustic artesian loaf with just a touch of sour.

 For a similar experience, check out Crème Brûlée French Toast.

About the Creator

Lou Ann is a master in the kitchen. She is the only person we’ve ever known that would purchase a cookbook, start with the first recipe, and then bake her way through the book. Her husband told me that if he could find a way to put her bed in the kitchen, she would be forever happy.

But she was more than a cook or a baker. She was an experimenter. We would give her a recipe to try and she would immediately try to improve it. Often her creations were amazing.

We cherish her recipes.

The Recipe

This stuffed French toast is lightly battered and fried in butter. The outside is light and crispy. It’s made with whipped cream cheese with cinnamon chips.

Choose your bread here.

Ingredients

• 6 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup cinnamon chips
• 10 slices good-quality bread
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup cold milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• butter for frying

Directions

1. Whip the cream cheese with the sugar until it is soft and fluffy. Fold in the cinnamon chips.
2. Spread the cream cheese mixture on half the slices of bread and top with the other half to form sandwiches.
3. Whisk the egg, milk, and vanilla together. Gradually stir in the flour until you have a smooth thin batter, like gravy.
4. Heat a skillet with a couple tablespoons of butter in it. When the skillet is hot, dip the sandwiches in the egg mixture, turning to cover both sides, and then place them in the hot skillet.
5. Cook one side of the sandwiches and then the other until the French toast is lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Cinnamon Chip Zucchini Bread Recipe

We got this cinnamon chip recipe from a customer, maybe 15 years ago. We've been using and sharing it since then. It's fabulous. And it's famous in our little community.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups grated zucchini squash
• 1 1/2 cups cinnamon chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
2. Stir the flour to break up any clumps, making it light and fluffy. Spoon the lightened flour into a measuring cup to get 3 cups. (Scooping the flour out of the bag or bin compresses the four making it denser and heavier.)
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together. Set aside.
4. In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together. Fold in the sour cream, oil, and zucchini.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the cinnamon chips. Do not continue stirring.
6. Pour the batter into two well-greased 8 1/2 x 4 ½-inch loaf pans. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until they test done when stick a toothpick or skewer into the center of the loaves. Cool for ten minutes on a rack before removing the loaves from the pans.

Banana Cinnamon Chip Muffin Recipe

This is another old-time cinnamon chip recipe from the annals of The Prepared Pantry. Back in those days, we were kind of obsessed with tall domes on our muffins, trying to push the last quarter inch out of them.

A hot oven makes a taller muffin as water in the batter turns to steam and lifts the muffin higher. So, we would set the oven temperature to 400 or even 425 degrees, let it heat and then put the pan in the oven.  After eight minutes or so, we would turn the heat down to 350 degrees to finish baking.

We don't do that anymore. It's too much trouble for too little reward. If you want high domes, use a stiff batter and overfill the muffin cavities.

You should be able to get high domes with this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cups ripe mashed banana
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream (not low fat)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon banana flavor
• 1 cup pecan or walnut pieces
• 3/4 cup cinnamon chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix the mashed banana, sugar, sour cream, vegetable oil, egg yolks, and vanilla together.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until the ingredients are mixed well. Fold in the nuts and cinnamon chips.
4. Fill the well-greased tins nearly full. Use all the batter for twelve standard muffins.
5. Bake for 8 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes or until done. Let sit for five minutes and remove the muffins from the pan to a rack to cool.

Streusel Topping (Optional)

• 1/3 cup pecan or walnut pieces
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

To make the streusel topping, combine all the ingredients and stir until well combined and crumbly. Sprinkle over the muffins before baking.

Here are ten more ways to use cinnamon chips you may not have thought of.