Cinnamon Stacked French Toast (kinda like IHOP)

When we were in New York a few weeks back, we went to the International House of Pancakes  (or IHOP as it’s commonly known) for breakfast on our first morning. We were both intrigued by their Cinn-A-Stack pancakes and French toast. So Disneyboi plumped for the pancakes and I had the French toast (see below).

This was basically three slabs of French toast (or pancakes), spread with a delicious cinnamon butter concoction, layered on top of each other. Then a drizzle of cream cheese frosting and a swirl of whipped cream to finish things off. A very decadent breakfast I know, but it was our holibobs! The picture I took really didn’t do it justice.

And I knew I wanted to try and recreate this when I got back home. So I looked online for ideas, tweaked some recipes I found, and tried to make the dish a little healthier! First thing I did was do away with the cream – that was really too much at brekkie. I substituted the real butter for butter like spread – you know, the one no one can’t believe it’s not. I used granulated sweetener in place of some of the sugar. And as we don’t get half and half in this country, I went for good old semi skimmed.
Plus cinnamon has many great health benefits on it's own. Here’s how I made it.

Yield: 2 servings

French Toast Ingredients:

2 eggs

125ml milk

2 tablespoons of granulated sweetener

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp vanilla

6 1” slices of white bread

1 tbsp butter or marg

Adapted from Good Food Channel

Cinnamon Spread Ingredients:

60 grams butter-like spread

150 grams brown sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon cinnamon

¼  teaspoon salt

 Pinch of ground cloves

1 tablespoon flour

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

60 grams light cream cheese

1 tablespoon granulated sweetener

Couple of teaspoons of milk

Dash of vanilla extract

Both adapted from IHOP at Home

Method:

The night before, slice your white bread and leave out to stale up a bit. I used a white bloomer. Brioche would be nice here too. Prep the cinnamon butter too. In a bowl add all the ingredients and mix to a smooth consistency. Cover with plastic wrap and pop in the fridge to firm up a bit. 

Make the cream cheese frosting by mixing the cream cheese, sweetener and vanilla. Add enough milk until you get a dribbling consistency. I put mines in a squeezy bottle to make it easier to pour.

The next morning, In a large glass dish, mix the eggs, milk, sweetener, cinnamon and vanilla. Place the bread in the custard mix, turning over after 5 minutes, until it has all been absorbed. Now you’re ready to get cooking, so place a large frying pan on medium heat and melt the tbsp of butter or marge. Fry the bread until golden brown on both sides, making sure not to burn it too much.

Spread each slice of the French toast with a generous amount of the cinnamon butter mix and layer three slices of the bread on top of one another. Lastly drizzle as much cream cheese frosting over the top as you like. We added more as we worked our way down the slices!

Disneyboi actually said this was better than his pancakes, so that was praise indeed. If you give them a try – enjoy!