A French toast recipe using nutmeg and cinnamon for a unique flavor and flour for a crispier texture to the outside of sweet brioche, plus scrumptious hazelnut buttermilk syrup, cream cheese filling and strawberry butter. Add some fresh fruit and this breakfast is a feast for kings!
French Toast and Hazelnut Buttermilk Syrup
One of the best wedding presents we received was the red Betty Crocker’s Cookbook. It was my life-saver! I could bake all kinds of things, but cooking wasn’t something I could do. My husband teases me that I couldn’t even cook hotdogs back then! Let’s just say… Betty Crocker really upped my game.
A favorite and well-used recipe from Betty Crocker’s cookbook was the French toast recipe. It was so loved that the book automatically turned there because it was splashed with milk and egg, and was quite crinkled. My husband, the best breakfast chef, used it the most and in a pinch, I knew where to find that recipe! During our downsizing for a move to Europe, a majority of the recipe books met the garage sale fate. HOWEVER, I scanned or took photos of all the favorite recipes before making the decision. It was a brilliant idea and allowed us to downsize our household items by 60-70%. But when I began to organize all the photos and scans of recipes, I found some holes. Somehow, many of the recipes had disappeared in the shuffle. Our favorite French toast recipe was among the missing…
Over the past two-and-a-half years, my husband and I have scoured many recipes trying to find our favorite French toast recipe and really haven’t found one to measure up. So, we took to the kitchen on a recent Saturday morning to recreate this French Toast Recipe. I think it’s even better than the original!
Ingredients for French Toast and Hazelnut Syrup:
French Toast:
- Eggs: Just use the eggs you love and have in your refrigerator
- Cinnamon and Nutmeg: A hint of amazing flavor.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar is what I used.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is what we have always used. I think flour substitutes would work equally well for this recipe.
- Salt: An ingredient that makes everything taste just a little better!
- Milk: Use any type of milk you typically have in your refrigerator. Milk substitute would definitely work for this recipe.
- Vanilla: Adds to the overall flavor combination.
- Brioche: My favorite for French toast. But challah, Texas toast, or French bread would work equally well. I enjoy having a thicker slice of bread. For our test recipe and the photos you see, we used Cinnamon Swirled Brioche we sliced ourselves. Amazing!
Hazelnut Buttermilk Syrup:
- Unsalted Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- A pinch of Salt
- Buttermilk: or a perfect substitute for this recipe—The SACO Pantry Cultured Buttermilk Blend Powder. Use 4 Tablespoons of the Buttermilk blend, plus 1 cup of water.
- Hazelnut Emulsion: The star of this recipe. And I cannot express well enough how DELICIOUS this syrup is when you use Hazelnut Emulsion. Emulsions are like extracts, but suspended in water instead of alcohol. Definitely my choice of flavoring.
- Sweetened condensed milk: Since I was going to be using this ingredient for the cream cheese filling, I used it in the buttermilk syrup as well. You could substitute and use corn syrup instead.
- Baking soda: A must have ingredient for buttermilk syrup.
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Cream Cheese Filling:
- Cream cheese
- Sweetened condensed milk: Don’t mistake this for evaporated milk. It’s not the same thing!
Strawberry Butter:
- Unsalted butter: A room temperature ingredient.
- Pinch of salt: I like control of my salt. So, I use unsalted butter and add amount of salt I want while making the recipe.
- Sweetened condensed milk: Since the can is opened and not completely finished, I used this ingredient in all three recipes.
- Freeze-dried strawberry powder: This ingredient makes the butter taste amazing! I think these freeze-dried powders are game changers. The flavors that can be produced surpasses what we could do previously.
Fresh Fruit:
Of course, French toast needs a splash of fresh berries: blueberries, strawberries.
How to Make French Toast and Hazelnut Syrup:
- Start by whisking the eggs. Then add the dry ingredients: nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar and flour. It’s important to add these dried ingredients at this point because the cinnamon and the flour have a hard time mixing into the milk. By add them with just the eggs first, the fat from the yolks adheres to both the cinnamon and the flour—helping them disperse throughout the French toast mixture.
- Whisk these ingredients until the mixture is smooth. Then add the milk and the vanilla. Whisk again until everything is incorporated.
- Heat the griddle to 350° F. Spread a thin layer of butter on top.
- Dip brioche slices in French toast mixture and place on hot griddle. Cook about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
- To keep French toast warm in 200° F oven, place in baking sheet covered with aluminum foil.
Hazelnut Buttermilk Syrup:
- You want to use a large pot, even though the ingredients look so small in it.
- Add all ingredients but baking soda. Cook over medium-high heat, occasionally stirring, until it comes to a full boil.
- Remove from heat. Add soda. (Warning: it grows a lot!!) I suggest you add the soda and move to your sink to stir vigorously. The faster you stir, the faster the bubbles shrink. And if it happens to overflow, you have a sticky mess in your sink—instead of on your stove.
- Leftover syrup can be refrigerated.
Cream Cheese Filling:
Blend ingredients until smooth. Chill until ready to serve.
Strawberry Butter:
Blend ingredients with hand mixer until smooth. Leave at room temperature for serving.
The flavor combinations for this French toast recipe creates an amazing breakfast! The hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, with the crispy texture of the golden brown French toast. A little strawberry butter melted on top, with a scoop of cream cheese. Then drizzle Hazelnut Buttermilk Syrup over the entire thing. Sprinkle blueberries and sliced strawberries and you just can’t get enough of it!! Enjoy!
–Kim
French Toast and Hazelnut Buttermilk Syrup
Equipment
- 1 Griddle optional
Ingredients
French Toast
- 4 eggs
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 loaf brioche (challah, Texas toast, or French bread)
- 2 Tablespoons butter for cooking
Hazelnut Buttermilk Syrup:
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup buttermilk or substitute
- 2 teaspoons Hazelnut emulsion
- 1 Tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
- ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
Strawberry Butter:
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 teaspoons sweetened condensed milk
- 3 Tablespoons freeze-dried strawberry powder
Fresh Fruit:
- blueberries, strawberries
Instructions
French Toast:
- Whisk eggs.
- Add nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, and flour. Whisk until completely combined.
- Add milk, vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
- Heat griddle to 350° F. Cover griddle or skillet with a thin layer of butter.
- Dip slices of brioche in French toast mixture. Whisk French toast mixture before each dip to keep spices suspended well.
- Place dipped brioche on griddle to cook, about 2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.
- To keep French toast warm in 200° F oven, place in baking sheet covered with aluminum foil.
Hazelnut Buttermilk Syrup:
- In a large pot, add all ingredients but baking soda.
- Cook over medium-high heat, occasionally stirring, until comes to a full boil.
- Remove from heat. Add soda. (Warning: it grows!)
- Stir vigorously to bring bubbles down—about 30 seconds.
- Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers.
Cream Cheese Filling:
- Blend ingredients until smooth. Chill until ready to serve.
Strawberry Butter:
- Blend ingredients with hand mixer until smooth. Leave at room temperature for serving.
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