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Copycat Kneaders French Toast Recipe

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Hey Kneaders fans, check out my copy cat recipe for their chunky French toast with caramel syrup! With a homemade loaf of cinnamon swirl bread and my DIY caramel syrup you'll be able to enjoy your favorite recipe at a fraction of the cost!

Stack of hot cinnamon swirl french toast with caramel syrup.
Stack of copycat kneaders' french toast with caramel syrup garnished with fresh strawberries!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe

  • Caramel Syrup recipe included for this chunky french toast!!!
  • No need to head to kneaders bakery for a loaf kneaders chunky cinnamon bread! I'll show you how to make your own!
  • Amazing french toast for breakfast Christmas morning!

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

  • Evaporated Milk - you can substitute light cream if you wish.
  • Yeast - you can use either instant or active dry.
  • Flour - this recipe uses all purpose flour, not bread flour.
  • Butter - I used salted butter but you can use unsalted butter as well.
Ingredients to make both the bread and the syrup.
Ingredients to make both the bread and the syrup.

Step by Step Instructions

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, (you can do this without a mixer as well) dissolve the yeast and ¼ cup sugar in the warm water.
  • Let stand 5 minutes to get foamy.
Activate the yeast with sugar and warm water.
Activate the yeast with sugar and warm water.
  • Mix in the 6 Tbs. butter, salt, and 5 cups of the flour with a dough hook.
  • Once well combined, add the last cup of flour ¼ cup at a time until the dough forms a ball, pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch. YOU MAY NOT NEED THE ENTIRE LAST CUP OF FLOUR.
  • Knead for 3 minutes at medium speed.
  • Cover the bowl with a dish cloth and allow dough to rise until doubled. This will take up to 45 minutes.
Add butter, salt and flour. Knead and let rise.
Add remaining ingredients. Knead and let rise.
  • Whisk 1 cup of sugar and 1 Tbs of ground cinnamon together. Set aside.
  • Dump the dough out on a lightly floured surface and divide in half.
  • Roll out the first half into a long narrow rectangle.  Mine was about 4 inches wide and the dough was roughly ½ inch thick. 
  • Spread with 2 Tbs. of room temperature butter and sprinkle with ½ cup of cinnamon sugar. 
  • Roll up into a tight, fat log.  Rolling tightly will eliminate large air bubble gaps that can cause the swirls to separate.
  • Pinch the seam shut well.
  • The dough roll/log shouldn't be much longer than your loaf pan.   
  • Tuck and pinch the ends shut making the loaf fit nicely inside the loaf pan.
  • Place the cinnamon loaf in a regular bread loaf pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. 
  • Cover with a dish towel, set aside and repeat the process on the other half of the dough. 
  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  I lower one rack in my oven so the bread will cook right in the center of the oven. 
  • Once the loaves have doubled, bake them in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.  You will need to tent the breads with foil after about the first 20 minutes to keep it from over browning.
  • Once the bread comes out of the oven immediately run a stick of butter over the tops and leave them to cool in the bread pans for at least a half hour. 
Roll out risen dough into a rectangle. Spread with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll up.
Roll out risen dough into a rectangle. Spread with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll up and place in a bread pan.
  • I like to put glaze on my cinnamon swirl loaves.  However, it does make my griddle a little messy because some of the glaze will heat up and drip onto the hot griddle.  If you don't want to deal with that then you don't have to glaze your loaves.  Totally up to you.   
  • Once the bread has cooled for at least a half hour, take them out of the pans and place them on a wire rack with wax paper underneath to cool completely. 
  • Whisk powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk together in a small mixing bowl to make a smooth icing glaze.
  • Drizzle half the glaze over the still warm bread.  Drizzle the other half of the glaze over when the bread is completely cool. 
Whisk icing ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over baked and cooled cinnamon bread.
Whisk icing ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over baked and cooled cinnamon bread.
  • To make the cinnamon swirl french toast slice bread into thick slices. 
  • In a shallow dish (I use a pie plate)  mix eggs, milk and vanilla with a whisk.
  • The rule of thumb is ¼ cup milk to 1 egg which covers roughly 2 slices of bread.
  • Preheat a large griddle to a medium heat.  I heat mine to between 250 and 300 degrees.  Yours may differ though.
  • Quick dip both sides of a piece of cinnamon bread in the egg mixture and cook on the preheated griddle until golden brown on both sides of the bread. 
  • Continue with each slice of bread.
  • Serve this delicious french toast with the caramel syrup (you could use maple syrup as well).
Slice the cinnamon bread into thick slices. Dip in eggy milk and cook on a hot griddle.
Slice the homemade loaf of cinnamon swirl bread into thick slices. Dip in eggy milk and cook on a hot griddle.
  • For the caramel syrup begin melting ¾ cup butter in a saucepan over medium high heat.
  • Add the 1 ½ cups brown sugar, 2 tablespoons water, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Boil for 5 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and whisk in the cup of evaporated milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
  • Serve warm and refrigerate the left overs.
Make this caramel syrup to drizzle over your hot french toast!
Make this caramel syrup to drizzle over your hot French toast! (Trust me, it's better than kneaders famous caramel syrup!)

Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips

Can you freeze this bread?

Yes, just make sure the bread is completely cool before freezing it. I would also not add the icing to top if I planned to freeze it.

How do you keep french toast from getting soggy?

Easy, just don't dip your bread slices in the egg mixture until right before you put them on the griddle.  Also, just dip the bread on one side and immediately flip and dip the other side.  Don't let the bread slice sit and soak up the egg mixture.

How do you keep cinnamon swirl bread from separating?

Adding more butter or cinnamon sugar than called for can cause separations between the swirls. It's also important to roll the dough tightly to eliminate extra air bubbles.

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Copycat Kneaders Cinnamon Swirl French Toast

★★★★★ 5 from 5 reviews
  • Author: Mindee
  • Prep Time: 2 Hours (includes rising time)
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
  • Yield: 2 Loaves & 3 Cups Syrup 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Description

Hey Kneaders fans, check out my copy cat recipe for their chunky French toast with caramel syrup!  With a homemade loaf of cinnamon swirl bread and my DIY caramel syrup  you'll be able to enjoy your favorite recipe at a fraction of the cost!

Ingredients

Units Scale

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

  • 2 ¼ cups Warm Water
  • 1 ½ Tbs. Active Dry Yeast
  • ¼ cup Sugar
  • 6 Tbs. room temp. Butter
  • 2 tsp Salt
  • 5-6 cups Flour
  • 4 Tbs. room temp. Butter
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 1 Tbs. Ground Cinnamon
  • 2 cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 2-3 Tbs. Milk

Caramel Syrup

  • ¾ cup Butter
  • 1 ½ cups Brown Sugar
  • 2 Tbs. Water
  • ¼ tsp Salt
  • 1 cup Evaporated Milk
  • 2 tsp Vanilla
  • Makes about 3 cups of Syrup

For the French Toast

  • Eggs
  • Milk
  • Vanilla
  • Rule of thumb is ¼ cup milk, 1 Egg and just a little vanilla per two slices of bread.

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast and ¼ cup sugar in the warm water.
  2. Let stand 5 minutes to get foamy.
  3. Mix in the 6 Tbs.butter, salt, and 5 cups of the flour with a dough hook.
  4. Once well combined, add the last cup of flour ¼ cup at a time until the dough forms a ball, pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch. YOU MAY NOT NEED THE ENTIRE LAST CUP OF FLOUR.
  5. Knead for 3 minutes at medium speed.
  6. Cover the bowl with a dish cloth and allow dough to rise until doubled. This will take up to 45 minutes.
  7. In a small bowl, whisk the cup of sugar and tablespoon of ground cinnamon together. Set aside.
  8. Dump the dough out on a lightly floured surface and divide in half.
  9. Roll the first half out into a long rectangle about 4 inches wide and ½ inch thick.
  10. Spread 2 Tbs. of butter over the rolled out dough.   Sprinkle with ½ of the cinnamon sugar.
  11. Roll up into a tight, fat log. 
  12. Pinch all the seams and the ends shut well. 
  13. Place seam side down in a loaf pan that has been sprayed lightly with non-stick cooking spray.  Cover with a dish towel, set aside and repeat with the other half of dough.
  14. Allow the loaves to rise until doubled, about another 45 minutes.
  15. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  16. Bake the cinnamon swirl loaves for 45-50 minutes.  After about 20 minutes of baking tent the loaves with tin foil to avoid over browning.
  17. Once the bread is done run a stick of butter over the tops and let cool in the pans for at least a half hour.
  18. Place a wire rack over a sheet of wax paper. Turn the loaves out on the wire racks to finish cooling.
  19. Whisk the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk together until turns to a glaze. 
  20. Drizzle ½ the glaze over the still warm bread loaves. 
  21. Drizzle the other half of the glaze over once the loaves are completely cool.
  22. For the caramel syrup, bring the butter, brown sugar, water and salt to a boil over medium heat.
  23. Boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the evaporated milk and vanilla.   Keep warm or reheat to use for syrup.
  24. For the french toast, preheat your griddle, and slice the cinnamon bread into thick slices.
  25. In a pie plate whisk together roughly 3 eggs, ¾ cup milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Replenish as you go.
  26. Drip both sides of the bread in the egg mixture and cook on the griddle until golden brown on each side.
  27. Serve with warm caramel syrup.

Notes

  • I like to put glaze on my cinnamon swirl loaves.  However, it does make my griddle a little messy because some of the glaze will heat up and drip onto the hot griddle.  If you don't want to deal with that then you don't have to glaze your loaves.  Totally up to you. 
  • You can make and freeze the bread ahead of time, thaw it out over night so it's ready to cook in the morning.

Keywords: kneaders french toast recipe, kneaders chunky cinnamon french toast, cinnamon swirl bread recipe, kneaders copycat recipes

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ANY NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS ON THIS SITE IS BASED ON AN ESTIMATE, CALCULATED BY NURTIFOX PLUGIN (OR OTHER THIRD-PARTY SOURCE) FROM THE INDIVIDUAL INGREDIENTS IN EACH RECIPE. VARIATIONS MAY OCCUR FOR VARIOUS REASONS, INCLUDING PRODUCT AVAILABILITY AND FOOD PREPARATION. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF THE ACCURACY OF THIS INFORMATION.

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