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Captain Crunch French Toast is sweet, crunchy and absolutely decadent for breakfast or brunch. Crispy bacon is the perfect accompaniment; add some fresh fruit on the side, and you can boast that your French Toast is “part of a balanced breakfast.” 

I’ve always loved Cap’n Crunch cereal. As a child raised in Boulder, Colorado by a mom who embraced organic and whole foods long before they were hip, it was a rare, rare occurrence to have something as sugary and processed as sweetened breakfast cereal.

Naturally, I developed an obsession with Cap’n Crunch. Those sweet little pillows of crunch! The way they melt around the edges when you top them with milk! The sugar buzz!

This recipe for Cap’n Crunch French Toast is sweet, crunchy and absolutely decadent for breakfast or brunch.

Crispy bacon is the perfect accompaniment. To learn how to make that beautiful wavy bacon, visit my other website BENSA Bacon Lovers Society!

Add some fresh fruit on the side, and you can boast that your French Toast is “part of a balanced breakfast.” 

Are you ready to add some CRUNCH to your morning?

Recipe Inspiration

A rerun of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network featured Cap’n Crunch French Toast from the Blue Moon Cafe in Baltimore. The moment I heard the idea, I began obsessing about it. Since I couldn’t hop a plane to Baltimore this month to meet Blue Moon’s amazing owner Sarah Simington, I decided to try making a batch at home.  

Important French Toast Research

I found some copycat recipes online, but they called for cooking the cereal-coated French toast in a skillet. Many commenters reported that the crumbs fell off the toast while frying. This goes against two things I try to avoid when cooking: 

1. Complicated preparations
2. Screaming

I wondered if baking the French Toast might help the sweet crumbs adhere… and thus began my crunchy culinary experiment.

For this preparation, instead of using thick, soft bread I thought a thinner slice might work better with the substantial layer of Cap’n Crunch I envisioned on both sides. For maximum crunch, I wanted just enough of the custardy dip to soften the bread without making it soggy. 

After experimenting with quantities, I baked a batch of French Toast that came out of the oven exactly as I’d hoped — sweet, crunchy, crispy, and chock full of forbidden Cap’n Crunch.

Best of all, the recipe was super easy — and I didn’t scream once!

Let’s get cooking! 

Ingredients You’ll Need

To prepare this french toast recipe, gather these ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 slices bread
• 2 1/3 cups Cap’n Crunch cereal
• powdered sugar for sprinkling
• maple syrup for drizzling

Equipment

You don’t need any fancy cooking equipment to make this recipe:

• Whisk
• Bowl
• Gallon size zip-lock bag
• Rolling pin
• Parchment paper
• Baking pan
• Cooling rack
• Spatula

Step by Step Directions and Photos

You can use any kind of bread you like – even groats ‘n oats bread if that’s what’s in your breadbox (Love you, Mom!). I had the bakery slice a fresh loaf of white bread on the thin side. 

Next, whisk together 3 eggs, 2/3 cup milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a shallow bowl. 

Now comes the fun part, because you get to smash stuff. Pour about 2 1/3 cups of Cap’n Crunch cereal in zip-lock bag and smash it with a rolling pin, a bottle, a ball peen hammer or your favorite smashing implement.

I wanted some small pieces and some large pieces, but you can make the crumbs as big, small, irregular or uniform as you like. 

Pour the crumbs in a shallow dish, and get ready to DIP! 

Dip six bread slices in the egg mixture and cover generously with the crumbs. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once you’re done you may have some sticky crumbs left in the bowl. Gently press those to the bread for maximum adhesion. 

Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 9 to 10 minutes, or until the French toast is lightly browned and heated through. Watch carefully during the last couple minutes of cooking so that it doesn’t over-brown. 

Just before serving, sprinkle with a little powdered sugar and serve with real maple syrup.

Tomorrow we can return to eating healthy groats granola, but today? YOLO! 

Here’s the full recipe: 

If you enjoy this Captain Crunch French Toast, I’d be thrilled if you gave it a 5-star rating. Are you on Pinterest? You can save or share the recipe with this pin: 

I love seeing and sharing your culinary creations. If you prepare this recipe and post a photo, tag me on Instagram at @elizacross or #elizacross.

If you serve Cap’n Crunch French Toast, I’d love to hear what you think. Drop a rating and leave a comment!

P.S. From BENSA Bacon Lovers Society, here’s how to cook wavy bacon in the oven!