Photo: Claire Lower
Cinnamon toast is one of those classics that’s hard to improve upon. It’s got bread, butter, sugar, and cinnamon—what more could you need? Well, according to Jennifer Garner, you need a little heat.
In a very endearing Instagram video hashtag’d “#PretendCookingShow,” Garner shows off her culinary skills by frying her cinnamon toast in a cast iron pan to create a crunchy, chewy, almost brûléed version of the usually just toasted and sugared childhood classic. It is, in short, a very good and skilled maneuver.
I did not follow Garner’s method exactly, though you are certainly welcome to. (I did, however, use her ratio of 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon.) Instead of buttering just one side of the bread, I buttered and sugared both, then fried the bread in a nonstick pan (cast iron would work too) over medium-low heat, flipping a couple of times and adding a little more butter and cinnamon-sugar with each flip. Once the bread had crisped enough that it felt stiff when scooted around the pan, I transferred it to a plate and sprinkled on even more cinnamon-sugar.
It was one of the best pieces of toast I’ve ever had the pleasure of munching on. The butter had soaked into the bread, while the sugar and caramelized to form a sweet and chewy outer layer. The cinnamon, which is the same cinnamon used by Cinnabon, was toasted, creating a deeper, warmer flavor profile. Finishing with one more sprinkle of “raw” cinnamon-sugar added extra, pure sweetness, making for a complex, warm, and inviting treat.
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Whether you follow Garner’s instructions exactly or play around and put your own spin on it, I recommend using a nonstick pan or well-seasoned cast iron, and unsalted butter, with just a pinch of salt in the cinnamon-sugar. (I used salted butter for mine and it was just a tad too salty, which is not a complaint I usually have.) I also recommend buttering the bread instead of the pan, to maximize the the sugar-to-bread contact (and thus your pleasure).
