Everything you thought you knew about breakfast just changed! Behold, the power of Carrot Cake, finally merged with the deliciousness of French Toast!

This really is a phenominal event. One of the local eateries here in Austin is known for this treat, so I decided to share the magic with everyone else out on the innerwebs! Enjoy!

Step 1: Ingredients

If you have a favorite Carrot Cake recipe, feel free to use that instead (reduce the baking powder slightly, as you want this to be a bit more dense than normal). In case you don't have one, this is the recipe I used:

1 1/4c flour (6.25 oz)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp orange zest (optional, I might have optionally forgotten to use the one I bought...)
1/2 lb carrots (3-4)
3/4c sugar (5.25oz)
1/4c light brown sugar (.75 oz)
2 eggs
3/4c veg oil

You'll need more eggs and some milk when we get to the French Toastifying, but we've still got some work to do...

Step 2: Dry Ingredients

First, combine the dry ingredients seen here (pretty much everything except the sugars), and set aside.

Step 3: Carrots! (otherwise It's Just Cake French Toast, Hmm...)

Peel and shred the carrots. I'd recommend a food processor for this. I don't usually like to use mine, because if I use it, that means I have to clean it. But I did one carrot on a hand grater and said... well, let's not focus on what I said, just know it's worth busting out the food processor if you have one. Also, if you have one like mine, one side of the blade will slice the carrots, and if you flip it over, it will shred them. If you use the wrong side of the blade, then you'll have to scoop them all out, flip the blade over, and feed them back through again. Ask me how I know this...

Step 4: The Great Combinining!

In a large bowl, mix together your sugars and eggs, and add the oil. Once that's combined, add in your carrots and dry ingredients until just combined. Pour the mix into a greased loaf pan, and bake at 325 for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry. Cool on rack, defend against any household barbarians that are having difficulty holding out for the next step.

Step 5: Here Comes the Magic!

I usually make the Carrot Cake the night before, and then French Toast it the next morning. I find that if it's cooled and slightly dry it turns out better, so I'll often slice it before I go to bed, and let it dry out a bit.

For this step, we're going to give it the usual French Toast treatment, except you'll want your batter to be a little milkier than normal. I'd go about 2/3c milk to one egg, and that's enough to do a little better than one slice (I'd say four slices would be three eggs and 2c milk). Add a splash of vanilla if you'd like (see if you can get it to look like a palm tree when you add it, that's the mark of a pro, or so I hear). Soak the slice on both sides, and get it over to a heated skillet with a bit of butter in it.

Keep the heat a little lower than normal, the slices will probably be thicker than the bread you usually use, and we want this to get cooked all the way through. If your mixture is egg heavy, don't worry, it'll still be delicious, but not quite as photogenic. This step is pretty forgiving, give it a couple of minutes on each side and you should be good to go!

Step 6: Enjoy!

Dust with a little powdered sugar, top with a little maple syrup if you want (just a bit though, it's pretty sweet), and garnish with a frosting carrot if you're looking to impress!

This is going to become my new "Special Occasion" breakfast. It's amazingly good, give it a try and let me know. And if you find yourself in Austin, check out the South Congress Cafe (no affiliation), where you can get 100% of the CCFT goodness with 0% of the work.

I bet this would work with other sweet breads too, like maybe some Banana Bread or Chocolate Sourdough Bread

Here's the recipe in a copy/paste format:

Carrot Cake French Toast
1 1/4c flour (6.25 oz)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp orange zest
1/2 lb carrots (3-4)
3/4c sugar (5.25oz)
1/4c light brown sugar (.75 oz)
2 eggs
3/4c veg oil

combine dry ingredients except sugars

peel and shred carrots (about 1.5c when done)

mix sugars and egg
add oil
add carrots and dry ingredients

pour into greased loaf pan
325 for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out dry

cool loaf, cut into thick slices

for French Toast step:
1 egg + 2/3c milk (1 slice)
3 eggs + 2c milk (4 slices)
splash of vanilla

dip bread into mixture, cook in buttered skillet on med/low for 2-3 minutes each side