This Cinnamon Apple French Toast Makes Its Apple Sauce Without Butter or White Sugar

French toast with a thick cinnamon apple topping can look like it needs butter and spoonfuls of sugar to make the sauce. This version takes another route. Diced apple cooks with maple syrup, cinnamon, water, and tapioca starch until the liquid thickens around the fruit.

The bread gets its own swap. Whole grain slices are dipped in eggs, unsweetened almond milk, and cinnamon, then browned in a nonstick pan without adding butter or oil.

Eggs and Almond Milk Coat the Bread

Whisk two eggs with two tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk and half a teaspoon of cinnamon. Four slices of whole grain bread are dipped into the mixture until coated on both sides.

The soaked bread goes into a nonstick pan over medium heat. Give each side one to two minutes, enough time for the surface to brown and form a light crust.

Diced Apple Goes Into the Same Warm Pan

Once the bread comes out, a diced red apple goes into the warm pan with cinnamon and a tablespoon of pure maple syrup. The fruit cooks for one to two minutes before the sauce mixture goes in.

There is no need to start a second pan. Keep the cooked French toast warm while the apples soften and pick up the cinnamon and maple syrup left in the pan.

Tapioca Starch Turns the Liquid Into Apple Sauce

A teaspoon of tapioca starch is whisked with a quarter cup of water before it reaches the pan. Pour it over the apples, reduce the heat, and cook for another two to three minutes.

This is the step that changes the topping. As the tapioca mixture heats, the liquid thickens around the diced fruit and creates a sauce without using butter or white sugar.

Cinnamon Takes the Place of a Powdered Sugar Finish

Spoon the cooked apples and their sauce over the browned bread while both are still warm. Instead of finishing the plate with powdered sugar, add another dusting of cinnamon.

Extra maple syrup can go on top if wanted. The finished plate has crisp-edged egg-soaked bread under soft apples and a thick cinnamon sauce, with no butter or white sugar needed in the recipe.

The full breakfast takes about 20 minutes from prep to plate. Most of that happens in one pan: brown the bread, cook the apples, thicken their liquid, then spoon the fruit straight over the French toast.