There is something about the smell of cinnamon that makes a house feel toasty and inviting on a gray, rainy day. Our local bakery has this cinnamon-sugar swirl bread that fragrances the house better than any candle or potpourri. My wheat-eating children love it.
The bummer is that I can only smell it, not taste it! After my kids left for school today I decided to make my own cinnamon and sugar gluten-free treats. I toasted up two slices of Canyon Bakehouse Cinnamon Raisin bread. I buttered the toast and sprinkled brown sugar on top. My broiler was on and ready to go and I stuck the toast under the broiler for just a few seconds to caramelize the brown sugar.
The brown sugar is very hot so it is best to let it sit and cool for a minute. The brown sugar gets a little crackly when it cools. With enough butter and brown sugar, and the spice of the cinnamon bread, this is a decadent breakfast. My mom used to float toast like this in a bowl of warm milk when I was a kid. It was one of my favorite breakfasts.
These days, I would rather have my milk warmed up and frothed for coffee, which was my second gluten-free treat of the morning! I like to make fun coffees, but don’t like to clutter up my counter with the cappuccino maker. All you need for frothed milk is a little pan and a good whisk. I warmed up some milk in the pan with a little cinnamon in it and then whisked it to a frothy state.
So this breakfast was a little higher in calories than my usual breakfast, but it added warmth and sweetness to a rainy Monday morning and it also made the house smell like a bakery.
