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Home » Recipes » Breakfast & Brunch

Modified: Sep 29, 2022 | Categories: Breakfast & Brunch

Polenta French Toast Sticks

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Sometimes I just want something sweet for breakfast, like pancakes, waffles or these polenta French toast sticks.

They make for a fun weekend breakfast event!

They're made with creamy polenta, then they're cooled, cut into sticks and dipped into vanilla cinnamon batter and pan-fried until golden and crispy.

Finish it off by dipping them in honey butter and maple syrup.

Polenta French Toast Sticks on a white plate
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How to make polenta French toast sticks

Featured Ingredients

For the polenta batter:

  • Milk: You'll cook the cornmeal in milk to make polenta.
  • Cornmeal: Standard cornmeal works well, or you can use instant polenta.
  • Butter: The preferred fat to make this delicious batter.
  • Brown sugar: Just ¼ cup to give the batter a little bit of sweetness.
  • Cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract: For those warm flavors!
  • Baking powder: To make the polenta sticks get fluffy like your favorite pancakes.
  • Eggs: To hold everything together.

For the French toast sticks:

  • Milk and eggs: Standard French toast batter starts with milk and eggs!
  • Cinnamon: Because you can never have too much.

For the dipping sauces:

  • Honey and butter: Mixed together to make the best ever dipping sauce.
  • Maple syrup: You must have pure maple syrup with French toast sticks!

Step-by-Step Instructions

To make polenta batter:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Bring the milk to a simmer in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat.
  3. Whisk in cornmeal, lower heat and stir for 3-5 minutes until cornmeal is cooked.
  4. Whisk in the melted butter, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and vanilla extract.
  5. Then, whisk in the eggs until incorporated. If the mixture is thick, whisk in ½ cup milk, or as much as needed to make it pancake batter consistency.
  6. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 edged baking sheet that has been coated with cooking spray.
  7. Shake pan from side to side until the polenta is level.
  8. Place in preheated oven for 22-27 minutes, or until toothpick in center comes out clean.
  9. Allow to cool on the counter, then place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or freezer for 30 minutes.
  10. Slice into French toast stick size pieces.

To make French toast sticks:

  1. Whisk together the milk, eggs and cinnamon in a large bowl.
  2. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray to medium-high heat.
  3. Dip each polenta stick into the egg and milk mixture and place on the skillet and cook on each side until browned and crispy.
    • (You can probably do 3-5 at a time, depending on how big the pan is).

To make dipping sauces:

  1. Whisk together the honey and melted butter.
  2. Pour the honey butter in a small bowl.
  3. Pour the maple syrup in a separate small bowl.
  4. Serve the French toast polenta sticks with maple syrup and honey butter for dipping.
Polenta French Toast Sticks on baking sheet

Recipe Substitutions and Alterations

  • For the milk: Use any milk, such as cow's, soy, almond, coconut, rice, cashew, etc.
    • You can use plain/unsweetened or vanilla.
  • For the cornmeal: You can use yellow or white cornmeal or grab a bag of instant polenta.
  • For the brown sugar: Use dark or light brown sugar.

Nutrition Considerations

  • To make this gluten free: This recipe is gluten free (cornmeal is gluten free!).
    • Be sure all packaged ingredients are gluten free.
  • To make this dairy free: Use dairy free milk, such as soy, almond, coconut, rice, cashew, etc.
  • To make this nut free: This recipe does not contain nuts.
    • Be sure all ingredients are nut free.
Polenta French Toast Sticks on a white plate
PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER!

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  • Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup
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  • Chicken Parmesan Pasta Bake
  • Cornflake-Crusted Buttermilk Chicken
  • Tater Tot Casserole
  • Kale and Sausage Gnocchi Bake
Print

Polenta French Toast Sticks

French toast sticks on a white plate
Print Recipe

French toast sticks made out of polenta served with butter and maple syrup.

  • Author: Julie Andrews
  • Prep Time: 15-20 mins
  • Cook Time: 45-50 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hr - 1 hr 10 mins
  • Yield: Serves 8
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Stove-Top, Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

Polenta Batter:

  • 4 cups milk (of choice)
  • 1 ½ cups coarse ground yellow cornmeal
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 large eggs
  • Cooking spray

French Toast Sticks:

  • 1 ½ cups milk (of choice)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dipping Sauces:

  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup honey + 1 tablespoon melted butter

Instructions

To make polenta batter:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Bring the milk to a simmer in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat.
  3. Whisk in cornmeal, lower heat and stir for 3-5 minutes until cornmeal is cooked.
  4. Whisk in the melted butter, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and vanilla extract. Then whisk in the eggs until incorporated. If the mixture is thick, whisk in ½ cup milk, or as much as needed to make it pancake batter consistency.
  5. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 edged baking sheet that has been coated with cooking spray.
  6. Shake pan from side to side until the polenta is level. Place in preheated oven for 22-27 minutes, or until toothpick in center comes out clean.
  7. Allow to cool on the counter, then place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or freezer for 30 minutes. Slice in to French toast stick size pieces.

To make French toast sticks:

  1. Whisk together the milk, eggs and cinnamon in a large bowl.
  2. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray to medium-high heat. Dip each polenta stick into the egg and milk mixture and place on the skillet and cook on each side until browned and crispy (you can probably do 3-5 at a time, depending on how big the pan is).

To make dipping sauces:

  1. Whisk together the honey and melted butter. Pour the honey butter in a small bowl.
  2. Pour the maple syrup in a separate small bowl.
  3. Serve the French toast polenta sticks with maple syrup and honey butter for dipping.

Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Bake and cool polenta, then refrigerate or freeze until ready to coat and fry.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: ⅛ of recipe
  • Calories: 322
  • Sugar: 23g
  • Sodium: 373mg
  • Fat: 7g
  • Saturated Fat: 3g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 4g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 53g
  • Fiber: 2g
  • Protein: 12g
  • Cholesterol: 126mg

Keywords: easy, brunch, entertaining, comfort food, holidays, make ahead, do ahead

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Share a photo and tag us on Instagram and Facebook @thegourmetRD. We can't wait to see your creation!


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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Camilla says

    January 28, 2015 at 3:15 pm

    This is genius! I know what I'm making for dinner...

    Reply
    • Julie Andrews says

      January 29, 2015 at 8:59 am

      Thanks Camilla! I hope you enjoyed it! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Thalia @ butter and brioche says

    January 28, 2015 at 5:58 pm

    What a unique and delicious twist on classic french toast. I must try this recipe out - looks so delicious!

    Reply
    • Julie Andrews says

      January 29, 2015 at 9:00 am

      Thank you, Thalia! Let me know your thoughts when you try it! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Alison @Food by Mars says

    January 28, 2015 at 8:17 pm

    This looks ridiculous! So creative!

    Reply
    • Julie Andrews says

      January 29, 2015 at 9:01 am

      Thanks Alison! We all love French toast sticks and polenta, so why not marry them?! :):)

      Reply
  4. Farida says

    January 28, 2015 at 10:39 pm

    Absolutely fantastic! Wow, great photos and genius tweak on french toast!

    Reply
    • Julie Andrews says

      January 29, 2015 at 9:01 am

      Thank you, Farida! It was such a fun dish to photograph!

      Reply
  5. Adam says

    September 22, 2022 at 3:42 am

    I loved making these, but I only looked to see how to make them after I made the polenta sticks. I made the polenta batter with a can of peaches in light syrup as the liquid portion instead of milk as the liquid portion - super creamy, delicious peach polenta, then I made the french toast sticks from that, peachy deliciousness.

    Reply
    • Julie Andrews says

      September 23, 2022 at 2:15 pm

      Oh my goodness, Adam, that sounds delicious! I love peaches and how you integrated them into the polenta French toast sticks. YUM!

      Reply

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chef, registered dietitian & mom
passionate about simple, healthy cooking

*formerly the gourmet RD*

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