Banana stuffed cinnamon toast – Thick slices of white bread are stuffed with bananas, dipped in a custard, and fried until golden brown. Served with a homemade strawberry compote.
I hope you’re ready for the best food I’ve made in a while. I am dead serious. This Banana Stuffed Cinnamon Toast blew me away. I couldn’t stop eating it. I had almost 2 slices in one day! And for slices as big as these, that’s a lot. There’s just something about that warm banana on the inside that just makes me super happy. And when it combines with the cinnamon toast and strawberry compote? Flavor explosion.
If you’re a Disney World fan, you may recognize this recipe as the famous Tonga Toast from Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. I actually haven’t ever tried it. I have been hoping to try it every time we visit but we just can’t make it to their brunch. So I decided to just try it for myself. Disney posts recipes of many of their classic foods, including their Tonga Toast so it was easy to replicate at home.
The recipe I used was a little hard to follow and omitted their must-have strawberry compote. So in my version of the recipe, I made it super detailed and included the recipe for the compote. Now you can truly enjoy this toast without ever stepping foot in Disney World!
But before we get any further into the recipe, let’s take a closer look at this Banana Stuffed Cinnamon Toast!
Making the toast
The process for making this toast can be split out into a few main steps:
- Cut the slices
- Stuff the bread with banana
- Dip each slice in custard
- Fry until golden brown
- Cover in cinnamon sugar
The recipe explains many of these steps in detail. However, I will give you some more information on frying at home, because I know that can be intimidating.
Frying at home
You don’t need a deep fryer to fry anything at home. You can simply use a Dutch-oven and a candy thermometer to achieve the same results. Just clip the thermometer to the edge of the Dutch oven, add the oil, and heat over medium heat. Monitor the temperature with the thermometer to ensure it’s not too hot (which will burn the toast before the banana has cooked) or too cool (the toast will sit in the oil for much longer than necessary, making it soggy).
When frying, you always want to make sure you have a cooling rack set over a baking sheet to place the fried food when it’s done. The rack will allow the excess oil to drain off without making the food soggy.
Lastly, when frying, you want to make sure you have metal tongs or a wired scoop to flip and remove fried foods from the hot oil. This will ensure the tools won’t melt in the hot oil.
Making the compote
A compote is just a thick sauce that is cooked, but not a thick as jam. To make this compote, the strawberries are diced, added to a saucepan with sugar and lemon juice, and cooked until the juices release from the strawberries and slightly thicken.
Tips & Tricks
- Unsliced loaf. This recipe works best with thick slices of bread that you can stuff with the banana. The only way to achieve slices this thick is to buy an unsliced loaf and slice them yourself.
- Strawberry compote is a MUST. This toast is only enhanced by the sweet strawberry compote. It’s a non-negotiable.
- Monitor hot oil temp. When frying anything, it’s important to monitor the temperature of the hot oil. That’s why I always use a candy thermometer and attach it to the side of the Dutch oven during the frying process.
- Drain on a rack. After frying, it’s important to drain the toast on a rack to let excess oil drip off. If you just place on a plate, the oil will collect under the toast and make it soggy.
Banana Stuffed Cinnamon Toast
Ingredients
For the toast:
- 1 quarter canola oil for frying
- 1 medium loaf white bread unsliced
- 2 medium bananas
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
For the cinnamon sugar:
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For the strawberry compote:
- 3 cups diced strawberries
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add oil to a Dutch oven. Add candy thermometer to the side of the oven. Place over medium heat so that it reaches 350 degrees. This will take about 20 minutes.
- Cut the ends off the loaf so the loaf is all the same width. Slice loaf into 3-inch slices. You should get 4 pieces on a medium (12-inch) loaf. Grab one slice and stand it up so the top of the bread is pointed to the sky. Create a slit at the top through the middle of the bread slice without cutting through to the bottom. Use your fingers to gently make some space in the slit for the bananas to go. Repeat with the other 3 slices.
- Grab the bananas and slice in half lengthwise and then width wise. You should have 8 pieces. Then cut each piece into equal halves again to make 16 slices (4 slices per piece of bread). Stuff 4 slices of banana into the slits of each piece of bread, forcing it in gently.
- Make the custard by first adding the sugar, salt, and cinnamon to a shallow bowl and whisking together. Then, add eggs and whisk into sugar mixture. Finally add, the milk mix together. Fill another shallow bowl with the ¾ cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Mix together and set aside.
- Once the oil is at 350 degrees, dip one of the banana-stuffed toasts into the custard. Flip and let the other side absorb some of the custard. Pull toast from custard using tongs and let excess drip off. Place toast into hot oil and fry for 2 minutes. Then, flip toast and fry for 2 more minutes. Remove from oil and let drain on a cooling rack for 1 minute and then dip into cinnamon sugar mixture. Cover with cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately with strawberry compote (recipe below). Repeat with 3 remaining toasts.
Strawberry Compote
- Add diced strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a medium saucepan. Stir together and set over medium heat. Once boiling, cook for 8 minutes or until mixture has thickened up slightly but still runnier than jam.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Let cool before serving.
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I love all the flavours here! It sounds delicious
Wow! This stuffed French toast looks absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to make it for my family.
Such an amazingly decadent and delicious breakfast treat or dessert! The strawberry compote is incredible and I’m going to use it in all sorts of other things!
This is the ultimate weekend brunch meal! Such a crowd pleaser! YUM!!!
Oh my goodness that looks amazing! Brilliant idea!
Yum! Made this French Toast for a special birthday breakfast on my husband’s birthday and we are in love with it! Really indulgent with the crispy brown sugar layer around the bread! Served it with fresh strawberries on this occasion, but cannot wait to try it with the compote as well!
Drooling over here! This looks amazing