Pumpkin French Toast

I don't usually post on the weekend but had to get this post up for you! This morning the kids asked for French Toast but I was in the mood for pumpkin. What is a girl to do? Combine the two and make Pumpkin French Toast.

I loved this one!!! So good and just the right amount of pumpkin and spices! I hope you'll give it a try this weekend!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin French Toast

3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
3 TBSP pumpkin
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 slices bread

Mix all ingredients (minus bread) in a bowl. Dip bread in pumpkin mixture and cook on griddle until browned on both sides.

Serve with powdered sugar or syrup (or both!).

Pineapple Upside Down French Toast

Oh my wow! This was a fantastic Easter morning breakfast! I loved the combination of the pineapple with the sourdough bread. The recipe says you can use Italian or French bread, but I think sourdough is perfect because it balances the sweetness well.

It starts with melting butter with brown sugar, mixing in crushed pineapple, and then spreading that into a 9x13 pan. The bread is then dipped in a milk/cream/pineapple juice mixture and placed on top of the pineapple. After baking until golden, you are left with a DELICOUS breakfast!

Please give this recipe a try... it is a keeper! You can find the recipe HERE.

French Toasted Angel Food Cake

After a two month (for the most part) break, I am back. I didn't plan on taking such a long break from blogging, but I just haven't been able to find the time. Between Nathan's R&R and a 30+ day visit to Arizona, I have been one busy lady!

I still baked/cooked as much as possible while on vacation, but mostly I made things already posted on the blog per the request of family members! I did, however, make a few new recipes.

This was one of my favorite recipes that I made while in Arizona. Talk about a breakfast treat!!! Angel food cake used for french toast? INGENIOUS!!! I topped it with strawberries and whipped cream, but you could easily just top it with butter and syrup. Either way is fantastic!

French Toasted Angel Food Cake

1 (7-8inch) angel food cake, sliced into 10-12 wedges
6 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
3 TBSP sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Mix eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Soak wedges in egg mixture for 1-2 minutes per side until completely coaked through. In a skillet or on a griddle melt butter over medium heat. Cook wedges for 1-3 minutes per side or until golden brown.

Nutella French Toast

Breakfast seriously doesn't get any better than this! Sure, it's over the top decadence, but what's wrong with that? I found this recipe at My Melange and I knew that I had to try it. It was amazing! If you love Nutella, try this! You won't be disappointed!


Nutella French Toast

12 slices white bread or brioche
Nutella
5 eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp cinnamon
splash of Grand Marnier
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar
butter

Make the batter. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, Grand Marnier, zest, juice, honey and vanilla in a large bowl. Spread equal amounts of Nutella on 6 slices of bread. Put another slice of bread on top, making a Nutella sandwich.

Heat griddle or pan on medium heat, melt butter in pan

Place each Nutella sandwich, one at a time, in the batter. Soak and turn to coat, but not for too long (you don't want them soggy). Place each sandwich on the pan and cook until golden brown on each side. Cut each sandwich in half, diagonally. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup.

Day 21 - Recipes 36, 37, & 38

It's 1 am and I can't figure out how to move the pic, so it's up here!

I am really excited about my first recipe. I had marked a Challah recipe in a cookbook months ago and just never got around to making it. Then last week I saw a recipe for Upside Down French Toast (from Tyler Florence) and it called for Challah. Sure, I could've bought Challah or just used French bread, but it gave me an excuse to finally try it out! It is my first braided loaf EVER and I still need to work on it. Don't get me wrong, it tastes AMAZING! But, my braid needs to be a little tighter.

The french toast was good, too. It wasn't "knock your socks off" good, but I still really enjoyed it. It almost tasted like a caramel apple which is not a bad thing! Plus, I loved the way the sugar coated the pecans. It was a good breakfast treat!

After a day at the zoo, I headed over to the McBride's for dinner. (You'd think they would be sick of me by now!!!). I offered to make dessert and made a cake that I had saved from AllRecipes back when I was not eating dairy. The name is kinda funny (Pig Pickin' Cake), but the cake was really good! It was a piece of cake (HA HA!) to throw together and I even frosted it one handed while nursing Eric! Monica and I were joking about how when you are a mom (and especially when your husband is deployed!) you have to be a master at multi-tasking!

Enjoy the recipes! :)

Challah

From "Baking with The Culinary Institute of America"

3 1/2 cups bread flour plus extra as needed
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup water, room temperature (68-76 degrees)
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup vegetable oil plus extra for greasing
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp salt
Egg wash (1 large egg whisked with 2 TBSP cold milk or water)

Combine the flour and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hoook. Add the water, eggs, egg yolks, oil, sugar, and salt and mix on low speed for 4 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 4 minutes. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise in a warm plac until nearly doubled, about 1 hour.

Fold the dough gently, cover, and let rest until relaxed, about 20 minutes. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Cover and let rest about 15-20 minutes. Working with 1 piece at a time, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and press lightly with your hands to strech into a 6x10 inch rectangle. Fold the long top edge to the center of the rectangle, pressing lightly with your fingers to tighten the outer surface. Fold the dough in half lengthwise so the top meets the bottom and use the heel of your palm to seal the edges.

Roll each piece of dough into a tapered cylinder 12 inches long. Lay the 3 ropes of dough parallel to each other. Braid dough and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Brush the dough with the egg wash and let rise another hour. Do not cover dough.

Preheat oven to 350. Very gently brush dough again with egg wash. Bake 25-30 minutes or until challah is dark golden brown, shiny, and lightweight.
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Upside-Down Apple French Toast

4 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 loaf challah bread, cut into 1 inch-thick slices
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 cup light brown sugar, plus more for sprinkling, divided

4 Granny Smith apples

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Confectioners' sugar, garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a flat dish, crack eggs and add milk, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Whisk until well combined then lay challah slices in mixture to coat and absorb it all, turning occasionally.
Set a 10-inch skillet, seasoned cast iron if you have, over medium heat. Add the butter and 1 cup sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar has melted and caramelized, about 8 minutes. While the sugar is melting, peel apples, core and cut into halves. Remove from heat and gently whisk in the heavy cream. Sprinkle in the pecans, dried cranberries and gently press in the apple halves so there is a flat surface. Lay soaked slices of challah over the top so it is completely covered - you should be able to arrange the large slices and small slices so there are no gaps. Sprinkle the top with some brown sugar and place into the preheated oven. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is golden and puffy.
When done, allow to cool for 2 to 3 minutes then invert onto a large plate. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired, and serve.

Chef's Note: FYI - if your cast iron skillet is not seasoned, the cranberries will react with the skillet and turn black.

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Pig Pickin' Cake

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, juice reserved
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (15 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

Mix together cake mix, canned oranges with juice, eggs, and oil. Pour batter into three greased and floured 8 inch round pans. Layers will be thin.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done. Cool layers on wire racks.

Mix together whipped topping, drained pineapple, and instant pudding mix. Fill and frost the cooled cake. Refrigerate until ready to eat.