Overnight French Toast

I love making fun breakfasts for my families on holidays, but I also don't want to spend my mornings in the kitchen when there are stockings to dig into or eggs to find. This Overnight French Toast was just perfect; I threw it together the night before Easter and then put it in the oven in the morning. By the time the last egg had been uncovered, breakfast was ready!

I can't even begin to articulate how amazing this is. I think it's going to become a permanent brunch staple for me. I was afraid it would be too soggy or sticky, but that's not an issue at all. The texture is mushy, but not in a bad way - in a delightful way!

Overnight French Toast
from Bite This!; adapted from Pillsbury

• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple-flavored syrup
• 1 tablespoon margarine or butter
• 10 (1-inch-thick) slices Challah bread
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups skim milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamondash of nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons powdered sugar1
• 1/4 cups sliced strawberries (optional)

Spray 13x9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. In medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, syrup and margarine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute.

Pour syrup mixture evenly in bottom of sprayed pan. Arrange bread slices in even layer over syrup mixture. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine eggs, milk, vanilla and salt; beat with wire whisk until smooth. Pour evenly over bread in pan. Cover; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

To bake, heat oven to 350°F. Uncover pan; bake 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned.

To serve, top each serving with 1/4 cup sliced strawberries; sprinkle with powdered sugar.

English Muffin French Toast

This past weekend my friend Jennifer hosted a Pampered Chef party (insert shameless plug for Brooke, the consultant, here). In addition to nabbing some new kitchen goodies, I also learned of an interesting little breakfast from one of Jennifer's friends (also named Jennifer!).

This fake-out French Toast is really yummy and a great breakfast for anyone who is trying to be a little mindful of their food. I would never have thought to make French Toast using English Muffins, but I'm glad someone did. I made it the next morning, and Ryan and I both loved it. It's already made several appearances in my kitchen!


Ingredients

• cooking spray
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• splash of milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• sprinkling of cinnamon
• 2 multigrain English muffins
• sprinkling of powdered sugar (optional)

Spray a nonstick pan with the cooking spray and heat over medium flame.

Combine the egg substitute, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Soak each half of the muffins in the mixture, and then cook for about 3-4 minutes, turning once.

Sprinkle with your choice of toppings - powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, etc.

Granola Crusted French Toast

When I first saw this recipe for Granola-Crusted French Toast from Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings, I knew I wanted to make it for breakfast on our anniversary (which was yesterday).


I was so worried about her warning to not grind the granola too much that I didn't do it ENOUGH and had to redo it. Whoops! Also, I think next time, I'm going to only add a little bit of granola to the dish at a time; towards the end, the granola just got really soggy and wasn't sticking well to the bread.


But overall, this was DELICIOUS and I cannot wait to make it again! And at the store, I found "Cocoa-nilla" granola and I was so giddy. YUM!


Here is a (really dark) shot of Ryan pausing from his breakfast to pose for the camera:


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 4 pieces Texas Toast
• 1 1/2 cups granola
• Confectioners' Sugar (for dusting)

If granola is in large clusters, use a food processor to grind into smaller pieces (being careful not to grind too finely); transfer to a wide, shallow bowl.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Add the bread and soak until saturated.

In batches, transfer the bread to the granola crumbs, heavily coating each slice.

Spray large skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Working in batches of two, add the granola-coated bread and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Dust with Confectioners' sugar and serve warm.