It's a Keeper » french toast

Caramelized French Toast Bake

Christina — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:47:55 +0000

As you know, I absolutely love Christmas morning! It’s one of the times that I really enjoy making breakfast. Some of my favorite breakfast recipes are Christmas Morning Breakfast Braid and Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Syrup. Oh, and Cowboy Sandwiches — how could I forget those?!?

Our plans have changed a bit for this Christmas morning. We are going to my sister’s house for brunch. I needed to find a recipe that would be easy to make and take with me. I came across this recipe for a French Toast Bake on Pinterest. It’s perfect for Christmas morning because I can assemble it all the day before and bake it when I’m ready.

Caramelized French Toast Bake

Compliments of It’s a Keeper
www.itisakeeper.com
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 loaf Texas toast (not the frozen kind)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Add brown sugar to melted butter and stir until mixed. Pour mixture into bottom of 9 x 13 baking dish,spreading in an even layer. In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla together. Lay single layer of Texas toast in baking dish. You may need to cut some pieces to cover the entire dish. Spoon half of the egg mixture on top of the bread. Add another layer of Texas Toast and spoon on remaining egg mixture. Cover and chill in refrigerator overnight. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes of baking. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Serve with warm maple syrup.

Is it a Keeper?

Here’s a shot of it right out of the oven.

This was absolutely delicious! The top was nice and crusty, the middle was soft and moist and the bottom? It was divine! The butter and brown sugar caramelized beautifully and made a perfect glaze! In my opinion, this should be served upside down so you don’t miss a drop of the caramely goodness!

In my humble opinion, you don’t need any syrup with this. It’s sweet enough on its own.

I’m planning to take this to my sister’s for Christmas morning brunch. I have a feeling my family is going to love this recipe!

Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite Christmas morning dishes are!

Enjoy!

Cinnamon French Toast Bake

Christina — Sun, 29 May 2011 23:42:03 +0000

One night (very, very late at night), as I was wandering around cyber-space, I came across a recipe for this Cinnamon French Toast Bake. And, just like going to the grocery store on an empty stomach, you shouldn’t wander around cooking blogs on an empty stomach either! I found myself bookmarking LOTS of recipes!

This recipe, from Oh My Sugar High, was one of the recipes I found that night!

Cinnamon French Toast Bake
Compliments of It’s a Keeper
Adapted from Oh My Sugar High
www.everydaytastes.com

1/4 cup melted butter
2 cans (12.4 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
5 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup maple syrup

Garnish
Icing from cinnamon rolls
Powdered sugar
Maple syrup, if desired

Melt butter and pour into ungreased 13×9 inch glass dish. Separate cans of dough into 16 rolls reserving the icing for later use. Cut each roll into 8 pieces and add to buttered baking dish.

Beat eggs in medium bowl. Add cream, cinnamon and vanilla and beat until well blended. Pour over cut pieces of cinnamon roll pieces. Sprinkle with pecans and drizzle 3/4 cup syrup over the top. Bake at 375 for 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.

Remove the covers from icing and microwave on medium or 50% power for 10 to 15 seconds. (Should be thin enough to drizzle.) Drizzle icing over the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with syrup if desired.

Is It a Keeper?

I so wanted to love this recipe. Really. I did. I love cinnamon rolls. I love french toast. How could combining the two not be perfect?

Unfortunately, for me, it wasn’t perfect. The concept was great. I think it all started to go wrong when I added the eggs. I couldn’t handle the texture. It was too squishy (? – I think that’s how I can best describe it). Sort of like the texture of bread pudding. I have texture issues. I have a hard time eating foods that are slippery or wet. I just don’t like the feeling in my mouth. Weird. I know. I accept my flaws.

Flavor wise, this was pretty good. But I wasn’t blown away. I think I’ll stick to my new-found recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes.

Have you ever make this recipe? Weigh in and let me know what you thought of it.

Never miss a single recipe! Have them delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for FREE email updates.

French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

Christina — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 01:57:09 +0000

Breakfast as a cupcake? Sounds heavenly! My good friend, Lisa, gave me this recipe and it sounded divine. What’s not to love about French toast and maple syrup…and even a little bacon?!?!

I know what you’re thinking though — I thought the same thing too. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about the whole bacon as garnish thing, but I decided to take one for the team and give it a try – just as the recipe described.

The Recipe

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. maple extract
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Line muffin tin with baking liners.

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, and eggs until combined. Then add maple extract. Alternate between whisking in flour mixture and milk into liquid mixture. Make three additions of flour and two of milk. Beat until smooth.

Divide batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes, remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
Pinch of salt
1 tsp maple syrup
4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
4 slices bacon, cooked

Beat together cream cheese, butter and salt until creamy. Add maple syrup. With mixer on low, add sugar 1/2 cup at a time until light and fluffy. Increase mixer speed between additions. Frost cupcakes. Cut cooked bacon into 1 inch pieces and garnish cupcakes.

Is it a Keeper?

Wow! These were delicious! It was just like having breakfast in a little foil wrapper! YUM! The frosting had just a hint of maple flavoring — not too overpowering. And, the cupcakes had a subtly cinnamon-y-ness. Like I said, yum!

Oh, and the bacon on top…I honestly thought it would be a little weird/gross, but, surprisingly, it wasn’t. It was pretty good. The saltiness of the bacon was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the frosting. It got a thumbs up in my book!

This recipe is definitely a keeper!

If you like this post, be sure to subscribe by clicking on the “subscribe” link on the right. You’ll be notified my new posts. Also, be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

Also, be sure to check out some of the other great websites and blogs that I’ve found. Their links are to the right —>

Raspberry French Toast Bake

Christina — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:06:46 +0000

I’m always looking for new recipes to make breakfast more special. When I came across this recipe, it looked divine! I couldn’t wait to try it! So, I assembled everything and took it over to my parent’s house for Sunday brunch.

The Recipe

6 slices of italian bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
4 oz cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1-1/2 Tbs maple syrup

Raspberry Syrup
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
2 Tbs maple syrup

Place bread cubes in a greased 8×8 baking dish. Sprinkle with raspberries and cream cheese. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and maple syrup. Pour over bread and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

To make syrup, place jam and syrup in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds. Stir until smooth. If not smooth, microwave for at 15 second increments, stirring each time, until smooth.

Is it a keeper?

This recipe got a unanimous thumbs-up! I loved it and my parents and brother loved it. The only who wasn’t crazy about it was my 4 year old (but he’s pretty resistant to trying new things!).

This recipe was easy to assemble. Quick to bake. And delicious. I’ll be making this again and again. Maybe I’ll try strawberries next time!

If you like this post, be sure to subscribe by clicking on the “subscribe” link on the right. You’ll be notified my new posts. Also, be sure to follow me on Facebook — simply click on the link to the right!