Recipe: Stuffed French Toast

 

Stuffed French Toast

1 loaf French bread
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup raspberries or blueberries (frozen is fine, but thaw first)
1/4 cup powdered sugar (more or less depending on taste preference)
5  eggs
2 TBS milk, half and half, or heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. Slice French loaf every 1/2 inch, but avoiding cutting through the bottom on even cuts so that you end up with 1-inch slices of bread that open like butterflies.

2. For stuffing: Mix cream cheese, berries, and sugar in a small bowl with a fork until mashed and blended. Smear a spoonful of stuffing between the bread flaps, making sure no filling seeps out of the edges. Gently press flaps closed.

3. Blend eggs and milk well and pour into shallow container for dipping. Dip both sides of stuffed bread into egg mixture and place in preheated frying pan coated with oil. Flip when bottom develops pretty brown spots. Remove from heat and place in warmed crockpot or baking dish covered in foil to keep warm while you cook the rest.

Makes 4 - 5 servings. (Cream cheese filling makes enough for almost 2 skinny French loaves.)

Cook’s Note: Serve with Maple Buttercream frosting, maple syrup, or berry syrup. One French loaf can be cut into 10 - 14 butterfly slices, depending on the size of the loaf. 

See Stuffed French Toast tutorial reel on Instagram @MrsLeesSweetShoppe.

Recipe: Grand Slam Breakfast Casserole

Grand Slam Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:
16 oz. can refrigerator biscuits (or 1 batch homemade biscuits)
1 lb. hot sausage, browned and drained
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 batch sausage gravy (or 1 packet Pioneer white sausage gravy prepared)

Sausage Gravy (see Step 4):
2 T. flour
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 cups milk

Casserole Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 casserole dish with shortening.
2. Cut refrigerator biscuits into fourths and spread out evenly in bottom of casserole dish.
3. Brown and drain sausage. Reserve 1/2 cup browned sausage in the skillet to make gravy, and sprinkle rest of of browned sausage over biscuits and spread out evenly.
4. Start making gravy. With gravy skillet on low (with reserved brown sausage), add two beef bouillon cubes and smash them with a wooden spoon as they heat up. Add flour and mix until well coated. Slowly pour in 2 cups milk and bring to a boil. As soon as gravy is thickened, remove from heat.
5. Layer shredded cheddar cheese over crumbled sausage.
6. Beat 6 eggs with 1/2 cup milk and a few dashes salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture evenly over cheese layer.
7. Pour sausage gravy evenly over top of casserole layers.
8. Bake for 40 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Cook’s Note: This will overflow if dish is smaller than 9x13. Place a large baking sheet on bottom rack just in case.

Recipe: Country Sausage Gravy

Country Sausage Gravy

Ingredients:
1 lb. regular or hot ground sausage, browned and drained
2 T. flour (or 1 T. per cup milk)
2 beef bouillon cubes (or 1 per cup milk)
2 cups milk

Sausage Gravy Directions:

1. Brown sausage and drain.
2. On medium or medium-low heat, add beef bouillon cubes, and smash them with a wooden spoon as they heat up.
3. Add flour to browned sausage and stir until well coated.
4. Slowly pour in milk and stir until completely mixed. Keep stirring until gravy reaches a boil and thickens in consistency. Remove from heat.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4-5 servings.

Cook’s Note: You can easily increase yield by adding 1 T. flour, 1 bouillon, and 1 cup milk. If you prefer your gravy with a thinner consistency, stir in a small amount of milk (a little goes a long way).

Recipe: Oatmeal Craisin Raisin Breakfast Cookies

If you like the chewy breakfast cookies at Wendy's, you will probably love these even more. My mom, Rose Wride, created this original recipe to copycat the cookies mentioned above, but in the process, she improved it. To learn more about my amazing home-economist, recipe-book author mother, click here.

Oatmeal Craisin Raisin Breakfast Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1-1/4 cups brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1 tablespoon molasses 

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup Craisins (dried cranberries)

1/2 cup raisins

3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and molasses until light and fluffy. 

3. Stir in all-purpose flour, soda, salt and cinnamon until just moistened. 

4. Add the rolled oats and mix well.

5. Stir in Craisins, raisins and walnut pieces. Dough will be stiff and slightly sticky. 

6. Drop by spoonfuls about 2-inches apart on a baking sheet, and bake 12-14 minutes in a 350-degree oven until golden on the edges. The centers will look slightly shiny and undercooked. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cookies finish cooking on the pan for about five minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Makes about 2-1/2 dozen cookies.

Cook's Note:  Molasses keeps these cookies soft and chewy. Store covered at room temperature for up to one week. These cookies freeze well and maintain their soft, chewy texture--just pop them into a ziploc, and then set the ziploc on the counter to thaw 30 minutes before you want to eat them. If the cookies look like they will spread too much, stir in a rounded tablespoon of flour before baking.

Recipe: Maple Buttercream Frosting

If you want to level-up your donuts or cupcakes, or even your French toast, this is the right decision. My oldest daughter spreads it between two pieces of French toast and eats it like a sammie, food-boss style. *I woke up and dreamed up the most incredible stuffed French toast with maple buttercream frosting, and then I found that I had, in fact, not invented maple buttercream. Here is the recipe the way I make it.

Maple Buttercream Frosting

 

Ingredients:

1 c. butter, room temperature (I use salted butter)

3 c. powdered sugar (for a less buttery taste, add up to 3/4 c. more)

1 t. vanilla extract, no fake stuff

1 t. maple extract or mapleine

 

Instructions:

1. Beat butter and add powdered sugar one cup at a time until well blended.

2. Mix in vanilla and maple extracts.

3. Beat mixture for several minutes until light and fluffy.

Cook’s Note: You can put it in a piping bag and pipe onto your baked goods, or you can spread it on with a knife or spatula. If using on French toast, let toasts cool slightly or mixture will melt too much. Do not use real maple syrup if you want a true buttercream frosting because it will be runny, from what I have read. Also, I do not like real maple syrup anyway (Team Log Cabin!), so I am biased.

Pairing ideas: use on donuts, chocolate cupcakes, carrot/spice cake, homemade gingersnaps, sugar cookies; French toast, pancakes, crepes; baked sweet potatoes, cooked carrots.

This tastes freaking amazing on these homemade donuts. Just skip the maple icing and pipe on this maple buttercream instead. 

Recipe: Lemon-Berry Syrup

Lemon-Berry Syrup (for those days you can't have lemon-filled donuts)

Ingredients:
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. Real Lemon juice
splash lime juice
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. water
2 T. strawberry jelly*

Mix cornstarch with lemon juice, lime juice, sugar and water until smooth. Warm using medium heat. Bring to a boil. Stir in jelly and remove from heat. Serve warm. Serves 5-6.

Cook's Note: This goes great on puffy pancakes. Here's a puffy pancake recipe similar to the one I use, although I don't use vanilla or cinnamon in the batter, and I add more melted butter. I'm sure you could fill doughnuts with this syrup as well--you may need to add 1-2 T. more of cornstarch. *I used Smucker's Natural Strawberry jam without High Fructose Corn Syrup so it isn't overly sweet.

What else might this be tasty with?