Blueberry French Toast Casserole

Last week, I shared a savory breakfast casserole, great for a large crowd.

So today, I wanted to share a version for those who love a sweet breakfast!

This Blueberry French Toast Casserole is easy to make the day of, or to assemble the night before for an easier next-day breakfast. My recipe is adapted from a version you can find here.

Ingredients:

French Toast Casserole

  • 1 loaf of challah bread, cut into cubes
  • 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, cut into small cubes
  • 2 (6 oz) packages fresh blueberries
  • 12 eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

Blueberry Syrup

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 (6 oz) package fresh blueberries
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • juice of 1/2 lemon

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Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Spice French Toast Casserole #DelightfulMoments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DelightfulMoments #CollectiveBias

It’s no secret that I love all things Pumpkin. I have over 20 posts on my blog including pumpkin/pumpkin spice, but haven’t posted a pumpkin-themed recipe yet this year, what an oversight!

To make up for my lack of pumpkin posts, I’ve got a pret-ty awesome recipe for you today that can be used as a super decadent breakfast (perfect for snow days or holiday mornings with family!) or a really delicious dessert.

This recipe for Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Spice French Toast Casserole is flavored with International Delight’s Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer, which I picked up at my local Walmart. (It can be found in refrigerated bins near the milk, or at the end of an aisle in a refrigerated case.) The creamer adds a swirl of seasonal spice flavors into your coffee (and recipes), inspired by pumpkin pie. Yum!

This recipe pairs wonderfully with a cup of hot coffee flavored with International Delight’s Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer; Walmart also sells single creamers as well. I picked up some of the French Vanilla Single Creamers, which I added to my coffee to enjoy with this breakfast.

As family gathers for the holidays, this recipe is the perfect addition to breakfast or brunch. It’s simple to make and uses the slow cooker to keep your oven and stove free for preparing the main holiday meal!

International Delight wants to hear about your holiday spirit by sharing a video, photo or story through their website. You can win a $5,000 holiday brunch  with all your favorite International Delight products! Learn more here.

 

Ingredients:

French Toast Casserole:

  • 1 lb challah bread, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 cups almond milk (or regular milk)
  • 1 cup International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer
  • 1 (8 oz) can pumpkin puree

Crumble:

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted margarine or butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Continue reading Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Spice French Toast Casserole #DelightfulMoments

Slow Cooker Nutella French Toast Casserole

As most of the U.S. has been dealing with seriously cold weather and snow, I thought it was time to share another French Toast recipe. Without fail, people always go out before a storm and stock up on bread, milk, and eggs so French Toast is the perfect meal on a snow day. This recipe for Slow Cooker Nutella French Toast Casserole with Caramelized Bananas is sure to become a favorite snow day meal for you!

This recipe is based off my Slow Cooker Apple French Toast Casserole, but incorporates Nutella and tops it off with caramelized bananas for good measure. I love using my slow cooker for French Toast because it makes a bunch of servings to either share with a group or pack up and enjoy all week!

Ingredients (get all ingredients here):

  • 1 loaf challah bread (about 1 pound), cut into cubes
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 cups vanilla almond milk (or normal milk)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 heaping tablespoons Nutella, plus more for topping
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 4 bananas, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar

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Slow Cooker Apple French Toast Casserole

I love recipes that make it easy to serve a bunch of people with minimal effort. A slow cooker is usually a go-to for those types of recipes but I’ve never considered using it to make breakfast before. The Ninja Cooking System is the perfect tool for it though. They sent over this recipe for a Slow Cooker Apple French Toast Casserole and I couldn’t wait for the weekend to come so I could make it.

This recipe makes 8 servings so it would be great for breakfast for a larger group but I also packed up the rest of my servings to reheat during the week.

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup butter
  • 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 loaf challah bread (about 1 pound), cut into cubes
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 cups vanilla almond milk (or normal milk)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • Pinch salt
  • Confectioners’ sugar

Continue reading Slow Cooker Apple French Toast Casserole

Strawberry Banana Stuffed French Toast

It’s spring! And spring means (among other things) that strawberries are back in season. So what better way to use them than for a delicious weekend brunch? This Strawberry Banana Stuffed French Toast uses strawberries three ways: fresh, in a strawberry sauce, and for an extra touch of strawberry goodness, in a strawberry jam. And because I love bananas, I threw in a couple slices of that as well. I found the strawberry sauce recipe here and my French toast recipe is based off of this post.
Ingredients:
4 challah rolls
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (unsweeted)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cup sliced strawberries, divided
3 tablespoons honey
the juice and zest of one lemon
4 ounces low fat cream cheese
1 tablespoon strawberry jam
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 banana, sliced
1 tablespoon butter

Begin by slicing the challah rolls in half. In a large bowl, add the eggs, almond milk and 2 tablespoons sugar.
Add the roll halves and mix to coat.
Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
one hour later
Add 1 cup sliced strawberries, 3 tablespoons honey, and the lemon juice and zest to a bowl and mix to combine.
Allow to stand for 1 hour. (I actually ended up leaving both for over an hour. Whoops.)
one hour later
Combine the cream cheese, vanilla extract and strawberry jam.
Slice the rest of your strawberries and your banana.
Heat a saute pan over medium high heat and add 1 teaspoon butter. Add  1 set of challah rolls to the saute pan and cook for three minutes.
Flip and cook for three more minutes.
While waiting for the side to cook, add 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture to one piece of roll.
Add slices of strawberry and banana.
When the bread is done cooking, assemble the pieces of bread. Add one to two tablespoons of the strawberry sauce and a few more slices of banana.
Repeat with remaining rolls. How good does that look?
The challah rolls were crispy while the cream cheese mixture was nice and creamy.
The strawberry sauce was tangy, just enough to complement the sweetness of the rest of the French toast.
And as usual, I am a big fan of the already portioned serving. It gives me a better chance of not being a piggy. 🙂
I loved this! I wish I could eat this every spring day. Except I think people would begin to judge me…

French Toast with Maple-Apple Compote

I love French toast. I may or may not have had dreams about Sabrina’s French Toast (in the Italian Market in Philly) but I always have a bit of eater’s remorse when I realize how many calories I managed to consume before 10 am.  I must not be the only one, because Cooking Light had a lighter French Toast recipe that takes advantage of seasonal apples in their most recent issue.

 

Ingredients (4 servings):
 Compote:
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon butter
3 sliced and peeled Fuji apples
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
French toast:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 knotted challah rolls
2 teaspoons butter, divided
Powdered sugar (optional)

Prepare the apples. Peel the apples and slice into somewhat even sizes so that they cook evenly. If you cannot find Fuji apples, Cooking Light suggests substituting Liberty, Pink Lady, or Jonahold apples because they will maintain their shape while cooking.

 

Heat a saute pan over medium heat and coat the pan with cooking spray. Melt 1 teaspoon butter and add the apples. Cook for 8 minutes or until tender. Be sure to stir so that all sides of the apple get evenly cooked.

 

Stir in the maple syrup and cinnamon and keep warm.

 

In a medium bowl, combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Add milk, vanilla extract, salt, and eggs and whisk until blended.

 

Slice each of the challah knots in half.

 

Add the challah pieces 1 or 2 at a time to the milk mixture, coating them well on each side.

 

Using the same saute pan you used for the apple compote (this will give the French toast a slight apple flavor), melt 1/2 teaspoon butter in the pan over medium heat. Add 2 bread slices and cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned. (Because of the knot, press down on the slices so that it can cook evenly). Repeat with remaining butter and slices.
Serve topped with compote and sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

 

This was a very satisfying breakfast, but didn’t weigh me down. The apples caramelized, bringing out their sweetness which was a nice addition to the French toast. I loved using the individual rolls of challah, you end up with an already portioned for you meal.

 

This recipe was so good, I actually made it again the next morning!
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