Brown Sugar Streusel Baked French Toast

Great for Christmas morning breakfast! I prepared this the night before after being out for Christmas Eve dinner since I was baking all day and didn't have anymore time before we went out. It was really easy to prepare. It was also really nice to wake up Christmas morning, pop it in the oven and a half hour later have breakfast ready! (Along with eggs and bacon, of course.) I used french bread instead of regular white bread. I just thought it would taste better....and I'm sure it did!

Adapted from: www.BakingBites.com


INGREDIENTS
12 slices [white] bread (I used french bread)
2 cups milk
4 large eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Streusel
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp all purpose flour
pinch salt
2 tbsp butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
Cut crusts off bread and cut each piece into triangles. (Or slice the french bread and leave on crusts like I did.) Arrange bread into three even layers (the exact number of slices will vary depending on the size of the bread you start out with) in a lightly greased 8-inch baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, brown sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth. Pour over bread. Press down to ensure all pieces are thoroughly soaked. (I still had some on top of the liquid, which I liked since those ones came out a bit crunchy.) Custard should just come to the top of the bread layer. It if covers it more deeply, add additional bread.In a small bowl, make the streusel. Stir together brown sugar, flour and salt. Pour in butter and stir with a form until mixture has the consistency of wet sand. Sprinkle evenly over bread and custard. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350F and bake for about 30-35 minutes, until french toast is a golden brown on top. Let the dish stand for a few minutes. The dish will be very soft and souffle-like, but should not be too runny. The french toast will continue to set and soak up the custard as it cools. Slice and serve warm, with maple syrup.
Serves 6-8

Peanut Butter Crumble Cake

Onto the second baking project of the snow day... I figured I'd try a coffee cake.

I couldn't help but think that chocolate chips would taste better in this recipe than raisins (which I didn't have anyway). So, I made half of the recipe just omitting the raisins and the second half of the cake sprinkled with semisweet chocolate chips. I must say, I liked it with the chips better! But when can I ever resist peanut butter and chocolate??

Adapted from: www.BakingBites.com

INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 cup raisins (I omitted and topped off half of the cake with semisweet chocolate chips)
1 cup crunchy peanut butter, room temperature

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a hand mixer (or with a spoon, if you’re so motivated), beat in the softened butter until mixture resembles wet sand. Remove 3/4 cup of the mixture to a medium bowl and set aside. Add buttermilk and egg to the large bowl with the remaining flour mixture. Stir well, until no streaks of flour remain, then stir in raisins (if desired). Pour into prepared pan. Add peanut butter to medium bowl with remaining 3/4 cup flour mixture. Stir well and crumble (or drop in clumps, as the mixture will be thick) onto the cake batter in the pan. (Here is where I sprinkled some chocolate chips on top of the cake, just half to try it out!) Bake for about 30 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Spinach and Egg Breakfast Casserole

Every year we have a Girls' Christmas Brunch and for some reason I always end up making an egg casserole instead of a baked good! This year I tried a different one and it was very tasty and easy. (The other one I used to make was great - but had 12 eggs and lots of bacon - very unhealthy after the holidays!) I used more croutons that called for - 2 cups barely covered the bottom of the pan. However, they do bake into the egg and cheese so it's really your preference how much you want in there.

Adapted from: www.Recipes.SparkPeople.com

INGREDIENTS
8 - large eggs
2 - cups milk
2 - cups Colby shredded cheese
1 - pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 tsp. dry mustard (I omitted - I didn't have any and I hate mustard!)
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2 - cups Seasoned Croutons (I used more than 2 cups, probably close to 3. It just didn't look like enough!)

DIRECTIONS
Spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle 2-3 cups of croutons in the pan and spread cheese over croutons. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk and spices until well blended, then add the spinach until well combined. Pour egg mixture over croutons, cover with foil and put in fridge over night. The next morning, take casserole out of fridge and let sit for 1/2 hour, pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Place covered casserole in oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Any vegetable can be added to casserole or cooked and drained sausage & poured over croutons. Red bell peppers or chopped tomatoes can be added to top halfway through baking to add color.

Gingerbread Pancakes

I messed these up a little. Actually, MY HUSBAND messed these up a little. Or blame Acme because they didn't have buttermilk on Christmas morning! I found out after the fact that you can substitute milk & vinegar (or lemon juice) if you don't have buttermilk. My husband thought the substitute would be sour cream, which led to our pancakes being very thick. They were still tasty and gave a very Christmas-y feel to breakfast before opening our gifts. (I could not wait until afterwards - Hungry Laura would have come out!)

Adapted from: www.BakingBites.com

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 salt1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
pinch nutmeg
pinch black pepper
1 1/8 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 tbsp melted butter (or vegetable oil)
2 tbsp dark molasses

DIRECTIONS
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and black pepper in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, melted butter and molasses. Pour into flour mixture and stir until just combined.Heat a nonstick or lightly greased pan over medium high heat, until a drop of water sizzles on it. Drop dollops of batter to make 3-inch pancakes. Turn when the edges of the pancakes begin to look dry and the bottom is golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Cook second side until it is golden, 1-2 minutes. Serve immediately.Serves 2-3 people with lots of maple syrup.