Cinnamon Orange Baked French Toast Muffins

I always seem to have bread which you could consider "day old" around. Do you?

Last night we had a wonderful steak dinner and I made garlic toast from French sandwich rolls.  They were the perfect accompaniment, but we didn't use them all, so today I had a lonely roll staring at me, saying "use me!"

So French toast came to mind.  But I wanted to try something I was inspired to try, muffin tin French toast.  Basically it is baked French toast, but in a muffin tin instead of a casserole dish.  The only thing I had to settle on was the flavor.  Being citrus season I decided to add the brightness of orange and the warmth of cinnamon since it's still a bit chilly in the mornings.

CINNAMON ORANGE BAKED FRENCH TOAST MUFFINS

The recipe is fast, easy, and tastes wonderful.    They are baked in the muffin tins, so there is no butter or oil (healthier).  Once you bake them in the tins, out comes these cute little things I'm calling French Toast Muffins.  They are perfect little gems.  Slightly crisp on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. 

Perfect for a weekend breakfast, or a brunch, plus the kids will love them!  The flavors of cinnamon and orange coming from the oven is enough to wake the whole family and have them come running.  When they taste them, they will be begging for more!  To keep the sugar count down I served them with a sugar-free syrup. 

With the presentation being so cute and the flavors so warm and comforting, these were definitely a hit and I'll sure you and your family will love these.  Bake up something good this weekend!

Enjoy!




Cinnamon Orange Baked French Toast Muffins

Serves - 8 cups

3 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoons orange extract
1 loaf French sandwich roll, diced into 1-inch cubes
sugar-free syrup, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8 wells of a muffin tin with cooking spray.  Set aside. 

In a large bowl, add the eggs, milk, sugars, cinnamon, and orange extract.  Whisk to combine. 

Add the bread cubes and coat evenly.  All bread to soak up the custard about 3 minutes.  Distribute the bread cubes evenly among the muffin wells lightly piling the cubes on top of each other.  Pour any remaining custard over the cubes.  I filled each one just to the top with bread. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown.  Custard should be set and the muffins should look dry.  Remove from the oven and allow to the tin for 5 minutes.  Remove each muffin with the help of a knife and serve with syrup.  

Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Banana Bread

Yum

How are you liking our Daylight Savings time?  I'm always bummed when I wake up and we've lost an hour but I really love the lighter evenings!

So being bummed when I woke up I decided to bake something for breakfast (or actually brunch by the time I got up, oops!...) from a new cookbook I inherited bought recently.  It's called Bake Good Things by Williams-Sonoma:  Simple Techniques & Foolproof Recipes for Everyday Eating.

This book will bring your baking level up a notch by teaching you different baking techniques.  The book is full of recipes to make cookies, muffins, cobblers, pies, cake, cupcakes, biscuits, breads, & pizzas!  YUM!!! 

The book is broken up into sections that concentrate on a certain baking technique.  I immediately went to the section on Muffins & Quickbreads (my favorite).  To quote the book:

"Muffin-making requires three basic mixing techniques:  creaming the butter, combining the dry ingredients, and then blending them together with some form of liquid".

So I decided to make their Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Banana Bread. We always love a good banana bread, and this sounded delicious.  (Trust me it is....!)

BROWN SUGAR-SOUR CREAM BANANA BREAD

The recipe made 2 loaves but I scaled it down to make 1 loaf which is plenty for us to, with leftovers for several days.  This also includes bananas, with are a healthy ingredient to bake with.  The lend natural moistness and will replace heavy oils.  Who doesn't love healthier baking??  You will want over-ripe bananas that are mashed really well with no lumps remaining.  I use a fork, but a potato masher works great as well.

The bread turned out really moist with the addition of sour cream along with the bananas. It's simple to mix together and uses pantry staples. We just loved the flavor and texture of this bread.  A hint of cinnamon and nutmeg add a nice deep earthy flavor.  To add some decadence, dark chocolate chips can be added to the batter if you like.  I kept it simple this time around, sticking to recipe.  I use this loaf pan, which has served me well, but this is also a really good pan to use.

This light, moist and crumbly bread will have you reaching for the coffee and a good book! 

Enjoy!




Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Banana Bread

slightly adapted from Bake Good Things

makes 1 loaf

cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 large, extra ripe bananas
1 egg, large
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbls unsalted butter, melted
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x5" loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a bowl, sift together the flour baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  In a large bowl, whisk together the bananas, eggs, brown sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and melted butter.  Add the flour mixture and whisk to combine. (Don't overmix - only until combined)

Add the batter to the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with turbaned sugar.  Baked until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

Let the banana bread cool slightly in the pan, and on a wire rack, then turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Benefits of Oranges

Yum

There is still plenty of citrus in the markets, so before it goes away until next year I wanted to talk a little about Oranges.

Oranges are one of the greatest members of the citrus family.  Nutrients in oranges are plentiful and diverse. The fruit is low in calories, contains no saturated fats or cholesterol, but is rich in fiber.

Oranges, like other citrus fruits, are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and other antioxidants.  They also contain minerals like potassium and calcium.  Oranges are in season  from October to February/March, (depending on the variety) although I am still seeing these delicious beauties everywhere.  Some varieties of sweet oranges are Valencia, Navel, Persian variety, blood orange, and Cara Cara.

I'm IN LOVE with Cara Cara oranges right now!

Oranges can be kept at room temperature for a week or so. They will also stay fresh for a few weeks in the refrigerator.  

Celebrate the goodness of oranges while they are still around!  Here are some of my favorite orange recipes:




Orange Salad with Arugula and Spinach






Simple Asian Salad







Blood Orange and Pear Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette






California Salad

Orange Iced Tea

Pork Chops in an Orange-Cumin Sauce

Caribbean Chicken Salad


Enjoy!