Day Two: Challah Bread French Toast with Apple Walnut Compote Recipe

For day 2 of the PammiCakes 12 Days of Christmas Indulgences, I am bringing you Challah Bread French Toast with Apple Walnut Compote.  The perfect way to start out your day is with this indulgent breakfast!  I just stumbled into this recipe recently due to a mistake on a trip to the grocery store.  Fortunately, due to a little confusion at the grocery store, we ended up with a loaf of Italian bread and challah bread the other night for our pasta dinner.  We kept with tradition and had the Italian bread during dinner, but we saved the challah bread for the next morning’s breakfast. 

Challah is a slightly sweet, egg bread that is braided. They are truly lovely loaves of bread and such a nice treat.  It makes for the perfect base for this french toast that is savory and delicious.     The crispy pan fried outside and the soft, chewy, sweet bread on the inside is such an amazing way to kick start your day.  I made a quick apple walnut compote to serve on top the challah bread to increase the indulgency of the meal.  The warm, soft apple apples combined with the challah bread is a match made in culinary heaven. 

Bread French Toast with Apple Walnut Compote Recipe
Serves 2

Challah French Toast
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 teaspoons milk
4 slices of challah bread

Apple Walnut Compote
2 apples, cored and cubed
1/2 cups walnuts, chopped
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg

First start the compote on the stove, so it is ready once the french toast is cooked.  In a small sauce pan, add all apple walnut compote ingredients up above.  Stir the ingredients together so all the apples are coated.  Cover the sauce pan and simmer over medium-low heat until the apples are soft. 

In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg whites, vanilla, cinnamon and milk.  Once all ingredients are incorporated together, dip one piece of bread in the mixture at a time.  Flip to coat both sides. 

Place the egg soaked bread onto a hot griddle that has been greased. Cook on both sides until golden brown.

Serve with a hearty serving of the apple walnut compote and maple syrup.  Enjoy!

Tips:
1)      This would also be delicious without the apple compote.

2)     If you don’t have apples, you can substitute pears, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, or anything else you have on hand.

Cranberry White Chocolate Baked French Toast Recipe

One of my favorite parts of grocery shopping is walking by the bakery section and smelling all of the fresh baked bread.  I have very, very, very little self restraint when it comes to bread.  So I find myself bringing home a large loaf of fresh baked French bread for just Bill and I.  Even for me this is a lot of bread for two people.  It is always amazing the day of, but I have a difficult time keeping it fresh over the next few days.  So I came up with this baked French toast recipe to use up my day old bread. 

Baked French toast is delicious and less hassle than making typical French toast.  Just throw it all into a baking dish, let it sit over night and then put it in the oven.  Baked French toasts are perfect for a brunch as it allows you to enjoy your time with your guests while the oven does all of the work, but you end up with the flavors of a French toast.  Feel free to mix up the cranberries and white chocolate with any other flavors that you enjoy. 

Cranberry White Chocolate Baked French Toast Recipe

Preheat oven to 350^o

1/2 loaf French bread, day old and cut into chunks

4 eggs

2/3 cup milk (I used Skim)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup white chocolate chip chunks

Place the French bread chunks into an 8X8 baking dish. 

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon.  Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread.  Next, sprinkle the cranberries and white chocolate chunks over the bread egg mixture.  If necessary, use a spoon and stir the bread so that it is evenly coated with the egg mixture.

Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.  When ready, bake for 25-30 minutes until top is golden brown.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Strawberry & Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast Recipe

I love when birthdays fall on the weekends.  That means that a fun breakfast can be included into the festivities!  My husband celebrated his birthday on the 14th, and that meant a special breakfast for him to wake up to.  I love to add new twists on the traditional breakfast foods.  For Bill's birthday, I decided to add a smooth cream cheese and sweet strawberry 'stuffing' to french toast. 

The stuffed french toast was assembled like a sandwich, spreading cream cheese on both sides of the bread to hold everything together.  If you don't have strawberries on hand any other fruit would work well; blueberries, raspberries, banana, apple, pears, etc. 

Strawberry & Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast Recipe

Serves 2

3 eggs

1 teaspoon of milk

2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon vanilla

4 slices of bread

4 ounces of cream cheese

5 large strawberries, sliced

1 teaspoon powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting

Grease and heat a griddle pan. 

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine with a fork the cream cheese, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. powdered sugar.  Spread mixture onto all 4 slices of bread.  On two slices, place the strawberries in a single layer on top of the cream cheese mixture.  Place the extra slice of bread, cream cheese side down, on top of the strawberries and gently push them together. 

Dip the stuffed bread into the egg mixture, coating both sides, and place on the hot griddle.  Cook each side until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Serve immediately sprinkled with powdered sugar. 

Tips:

      1)  Feel free to double this recipe if you want to make it for more people.  The measurements are flexible and you can make it to your taste.

      2)  We used whole wheat bread, but this would be just as good with white, brioche, challah, or your favorite type of bread

     3) As mentioned above, feel free to mix and match any of your favorite fruits to this recipe.