Easy Chocolate French Toast

This is an indulgent brunch or snack that's easy to whip up- all you need is three slices of bread, some chocolate spread, an egg, and ideally some sugar or sweetener as well!

The idea came from the Slimming Foodie though her recipe also uses peanut butter, which sounds very nice. I just wanted to quickly share what I made and send you back to her website for more detailed instructions and recipe.

Spread two slices of bread with chocolate spread and sandwich together with a third slice so you have three layers.

 

Beat an egg in a small bowl with a dash of vanilla essence and dip both sides of the sandwich so it is coated in egg.

 

Fry the sandwich on both sides for a couple of minutes, then sprinkle one side of the bread with sugar or sweetener, turn and fry for another minute. Sprinkle the other side, then turn and fry that side for a minute.

That’s literally all you need to do – you can cut the crusts off the bread or leave them on. You end up with a toasted sandwich that’s moist and slightly sweet on the outside, with a gooey chocolate middle – fun for an occasional treat!

Chocolate Orange Croissant French Toast

I don't usually eat croissants unless I'm out for breakfast or staying in a hotel - I do like them but they seem a bit much for a regular breakfast at home. Also, they have to be bought or made fresh, and are really fiddly to make.

A few months ago we were given a packet of croissants - I think that were leftover from a family brunch - and I put them in the freezer. As we hadn't gotten around to using them and I wasn't sure how nice they would be once defrosted, I decided to use them in a dessert.

The Co-Op had a recipe in their free magazine (which I love - pick it up if you get a chance) for baked croissant French toast. These were served with frozen mixed berries but I decided to stick with the chocolate orange flavours. I also increased the amount of chocolate!

To serve 2, you need:
2 large or 4 small croissants, cut in half or quarters
275ml semi-skimmed milk
2 eggs
25g caster sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
zest of 1/2 orange
20g dark chocolate, grated

Preheat oven to 170C/ fan 140C. Place the croissants in a single layer in an oven-proof dish. Beat the milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and half the orange zest in a jug. Pour over the croissants then sprinkle over the grated chocolate for 45 minutes until the croissants are golden brown.

It does have a taste and texture similar to French toast - nice!

Eggs Benedict Waffles

I was inspired to make these eggs benedict waffles by this recipe on BBC Good Food but leaving out the Marmite - my husband likes Marmite but I don't and as I didn't have it in the house anyway it seemed easier to leave it out!

I love eggs benedict and am often to be found trying to get the perfectly poached egg - my current favourite technique is to use a Poachie bag.

The idea of a savoury waffle instead of an English muffin was a new one to me but I have a waffle maker so I decided to give it a go. It tasted really good!

The eggs look a bit lost on top of the waffles - next time I would do two eggs on one waffle or add some strips of crispy bacon as well.

Eggs Bunnadict

Here's an Easter twist on one of my favourite breakfast or brunch dishes, eggs benedict - it uses hot cross buns, hence the name eggs bunnadict!

The name comes from a dish served by the ETM bar group, which owns bars like the Botanist in the City of London - I haven't actually been to them but read in the Evening Standard about a dish they were serving over Easter: strawberry marshmallow and vanilla and coconut panna cotta on a hot cross bun base. It sounded awesome but I preferred the idea of making something savoury - and when I heard that Marks & Spencer had launched some savoury cheese and onion hot cross buns I decided these would be perfect for the base.

I couldn't get hold of any unfortunately - I asked staff in one M&S Simply Food and they had never heard of them and seemed surprised when I said M&S had recently announced their launch (do they not pay any attention to internal communications?!) and then suggested I try again in a few weeks - after Easter. Hmm.

M&S were then very helpful via Twitter and checked stock at two other stores local to me but said they didn't have any in stock, which was a shame (at least they knew what I was talking about this time!).

I knew there was no way I would have time to make my own hot cross buns so decided to take a punt and make eggs benedict on normal i.e. sweet hot cross buns and see how they would turn out... I was a bit nervous as my husband doesn't like sweet and savoury together and declared the bacon brownies I made from a Nigella recipe "an abomination". So it was a nice surprise when he said bacon, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce on a toasted hot cross bun shouldn't work... but strangely did!

So there you go - if you want a new way to enjoy your hot cross bun this Easter, try this Eggs Bunnadict!

Cheesy Ham and Hash Brown Casserole

This is something a bit different for breakfast or brunch - a cheesy ham and hash brown casserole. I think it would work well as a side dish as part of a larger breakfast - if you were cooking for a crowd for instance. We had it on its own and my husband said it needed something like sausage or bacon with it, and as it is quite rich and calorific, I think perhaps a couple of spoonfuls with some fried eggs or similar would be better. Either way it did taste really good!

Today is Valentine's day and you could even make it if you are cooking your loved one a special breakfast. I had planned to post a Valentine's cake today but due to unforeseen circumstances have been unable to make it!

You can find the recipe here at AllRecipes.com. It's an American recipe and I have a feeling that when it lists frozen hash browns in the ingredients, it means shredded potato rather than the triangular wedges you get in the frozen food department of UK supermarkets. I've eaten that sort of hash brown before in America and it makes more sense when the recipe instructs you to mix them in a bowl, I don't imagine it means the solid triangular ones.

However that was all I had and it worked fine, if a little difficult to mix initially - but when it was baked it was perfect! I used tinned ham but you could use leftover from a roast, or add chunks of sausage or diced bacon. I couldn't get cream of potato soup so used leek and potato soup (and to be honest, I felt the recipe was crying out for some green veg! My husband doesn't like leek, otherwise I would have added sliced fresh leek). I also left the parmesan cheese off the top as I decided it was cheesy enough!

So this is what I did:
To serve 6-8 as a side dish or 3-4 as a main dish:

600-700g frozen hash browns
300g tinned ham, diced into large chunks
400g tin of leek and potato soup
150ml sour cream
250g cheddar, grated
splash of milk

 

Preheat oven to 190C. Put the frozen hash browns in a large oven proof dish. In a separate bowl or jug, mix together the soup, cream and ham. Add the grated cheddar and a splash of milk so you have a thick liquid that you can pour over the hash browns.

Pour the mixture into the ovenproof dish and carefully turn the hash browns until they are all coated and covered by the mixture. Bake in the oven for an hour.

Serve with sausages or bacon or fried eggs or as a side dish to a larger buffet brunch.

 

I'm sharing this with the Weekend brunch club linkup hosted by Gingey Bites

 

Goat's Cheese Monte Cristos

When I was at university, my friend Dan made the best late-night post-pub cheese toasties - I've had my own Breville sandwich toaster for several years (the same brand that my parents had when I was a kid, a long time ago) and there is definitely something comforting, if a little greasy, about a toasted cheese sandwich.

I usually add a slice of ham and maybe a smear of mustard to mine, but that's as fancy as it goes. I was looking through a recipe book I have reviewed before called Breakfast for Dinner looking for weekend lunch recipes and came across Monte Cristos - which are effectively cheese toasties but posher.

Apparently this particular recipe originated in the US - it uses turkey and goat's cheese, with hot red pepper jelly for sweetness and spice, though as I didn't have any and didn't want to make it from scratch, I used cranberry jelly instead. You don't need a dedicated sandwich toaster - you make this in a skillet or frying pan, brushing the bread with egg to make an almost eggy-bread texture.

To serve 4, you need:
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
8 slices bread
100g spreadable goat's cheese
1/4 cup hot red pepper jelly - I used cranberry jelly
8 slices roast turkey
2 tbsp. butter

Spread 2 tbsp. goat's cheese onto a slice of bread, then 1 tbsp. jelly. Top with a slice of turkey and another piece of bread to make a sandwich.

Whisk the eggs, milk and salt in a jug and brush over the top of the sandwich.

Melt the butter in the frying pan and place the sandwich in the pan, egg side down. Brush the other side of the sandwich with egg mixture. Cook for 3-4 minutes then turn and cook on the other side, then keep warm wrapped in foil while you repeat with the rest of the sandwiches.

Bacon and Cheese Omelette for Beginners

Can you believe I've never made an omelette before? I don't actually like eating them and it had never really occurred to me to make one, until I was trying to think of something to make my husband for lunch that wasn't a bacon sandwich! I had used several egg yolks in making this chocolate ice cream and couldn't decide what to do with the egg whites as I didn't fancy making meringue. I realised that I could make an egg white omelette - I added an extra egg with the yolk for a bit more colour.

Given I had to google how to make an omelette, I can't be the only person out there who doesn't know how to make one, right? So here's what you do:

Mix the eggs in a bowl with a fork. I'd allow 3 eggs per person. Add some salt and pepper.

Chop up some rashers of bacon and fry, then set aside.

Heat a little butter in another frying pan and pour in the egg mixture; tilt the pan to spread it out evenly.

When the egg is part-cooked, sprinkle with grated cheese and the chopped bacon and continue to cook until the egg is completely set. Turn over and cook on the other side; fold in half onto a plate to serve.

My husband really enjoyed it; I might have to cook him eggs like this again!

Cinnamon French Toast with Caramelised Peaches

I love picking up free magazines from supermarkets, and often get the Tesco magazine, which is packed with features, snippets about new products and recipes. I decided to make a few things from the latest issue, starting with French toast with caramelised peaches. In the recipe, it was served with rum-spiked mascarpone but I decided to do this for brunch and decided the mascarpone would be a bit much. It would have been a nice touch but if you are counting the calories it’s still a really nice dish on its own.

 

I bought a loaf of pre-sliced brioche which made the recipe very easy. To serve two people, you just need to mix 1 egg, 50ml milk, a dash of vanilla essence, a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar and the zest of one orange in a wide shallow bowl, and dip each slice of bread in.

 

Heat a little butter in a frying pan and fry each slice of bread on both sides until browned. I put the oven on low (100C) to keep the slices of brioche warm as I was doing a few rounds in the frying pan. This way, you can also do the peaches in the same pan to save on washing up.

Peel and halve a fresh peach, removing the stone (one per person is about right) and heat a little more butter in the pan. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon and press onto the cut side of each peach. Fry in the frying pan on both sides until softened, and serve with the French toast.

 

 

If you want to serve with mascarpone you just beat 75g mascarpone cheese with 1/2 tbsp. rum and 1/2 tbsp. icing sugar and serve.

 

Bacon and Cheddar Scrolls

I've started doing my shopping in Sainsbury's a lot more - there's a large store only a few minutes' drive from my house, but as I'm still a relative novice when it comes to driving, I only go first thing or I struggle to get into the spaces in their car park! I recently picked up a copy of Sainsbury's magazine at the till and found lots of recipes inside that I wanted to make. As my fiancé loves bacon and would eat a bacon sandwich for lunch every Saturday and Sunday every week if he could, I get rather bored of it (so he gets a bacon sandwich every few weeks). As soon as I saw this recipe for 'bacon and cheddar scrolls' I knew it would be a winner with both of us as it was something different but still within the bacon category!

This recipe makes quite a few (I can't remember exactly how many) so to serve two people I would halve the quantity.

400g wholemeal bread flour
100g white bread flour
7g yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
50g melted butter
1 tbsp light brown sugar
300 ml lukewarm water

For the filling:
4tbso grainy mustard
8 cooked rashers streaky bacon, crumbled or sliced
100g grated mature Cheddar cheese
3 spring onions, trimmed and sliced

In a large bowl, mix the flour and yeast. In another bowl,  mix the melted butter, water and sugar. Fold in the flour.

Knead for ten minutes if doing by hand; otherwise about five minutes in a stand-mixer (I was very glad of my Kitchenaid at this point!). Grease a large bowl and put the ball of dough inside. Cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for about two hours to prove until doubled in size.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle on a lightly-floured surface and spread with the filling.

Roll up from the long edge like a Swiss roll and slice into rounds.

Lay each slice on its side on a greased and lined baking tray, cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place to prove until doubled in size. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 C and bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes. Best served warm as part of a breakfast or brunch, but you could also leave these to go cold and take them on a picnic.

I'm sending this to Bready Steady Go, hosted by Lucy at BakingQueen74.

French Toast Stuffed with Cream Cheese and Caramelised Pecans

Breakfasts in American hotels are always awesome (even in cheaper chain hotels which all seem to have waffle makers!) and the River Inn of Harbor Town in Memphis was no different. We stayed there for three nights and had some great breakfasts, many of which involved maple syrup. Instead of giving us a jug, we had miniature bottles which were so cute I couldn’t resist keeping one that I didn’t use as a souvenir, to use in cooking at home.

I’d had a brioche loaf in the freezer after not using it when I had friends staying so decided this was the perfect thing to use to make French toast. I wanted to make it a bit more interesting and remembered one hotel I’d stayed in gave us French toast that was stuffed with cheese and came – I think – with caramelised pecans. It turned out to be very easy to make, and delicious when served with crispy bacon!

 

You need:

2-4 slices brioche loaf per person

Handful of pecans

50g butter

50g caster sugar plus 1 tbsp

1 egg

Dash of milk

Dash of vanilla flavouring

Fry light or oil for frying

About 100g cream cheese

Bacon to serve on the side

Maple syrup to drizzle over the top

 

 

First make the candied pecans – place 50g butter and 50g sugar in a small pan and heat until the sugar has melted. Add the nuts and stir around to coat.

 

Cut the brioche loaf into thick slices and use a sharp knife to make a pocket in each slice as best you can. Fill with some cream cheese.

 

Mix a beaten egg with a dash of milk, 1 tbsp sugar and a splash of vanilla and dip each slice of bread into it.

Place in a hot, lightly oiled frying pan – I did these in two batches or you could use two pans, as the bread needs to sit flat. Turn once or twice until browned.

 

Meanwhile fry the bacon, in this case the crispier the better.

 

Serve the stuffed French toast with the pecans scattered over the top and the bacon on the side, and pour over the maple syrup. A very indulgent but enjoyable breakfast or brunch!

I'm sharing this with Alphabakes, the blog challenge I co-host with Ros of The More Than Occasional Baker, as the letter this month is M - in this recipe, M is for maple syrup.

I'm also sending this to the Club Sandwich, a new blog challenge hosted by the Crafty Larder and Cakeyboi.

Finally also to Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom at Belleau Kitchen as the theme is eggy breads, puddings and pastries.