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!

Nigella Lawson's Croque Monsieur Bake

If you like a toasted cheese sandwich then you will love this croque monsieur bake by Nigella Lawson. It takes a bit more time but not much more effort and makes a great brunch or lunch. One advantage over toasted sandwiches is you don’t have to make them one or two at a time (limited by space in your grill or toasted sandwich maker) – you can make a large portion in an oven-proof dish. Nigella’s recipe says it serves 4-6 but I did this for two people one lunchtime recently.

 

The method is simple – spread your sliced bread with mustard if you like, or for those with more sensitive palates or who dislike mustard you could use butter or marg. Put some sliced cheese and ham into each sandwich – you could also be a bit more adventurous with your fillings if you like, but I stuck with ham and cheese.
 

 

Put the sandwiches into an oven-proof dish – don’t be afraid to really squish them in.

 

Beat eggs, salt and milk and pour over the sandwiches in the oven-proof dish. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight for the bread to get really moist.

 

 

When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200C, remove the clingfilm and sprinkle with grated cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes and serve.

 

You don’t get the same crispy effect as you would with a toasted sandwich – these have a texture more like French toast or ‘eggy bread’ – but the oozy cheesiness is lovely.

 

 

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!

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.