Tyler's parents came to visit us in early February, which was such a treat. Poor Logan wasn't feeling great, but we managed to eat lots of good food, See's Candies, pizza from Arturo's, dinner at Souvlaki (one of our favs), did lots of projects around the apartment, and hosted a fun brunch with my cousins. I wanted to mix things up, so I tried a few new brunch recipes, which I thought came out pretty good!
Strawberries and Cream Baked French Toast
Here's the original recipe, but I made some tweaks to it.
Ingredients
- French Toast
- 1 16-ounce loaf of French bread or sourdough bread cut into 1-inch cubes with the ends discarded.
- 1/2 cup cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 bag frozen strawberries
- 6 large eggs
- 1-1/4 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Streusel Topping:
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour can substitute with gluten free 1-1 flour
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar or coconut sugar (for low carb use erythritol or monk fruit)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cold and cubed
Directions
- Make the Streusel Topping: n a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Cut in the cubed butter with a pastry blender or two forks. Set aside in the fridge.
- Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, mix the softened cream cheese with 1 tablespoon of the maple syrup.
- Arrange half of the bread cubes in the bottom of the baking dish. Drop spoonfuls of the softened cream cheese over the bread and top with half of the berries.
- Layer with remaining bread cubes on top.
- In a large bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, maple syrup, add brown sugar and vanilla.
- Pour evenly over bread cubes. Press the bread cubes slightly down to absorb the milk/egg mixture.
- Top evenly with remaining berries. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the berries. Cover pan with foil. Allow to chill in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight.
- When ready to bake, remove french toast from the fridge. Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 23-26 minutes or until fluffy and golden.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm with syrup.
Asparagus Frittata with Creme Fraiche
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of Asparagus chopped into pieces
- 12 eggs
- 6 tablespoons of chopped chives
- 6 tablespoons of creme fraiche (my grocery store didn't have this, so I used plain yogurt and it worked just fine)
- 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
- Salt and black pepper
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and chop the chives.
- Beat eggs, chives, creme fraiche, and half of the feta with a big pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
- Heat a large pat of butter in a cast iron pan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the asparagus pieces and a pinch of salt. Cook until the asparagus is tender and charred.
- Pour egg and cheese mixture into the pan and gently stir, spreading asparagus evenly around the pan. Cook until the eggs are beginning to set around the edges and then place the pan in the oven.
- After 8-10 minutes, sprinkle the remaining feta over the frittata and cook for another 2-5 minutes, or until the eggs are just set (they should jiggle slightly when you shake the pan). Serve the dish hot.
Maple Bacon Sweet Potato Hash
I don't have a picture of this dish, but it was so easy and quite delicious. You can see what it looks like here. This is a fun and easy side for brunch. I also decided to cut the bacon with kitchen shears, which was a much better way to cook the bacon than cooking it in strips and trying to crumble it later. I thought the bacon retained a lot more of it's flavor and wasn't as dry as a result. I also cooked the sweet potatoes in the oven instead of in the frying pan.
Ingredients
- 4 cups sweet potatoes into bite-size pieces, from 2-3 medium sweet potatoes. I cooked mine for about 25 minutes at 400 in the oven (flipping them at the 10 min mark).
- 1 lb bacon diced into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
Directions
- Add the bacon to a large skillet and turn the heat onto medium.
- Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until it’s done through and just beginning to get crispy - about 5-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the bacon.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.
- Carefully drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease out of the skillet and return to the stove top.
- Add the cooked sweet potatoes to the skillet and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Mix the cooked bacon back into the sweet potatoes and drizzle the maple syrup over the top.
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