Pinterest: Strawberry and Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

I LOVE breakfast food, and I LOVE this recipe. It is so great for special occasions, a brunch or holiday mornings. Or anytime, if you have enough people around to eat it all. The recipe comes from Jamie Cooks It Up! I have really been enjoying her recipes, and will be sharing more very soon. So if you are looking for ideas, head on over to her site. She even arranges a monthly meal plan for free, to give you ideas of what to make that time of year, including recipes to go along with whatever holidays are during that month.

I have made this recipe twice in the last month for family and everyone really enjoyed it. You can try it with the strawberries and powdered sugar as she suggests or, if you're a purist, just go with syrup. You will not be disappointed. After all, with french bread layered over caramel with cream cheese and strawberries in the middle, how can you go wrong?

This would be a GREAT breakfast for Easter Morning, just sayin'. :)

If you want more detailed, step by step pictures, just clink on the link below.

image from Jamie Cooks It Up

Strawberry and Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

Jamie Cooks It Up

Time: 20 minutes prep + overnight refrigeration then 60-90 minutes baking Yield: 10 servings Recipe from my pretty sister Alli Barh 1 loaf french bread 1/2 C melted butter 3/4 C brown sugar  1/2 C corn syrup 8  oz cream cheese 1 egg  1/3 C sugar 1/2 C strawberry jam 8 eggs 1 C milk cinnamon Fresh Strawberries  Powdered sugar    1. Combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. 2. Slice up your bread. You want the pieces to be about 1/2 inch thick. 3. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour the butter/brown sugar mixture in the bottom of  the pan. 4. Smooth it all out, so it covers the bottom entirely. 5. Lay your slices of bread on top of the buttery brown sugar. I had to cut some of my slices  in half, still turned out great! You can have them touch each other, just not overlap. 6. In a separate bowl combine the cream cheese, egg, sugar and strawberry jam. Beat with  hand held beaters (or in your stand mixer) until nice and smooth. Pour it right over the top of the bread. 7. Layer more bread over the top of the cream cheese filling. 8. In another bowl (ok, this takes a lot of bowls!) combine the 8 eggs and 1 C of milk. Whisk  them around until well combined. Pour over the top of the bread.  9. Sprinkle the top of the bread with some cinnamon. 10. Cover and refrigerate overnight. 11. Bake in the morning at 350. Depending on how quickly your oven cooks, and how cold you  keep your fridge you will need to bake it for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It needs to soak up all of the egg  and milk juice, and have time to caramelize along the bottom. Take the foil off for the last  15 minutes of cooking.  12. Serve with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar. You can also use frozen strawberries.  This is the middle of the winter after all! Just be sure they have had a chance to thaw.  Enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

This is Chelsea's recipe, but I'm posting in case she doesn't get around to it.  It was originally found on Recipe Snobs from a link on Pinterest. When she came to visit last week, she made this several times and found the secret for smooth, easy to swirl, cinnamon mixture was in the unsalted butter.  These seem much healthier than a cinnamon roll for breakfast, and not to mention much faster and easier.  Try them they might be your new favorite.

I chose to mix the cinnamon and sugar mixture right in the bag in the microwave.  You want a thin stream so be sure and cut a small tip off the bag.

 I thought this stream was a little heavy so I changed to a new bag with a smaller tip.

 Add a little icing (I thought it was good with maple syrup as well).

 Enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Cinnamon Filling

     4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)

     1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

     1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Glaze

     4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

     2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

     3/4 cup powdered sugar

     1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pancakes

     1 cup all-purpose flour

     2 teaspoons baking powder

     1/2 teaspoon salt

     1 cup milk

     1 large egg, lightly beaten

     1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

Prepare the cinnamon filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the butter (needs to be unsalted), brown sugar, and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a quart-sized heavy zip baggie and set it aside.

Prepare the glaze: In a small pan, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until it is almost smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the pan, stir and add in vanilla extract. Set the pan aside while you make the pancakes.

Prepare the pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the milk, egg and oil, just until the batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).

Cook the pancakes: Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-heat and spray with nonstick spray. Use an ice cream scoop (or I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup) to add the batter to the pan. Use the bottom of the scoop or cup to spread the batter into a circle about 4-inches in diameter (I did not have to do this because my batter was thin enough to spread out by itself). Reduce the heat to medium low. Snip the corner of your baggie of cinnamon filling and squeeze the filling into the open corner (you may need to knead the cinnamon filling before clipping the bag, as the filling tends to separate a little). When your pancake begins to form bubbles, add the filling. Starting at the center of the pancake, squeeze the filling on top of the pancake batter in a swirl, just as you see in a regular cinnamon roll (be careful not to get the filling to close to the side. You want to keep it about a 1/4 of an inch away from the edge or it will bleed over). Cook the pancake 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake and it's golden brown on the bottom. Slide a thin, wide metal spatula underneath the pancake and gently but quickly flip it over. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the other side is golden as well. When you flip the pancake onto a plate, you will see that the cinnamon filling has created a crater-swirl of cinnamon. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, and repeat with the remaining pancake batter and cinnamon filling. Re-warm the glaze briefly, if needed. Serve pancakes topped with a drizzle of glaze.

Yields: Eight 4-inch pancakes

Pinterest: Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Most of my posts have been coming from Pinterest lately. Sorry, about that. But believe me, I have tried quite a few recipes from Pinterest that haven't worked out, so in my opinion it is nice to know which ones to try!

As you might have been able to tell, we have been busy lately. My sister recently had to have her baby 5 weeks early due to preeclampsia and my Mom (Vera), was helping her out for a while. My nephew was in the NICU for about 2 weeks but is now home with his family! And I have been getting ready for our second little boy to come in 4 weeks. It is like I suddenly realized I actually need to start getting things ready now. :) But, that's why I didn't get a post out last week. I have also been trying to spend lots of fun time with my toddler, knowing he is going to be seriously neglected in the coming weeks. It breaks my heart a little, knowing my world won't focus around just him anymore. But he is SO excited for his little brother to come, and so are we!

Anyways, a good friend of mine, whose due date is tomorrow, is also having a little boy. And as her wonderful friends :), we put on a baby shower. We decided to go the route of a brunch, instead of a lunch this time and I think it turned out great. We had a variety of bagels with cream cheese, juice, and build-your-own yogurt parfaits. It was all SO good! Normally we do some kind of cake or cupcakes for dessert at baby showers, and we were trying to figure out what to do since it would be earlier in the morning. Then I stumbled across Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes from Pink Parsley on Pinterest. I couldn't believe how perfect these would be. I mean it is just a cinnamon roll in a cupcake liner, but seriously how cute! And so easy to eat.

I will be honest, making breads are not my favorite. I always stress about it rising just right and such. Everything turns out fine in the end, but you know, I am learning and getting better each time. I choose to use the recipe found on Pink Parsley because I wasn't sure if other recipes would work just as well. I liked the cinnamon rolls, they were a little denser and drier than I expected, definitely not a gooey cinnamon roll. If you want gooey I would try your own recipe. But, I liked how they held up and everyone said they tasted great. My husband LOVED the frosting and raved about it for days, which is totally uncommon for him. So give it a try. I will definitely try to bake them as cupcakes using different cinnamon roll recipes in the future, and see how they turn out! Happy Baking!

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes
adapted from Beantown Baker, originally from La Fuji Mama
Servings: 24

• 2 1/4 tsp. or 1 packet dry active yeast
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1 cup warm milk (approximately 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar 

Dissolve the yeast and 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar in the warm milk in a large bowl and let stand for about 10 minutes until foamy.

Mix in the eggs, butter, salt, and other 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Add flour and mix until well blended and the dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead about 5-10 times. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about one hour).

After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners, and lightly spray over the top of them with cooking spray.

Roll dough into a 12x22 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 24 rolls using dental floss or a pastry cutter. You may have to unroll each roll and re-roll in order for the dough to fit in a cupcake tin.

Place each roll in a cupcake liner. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Alternatively, allow to rise overnight in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Let rolls cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, mix cream cheese and butter using the whisk attachment of a mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar until desired consistency has been reached.

A few notes, my dough did not rise hardly at all overnight in the refrigerator. But they cooked up just fine. I did re-roll each one, and cut off excess that was too long, and then I pieced all the excess pieces together to make other rolls.

Seriously, how cute are those? I know you want one! :)

French Toast with Buttermilk Syrup

Can you say YUM, YUM?  This syrup is a caramel type syrup and is delicious.  It is so easy to make and tastes wonderful.  I love it with fresh strawberries, but in the off season I keep some frozen on hand.  My teenage son was hesitant to try this, but once he did he discovered it's the best syrup ever.  Give it a try! 

Don't let the buttermilk part turn you away - see my tip at the bottom of the post!  You can even make it with sour milk in an pinch, but try getting some buttermilk powder - it's worth it.

Use a good size pan, because this stuff really grows.

It needs to boil for just a few minutes.

After adding vanilla and baking soda, you can see that it has tripled in size - therefore the need for a large pan.

When it first comes off the stove it will be really frothy - no problem just serve and enjoy.  After it sits it will look like this.  It may not look like much, but it tastes divine.

 French Toast with Buttermilk Syrup


Prepare French Toast as desired top with fresh fruit such as strawberries or blueberries and pour buttermilk syrup over top.  It is divine!

Buttermilk Syrup:

½ cup buttermilk

1 cup sugar

1 cube real butter

1 tsp light corn syrup

Bring to boil in a saucepan.  Remove from head and add:

½ tsp vanilla

½ tsp baking soda

Stir with a wire whip and be careful as it really foams up!-about triple the size.

(I use powdered buttermilk that I keep on hand and mix up a 1/2 cup at a time.  There are quite a few places you can get this from - I ordered mine from the prepared pantry - http://www.preparedpantry.com/wisconsin-buttermilk-powder-1.aspx)  Of course you can use regular buttermilk from the store.