Valentine Breakfast: French Toast

Here is another great Valentine's Breakfast idea: heart shaped French Toast. A heart shaped cookie cutter helps make these easy to do for anyone, even the kids can help.

To make this yummy French Toast you will need:

Bread of choice (I used French Bread)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon milk
1 pinch cinnamon
heart shaped cookie cutter

Start by making your coating. Mix your eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Next, cut your hearts out of your bread. Dip each piece and place onto a hot skillet to cook, flip to cook both sides. Each side usually takes around a minute for me on a medium heat. Plate and top with whatever you like: fresh fruit, syrup, jam, powdered sugar, etc.

To avoid waste, sometimes I use the outer parts of my bread as french toast as well, put jam on my hearts and place them back inside like so:

If French Toast isn't quite your style, you can also use a cookie cutter to make yourself some biscuits, cut out bread for sandwiches, etc.

Valentine Breakfast: Scones

I'm bringing some extra food crafts this weekend in honor of Valentine's Day. I'll start off with this easy scone recipe. It makes some super yummy, tender scones and you can substitute in berries, dried fruits and more to make any flavor you like. Also, while a lot of scone recipes call for cutting in cold butter, these use melted butter and make a spoonable batter. Easy for you, yummy for the ones you love :)

To make these super yummy scones you will need:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional--I really love cinnamon with chocolate)
1 pinch salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate, you can use any chocolate fruit etc you like)
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1 cup heavy cream

extra cinnamon and sugar to top (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pour in chocolate chips and toss around to coat them with the flour mixture (this will help keep them suspended in your scones).

Make a small well in the middle of your flour and pour in your cream and melted butter. Stir until all ingredients come together, batter will resemble a very thick pancake batter.

Using a large dough scoop or spoon, scoop scones onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar mixture if desired. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until slightly golden on top. Makes 10-12 scones.

Enjoy!

Friday Food Craft: Granola Bars

I'm a little obsessed with these granola bars. They are really yummy and packed with flavor. I came across the original recipe from Dinners, Dishes and Desserts and had to dabble with it to get my own favorites involved.

To make my version of these tasty granola bars you will need:

1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup natural almond butter
1/3 cup honey (I used blackberry honey)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds
1/2 cup coconut, toasted
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats, not quick oats

To start, melt your oil, almond butter and honey together in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add in the dark chocolate chips and stir until melted.

Remove from heat and add in your remaining ingredients. Stir until everything is evenly coated and well combined.

Pour into a small baking dish that has been lined with parchment paper (my dish was 9"x7"). I tried some of these in a dish that had just been greased, and while they do come out, it is much harder to get them out of the pan looking nice. I'd definitely go for the parchment paper.

Place in refrigerator to set and store them there. They get a little gooey at room temperature, delicious but messy.

Enjoy! I have plans to try some with marshmallows and graham crackers as mix ins for S'mores granola bars soon!