Baked French Toast with Apples and Cinnamon Syrup
Most Sunday mornings are the same at our place. Ben and I rock-paper-scissors for who gets to sleep in, the kids get a luxurious dose of morning cartoons and eventually we have a lazy breakfast. Not just breakfast, pancakes. One or both of the kids are always in the kitchen with me helping out. I like cooking with them most of all on weekends as the rush of the weekday isn’t stressing us out and brunch food is a great motivator for most little sous chefs. I’ve always had my kids in the kitchen with me, long before they could help. When both Esme and Julian were babies I’d place their bouncy chairs on the counter so we could keep each other company while I made dinner. Now they both regularly a part of a few recipes each week. I can’t say it’s eradicated every picky phase that they go through but it’s a nice way to spend time together and they’re both extremely proud of their cooking abilities. Plus, I figure by the time they’re about 10 they’ll be making me dinner. I promise I’ll help out!
The lovely folks over at the Dairy Farmers of Canada want to know how you get your kids in the kitchen. Tell the story of your family kitchen you could be one of 5 finalists to win $500 in groceries or the grand prize winner of $2,500! They’ve also started a great website, The Family Kitchen, with lots of recipes and tips for getting your whole family cooking together.
This weekend we decided to try something new. I found this recipe on The Family Kitchen and Esme was keen to help me. I’ve never made baked French toast this way and it was really easy. The apples in cinnamon syrup were amazing and I didn’t miss the usual maple syrup we have with pancakes and French toast. Esme measured out all of the ingredients, mixed it all together and ate about a half an apple in the process. Oh, well…
Ingredients
- for the french toast:
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 8 thick slices of egg bread or French bread (I used a multigrain baguette)
- 3 Tbsp melted butter
- For the apples and cinnamon syrup topping:
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
Method
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large, shallow dish whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon together
Dip your bread into the egg mixture
Make sure the bread gets well coated and then leave it to soak up the mixture for around 5 minutes
Line a baking sheet with foil and brush with melted butter.
Arrange your bread on the sheet and pop in the hot oven for about 12 minutes.
Take it out of the oven, flip the bread over and bake again for another 10 to 15 minutes.
While your French toast is baking you can make your apples and syrups.
Place the butter and brown sugar in a wide skillet and let it melt over medium heat.
Give it a good stir as it melts.
Now add the water, cinnamon and apples. Stir it well so the apples get coated in the syrup. Allow it cook until the apples are just tender, about 10 minutes.
Serve the French toast with a generous spoon of apples and syrup.
Esme may be the only kid in the world who doesn’t really care for cracking eggs. She hates the feeling of raw eggs on her fingers – even for a second. But she did agree to look after most of this section of the recipe! Her tip: Mix until everything is one single colour.
Julian got involved in this step, too, so things got a bit messy but that’s par for the course when there’s more than one helper.
Esme thought whipped cream would be a nice addition to this dish and she’s not wrong. I didn’t feel like gilding the lily this weekend but if you made it for a brunch for friends you might give it a try.
Although this post has generously been sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Canada, the opinions and language are all my own.
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We're Ceri and Laura, a couple of magazine-editors-turned-food-bloggers. Also, we're mothers obsessed with delicious, healthy, family food. We're constantly thinking of ways to make your time (and our own!) in the kitchen easier and more productive, but still nostalgic for the days when dinner was cereal eaten over the kitchen sink.
2 Comments
Christine
November 21, 14:02This looks delicious and parents always like recipes that kids can help out with. I think my 3 and 6 year old would love this (unlike your daughter, they both love to crack eggs and it often ends up very messy). I’m going to check out The Family Kitchen website now! Thanks!
Ceri Marsh
November 26, 08:23Let me know if you make this recipe, Christine! We loved it. There were lots of other great recipes and ideas on the site as well.