Apple Pie French Toast

 

Hi!

How was your weekend? Mine was really nice, but very busy and just went by a little too quickly. On Saturday, we were fortunate to attend an event at the Food Network Wine & Food Festival and I'll have a bunch of pics and a wrap up later this week! Meanwhile, today is one of my favorite days of the month...Secret Recipe Club reveal day!

For this month, I was assigned Get Off the Couch and Cook. Sashi started her blog to track her journey of eating less processed food. She cooks recipes that are simple and can be made in the same amount of time it takes to order and wait for a pizza. She has so many great recipes that I had a hard time picking just one! Since I still have apple fever, I went with her apple pie French toast because, well, apple pie French toast! 

 

This was a great fall recipe. It's an eggless French toast batter, which I really liked since it didn't risk having an eggy flavor or consistency. The compote came together very simply {although, I will admit that every time I make an apple recipe, I remember why I hate making apple recipes --->so much peeling and chopping!} and made the apartment smell like apple pie and fall and deliciousness all rolled into one. 

 

I made the apple pie compote/filling in advance, which really helped me get breakfast together on Sunday morning. The night before, I peeled and sliced the apples and cooked them down. Then I refrigerated the cooked mixture until the next morning, when I simply threw it back in a pan with a little butter and heated it up. For Penelope's portion, I cut up the finished toast and apples and tossed it all together in a bowl for her. She ate it right up! Mostly the sweet apples, but still ;)

 

Apple Pie French Toast

*Adapted from Get Off the Couch and Cook

For the apple pie filling:

3 tart apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored & sliced

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 C sugar

1/4 C all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 C water

For the French toast:

Apple pie filling

1 C milk

1/4 C all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 Tbsp butter

Thick bread, such as white or wheat

To make the filling:

Toss the apple slices with the lemon juice and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Pour into a large sauce pan on the stovetop over medium heat and whisk in the water. The mixture will thicken quickly, so continue whisking until it begins to bubble. Add the apples and stir to coat.

Simmer the apples, stirring frequently, until the apples are condensed and tender. Remove from heat and let cool. If making the night before, let cool and pack into a storage container and refrigerate. On the day you want to eat your French toast, heat in a pan on the stovetop with a small pat of butter.

To make the French toast:

In a mixing bowl, whish together the milk, flour, cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Lightly dunk the bread in the milk mixture and coat both sides without soaking through. Cook on each side until browned. Top with the apple pie filling, dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Serve immediately. 

 

This was a really rich breakfast, but so nice for a special Sunday in the fall!

What is your favorite decadent breakfast?

An InLinkz Link-up

Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

How was your weekend?

Ours was really nice. Saturday we visited our friends and their brand new baby boy. I forgot what it felt like to hold a baby who weighs practically nothing and it was glorious. We both fell asleep pretty early on Saturday night, but were up early Sunday morning for music class and my brother-in-law's birthday celebration. Sunday ended later than I wanted, as always. I made these bars for Steve's birthday party. It felt really good to get creative and baking in the kitchen again. 

I always love apple desserts. Is it me, or is there just no better smell than apples mingling with cinnamon and sugar? I need to bottle that and carry it around with me. Our whole apartment smelled unbelievable on Saturday evening. While Shaun watched college football, and Penelope snoozed, I worked on finishing these bars with a glass of wine in hand. It felt like old times. Windows cracked with a cool breeze, candles burning, decadent smells permeating the house and everyone feeling sleepy on a Saturday night. It's one of my favorite feelings...all of us home, cozy and taken care of.

I used a bunch of recipes that finally led to my inspiration for these bars. I love bars so much. They are perfect for sampling and snacks, and really perfect for taking to a birthday celebration. They require no cutting once at the party. Instead, they can just be grabbed and eaten, with sticky fingers and cake crumbles tumbling down. I added kosher salt to the tops of these. It melted right into the caramel topping, but make no mistake, the saltiness was the perfect balance to these super sweet bars.

As for the caramel topping? Though you can use caramel from a jar, I really recommend this topping. The key here is that it sets, so you don't have to worry about the caramel running once you cut into them. It's an easy topping and I really think it's worth it. I could just eat it all with a spoon.

Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

For the crust:

1 box yellow cake mix, minus 1 cup

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg

For the apple cheesecake filling:

2 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1/2 C + 1 Tbsp granulated sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 baking apples, peeled, cored & chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

For the salted caramel topping:

1/2 C butter

1/2 C brown sugar

3 Tbsp evaporated milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 C confectioners sugar

1/4 tsp coarse salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13" pan and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix together the cake mix (removing 1 C of the plain cake mix; set it aside, pack it away. we won't be needing that 1 C here), oil and egg with a wooden spoon. Once incorporated, press into the bottom of the pan. 

Peel, core and chop up the apples. I used Granny Smith. In a bowl, mix them with 1 Tbsp sugar and the cinnamon. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, 1/2 C sugar, vanilla and eggs with a hand mixer until combined and smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Fold in the apple mixture.

Pour apple cream cheese mixture over the crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Mine had a few crumbs on it and I took it out to continue cooking in the hot pan while it cooled.

Once cool, make the caramel.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and evaporated milk and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and confectioners sugar until smooth. Pour over the tray of bars and let set. Sprinkle immediately with salt.

Once cool and before cutting them, refrigerate the tray for 30 min to 1 hour, or overnight. Use a sharp knife and cut carefully. Since the bars are now cold, they should cut nicely and cleanly. 

Sprinkle extra salt before serving if needed.

I hope you like these bars. I had a lot of fun creating and baking them! I think they were a hit at the party. Too bad I'm starting back hardcore on Dukan today, or I'd be having one of these babies tonight. Instead, I'll live vicariously through my weekend self, when I devoured many!

How was your weekend? 

What is your favorite apple dessert?

Also: chocolate caramel apple bars, apple upside down cake, apple cupcakes + cinnamon frosting, apple cranberry strudel, caramel apple cider shake

Caramel Apple Cider Shake

Thank you for all of your kind words on yesterday's post! I'm glad you liked it. I loved hearing about what you all do, and what your dream job is! Thanks for sharing with me :)

Last night I {finally} unpacked from our trip to New Mexico. Please don't judge me. It's just that I Hate (with a capital H) unpacking. Seriously. I hate having the suitcases strewn around our apartment, but I hate unpacking just a tad bit more. I think it also stems from my hatred of putting away laundry. I just don't like doing it. I don't mind actually washing clothes (though I suppose I don't love it either), but the hanging/folding/finding space for everything is always last on my to do list. Which is also why I typically have a pile of folding clothing next to my bed. Perhaps when I have more storage space I won't have such an aversion to it!

 

Last night I also had the place to myself because Shaun had basketball. With the man out of the house, it meant I could play with all kinds of sugary concoctions in the kitchen, which he would otherwise shake his head at and think I'm a crazy dessert-obsessed lady. This may or may not be true. I realized that we still had some apple cider left in the fridge. And that I had a jar of Catarina dulche de leche that I had won in Kate's giveaway (please check out her sweet blog!). And some light vanilla bean ice cream in the freezer...I think you know where this is going.

 

This is hardly a recipe, but more of an idea. An idea for a chilly, fall shake or smoothie that couldn't be easier. It's completely sweet and over the top...and perfect for a night home on the couch while crying over Parenthood. Not that I did that or anything.

Caramel Apple Cider Shake
1 C apple cider + 1Tbsp for rimming glass
2 scoops vanilla bean ice cream (I used Turkey Hill Light)
1 Tbsp dulche de leche or caramel sauce
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
optional: milk of your choice, ice cubes, frozen banana, or any other add-ins!

First, place a tablespoon of apple cider in a small bowl. In another small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Take a short glass, dip the rim in the cider and then in the cinnamon sugar. With a spoon, drizzle the caramel (or dulche de leche) around the inside of the glass, getting it on the sides and a little on the bottom. Next, blend the remaining cider and ice cream together. This makes a thin shake, so for a thicker version, use more ice cream, ice cubes, or a frozen banana! Pour into prepared glass and enjoy!

 

My favorite part of this are the little bits of dulche de leche in the bottom of the glass. Yum.

 

This is a super sweet shake. I don't mind. It only comes once a year!

Questions of the Day:

Do you like apple cider? I love it!

Do you unpack as soon as you get home, or let it linger like me?