Stuffed French Toast ~ Pineapple & Sweet Cream

Years ago I used to go to a restaurant in Temecula, California called Columbo's. They had the most amazing stuffed French toast. I mean, this thing was absolutely addictive.

There was this sense of being almost regal as I made my way one delicious bite after another through that decadent French toast...it seriously felt like it should only be served to royalty.

I hadn't thought of it in years and it just hit me when I went to make breakfast for my kiddles one morning. "I need to make a stuffed French toast this morning." And I couldn't get it out of my head.

So there I was with this intense craving which pushed me to come up with my own stuffed French toast recipe.

Here we go, I start off by taking 2 ounces of cream cheese (I didn't say that this was going to be kind to your hips)

 

and mash it so there isn't just a big block of cheese in the bowl.

Then I add just a touch of vanilla extract. It doesn't take much to make something taste perfectly heavenly.

A little bit of powdered sugar, just to sweeten the cream cheese a bit.

Now for the fruit. I happened to have some crushed pineapple, so, why not? Drained and super sweet...perfect.

Time to spread on our cheese topping. Only on one side though, and not to the edges. The idea is to keep the filling inside the French toast, not running out the edges.

Place another slice on top and we are ready for dipping this little sandwich into some egg mix. One step closer!

Into a pie tin go two eggs and some cinnamon. You just can't have French toast without cinnamon.

A little surprise...some more vanilla extract. It just seems that this needs to happen...every time anyone makes French toast. But that's just my stance on it.

Give everything a little whip...but try not to get going too fast. It can cause cinnamon to fly everywhere...trust me, I know. There was a little clean-up before I snapped this shot.

Skillet is getting nice and hot...time to add a couple pats of butter. Move those pats of butter around the pan and get it all bubbly for our stuffed French toast.

Take stuffed French toast #1 and lay it in the egg mixture. Allow it to sit for about 45-60 seconds to absorb some of the egg and cinnamon,

then flip it over carefully and allow the backside to do the same.

Into the skillet it goes for about 3-5 minutes over medium high heat, depending on the stove.

I move my assembly line to the side of the stove. It just makes it so much easier to get the drenched toast to the skillet.

Check out that bubbling butter! When the cinnamon hits it you are just rewarded with this wonderful aroma...instant feel good.

Okay, this has been cooking for about 4 minutes and was time to flip it over. I like to check the doneness of the toast at the 3 minute mark by just quickly lifting the toast with my spatula so that I can see what the middle looks like.

Golden brown is what I'm looking for.

Then let it cook for another 3-5 minutes on the other side...be patient because the reward is so good!

Plate our first stuffed French toast and cut it on the diagonal then add a couple pats of butter. A light dusting of powdered sugar and then drizzle a little bit of syrup and we're good to go! (I like the butter flavor syrup for this one.)

Cut a little corner of this slice of heaven...take a moment to fully appreciate all of the flavors that hit the tongue...

Oh yeah, this is perfect!

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

There are always open plates ready to receive pancakes in our home. And the creative side of me wants to always do something a little bit different…not just plain pancakes.

The one thing that I do consistently is rely on Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix…they always come out wonderful and with a little bit of tweaking, they become my own. And my little kiddles love them!

 P.S. ~ This is a great pancake recipe for the kiddles to get involved in. They just need and adult to man the stove for them.

In a medium mixing bowl I add the pancake mix,

then add the water called for on the mix's instructions, but reduce the amount by 1/4 cup.

Next the star of the pancake...applesauce! I add the 1/4 cup that was removed from the amount of water that the mix called for.

 I really like the flavor of the natural applesauce, not the ones that have a bunch of sugar added to them.

Time to get to whisking. Just a quick whisk to make sure that the applesauce gets incorporated into the batter.

Now for the spices....I love cinnamon and have to constantly remind myself that not everyone is as much of a cinnamon fan as I am...especially my little Grace. So the recipe listed below has less cinnamon than what I chose to add to these cakes here.

The adjustment of more will be completely up to you.

For me there are very few things that go together with cinnamon better than nutmeg...and I have to remember to hold back on the nutmeg too. (love that stuff!) So, the amount called for in the recipe is also adjusted to be less than what I personally enjoy.

Just trying to keep everyone happy here.

Alright, give it another quick whisk to get those spices in there...I love the way all of those little specks of cinnamon and nutmeg look in the batter.

Now over to the stove. Take a Teflon coated skillet and place a pat of butter in the center to melt. I take a gravy ladle to make pouring these cakes a little bit cleaner...and the same size. One ladle each makes a perfect sized pancake for my girls...and allows me to fit 2 cakes in the skillet.

Wait until the bubbles start appearing on the surface of the cakes...they let us know when it's time to do the flip.

And.....FLIP! Very nice, very nice indeed. All they need is just about 3 more minutes and they will be ready to get dressed and served.

Now I just top the pancakes with a little bit of powdered sugar and a large mountain of whipped cream for my kiddles.

They like them just like this without any syrup.

And two little pancakes are perfect for filling their little tummies.

Now for Momma, I like to make a nice big cake...2 ladles worth, right into the center of the skillet.

Just wait a couple minutes for the bubbles to start surfacing and then...

FLIP!

Just look at that color!

Mmmm...and the smell of the cinnamon and nutmeg just sing out to you.

Just a couple minutes more and then I get to dress my cake!

Now, I am not a fan of maple syrup. If you like it then go for it, but I will typically choose to use either a butter flavored syrup or a fruit one.

Since there are already mashed up apples in this cake, I'm not going to top it with anything that will take away from them.

So, I do a sprinkling of powdered sugar, a drizzle of butter flavored syrup and a mountain of whipped cream on top.

Time to enjoy my apple cinnamon pancakes...Good Morning!

Morning Rush Tip: Premade Pancakes

If your house is anything like my house then your morning rush is ridiculous. The biggest hurdle I have every morning is breakfast...for some reason it's always a surprise that my kiddles have to eat breakfast.  Well I have an easy little shortcut for making a pancake breakfast without buying them from the frozen section of your supermarket.

Whenever I make pancakes for breakfast, which is usually Saturday morning, I make a few additional cakes and let them cook on a rack.  Do I make them from scratch? Uh, no.  I do use my favorite pancake mix though...KRUSTEAZ Buttermilk Pancake Mix. (because all I have to add is water!) They are so light and fluffy...and most of the time I am dressing them up with goodies, so that's my little trick to making them really "homey".

$ Saving Tip: Buy at the warehouse store (mine is Costco).
For approx. $8.00 I can feed my family of 4 pancake breakfasts for 2-3 months!

Once cooled, into a plastic bag and onto my refrigerator shelf they go. POW! (yes, POW!)  I have my pancakes ready for a weekday morning rush.  The best part...all it takes is 20-30 seconds in the microwave to heat them up.  (if you freeze them, reheat for 50-60 seconds)

With just the little bit of extra batter, I ease my morning rush. This allows me to have a little peace of mind and a "good mom" feeling by knowing that these pancakes didn't just come out of the freezer section and I can honestly say, "Come get the pancakes mom made for you."

Cocoa & Peanut Butter Pancakes

How I love cocoa! How I love dark chocolate! How I love peanut butter!
And boy, do I love pancakes too!!
This is a once in a blue moon batch that I make when I really want to treat my hubby, kiddles (and myself) to something that I know we really shouldn't be having for breakfast. But sometimes you just have to indulge and savor the moment bite by bite. I begin with my favorite pancake mix...Krusteaz's Buttermilk Pancake Mix. I don't know why, but I just like this brand the best. And of course I have to have some cocoa powder, dark chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Who better for chocolate than Ghirardelli? And who better than Reese's for peanut butter? In a small mixing bowl I pour the pancake mix. Since these are supposed to be chocolate pancakes, a little bit of cocoa powder gets added aswell. I can remember a time, I must have been around the age of 6, when I found cocoa powder in my Momma's pantry. It was nothing like I had expected it to be...bitter, void of any sweetness whatsoever. That was one of the fastest trips to the bathroom that I had made, trying desperately to wash the cocoa powder out of my mouth. Funny how that didn't agree with my taste buds, but baking chocolate squares were one of my favorite things to sneak. Oh well, enough of the flashback. Time to hit the chips...or at least chop the chocolate ones. The Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chips are rather large, so each one gets quartered before being added to the mix. The peanut butter chips are just fine...I leave those alone. Into the mixing bowl those little chips of joy go. Ready and willing to be part of the party. Then, just to make sure that they don't just sink to the bottom, I give them a quick tumble in the dry ingredients for a coating. Now the water gets added in the same amount that is called for in the pancake mix's instructions. Stir the batter until everything is incorporated, but allow a few lumps and bumps to remain...they're good for our cakes. Oh Dear! I forgot to add one very necessary ingredient to the batter...sugar! If sugar doesn't get into this batter, then these are going to be some very bad, very bitter pancakes. Not a good start to the day. Therefore, watchout batter...here comes powdered sugar! There is absolutely no sweetness in the batter, so the best way to get it nicely sweetened and evenly dispursed is to use powdered sugar. (a.k.a. confectioner's sugar)

Okay, getting over to the stove and setting the flames to medium high with a skillet on top. You can melt a little bit of butter (or not, they seem to do just fine with or without butter if a tephlon skillet is used) and grab a ladle. I chose not to add any butter...I wanted these to be sweet, no buttery taste was really desired. I wanted full-blown chocolate.

One of the nice things about pancakes is that it is so easy to get them to come out right...you just have to be a little bit patient. It only takes about 3 minutes before little bubbles start popping up to the surface of each cake. Wait just a bit and allow them to appear all over the cake. That is the signal that it is time to do a delicate flip. Too fast, too hard and get ready for batter to splatter. (I don't like splatter, therefore I say "delicate".)

See how nicely they ccoked? The color is not too dark and the cake's surface is not crispy... only lightly browned. (now if butter is used, then it would be a bit more crispy) But here, just a little bit of a crust along the edge. Exactly how I like them. Then I give these beauties another 2-3 minutes for the other side to finish cooking. That's it...a total of 4-6 minutes for 2 perfect rounds of morning comfort.

These are by far the best toppings for these particular pancakes. No butter needed. No maple syrup. Just a simple dressing like the top of a sundae. For breakfast!! Now onto a plate to get dressed to the nines. A little sprinkling of powdered sugar, a drizzle of Hershey's Special Dark Syrup. Perfection. Just look at the joy flowing at this breakfast table.