French Toast Sticks

This week we are channeling our inner child with French toast sticks! The extra surface area achieved when preparing French toast sticks brings twice the flavor while enrobing wonderfully custardy insides. Their handy shape means they are destined for easy dipping, serving, and sharing with the whole family. Good Morning!

Cinnamon-Sugar French Toast Sticks
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 large loaf bread (such as a brioche or Italian loaf that’s 3-4 days old)
3 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons salted butter, divided

For Serving:
Pure Maple syrup
Seasonal berries

Directions:
1. Trim the crust off of the bread and slice it into equally-sized strips, roughly 1" thick.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, vanilla, salt, and allspice. Pour the mixture in a shallow bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Spread the mixture out on a medium-sized plate.

3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium-large skillet.

4. Separate the bread sticks into two even batches. Starting with the first batch, dredge the bread sticks one at a time in the egg mixture by rolling them for a few seconds to evenly coat the bread all the way around. Shake off any excess egg mixture.

5. Place a few of the sticks of bread into the skillet, spacing them evenly, with about 1" in between (this spacing will make them easy to grab and turn). Cook the French toast sticks over medium-low heat using tongs to turn. Cook evenly until all sides are golden brown (roughly 1-2 minutes on each side).

6. Immediately remove the sticks from the pan and coat with the cinnamon and sugar while the French toast sticks are still hot, repeating until all of the sticks from the first batch are coated.

7. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and repeat Steps 4-6 with the remaining sticks.

8. Once all the French toast sticks have been cooked and coated, serve immediately with warm maple syrup and fresh seasonal berries.

Better Than Grandma’s Rice Pudding

It’s time to dust off some old recipe cards and embrace a classic dish that you may have forgotten all about — rice pudding! We not only love this simple, decadent dish for its nostalgic memories, but also for its rich flavor that can breathe coziness into any autumn day. Serves 6-8.

Rice Pudding Ingredients:
4 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of Kosher salt
1 cup short grain rice (like Arborio or sushi rice)
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Fruit Compote Ingredients:
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons brandy
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
Sliced almonds for garnish

Rice Pudding Directions:
1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk, cream, sugar, and salt to a boil.
2. Stir in the rice and cinnamon sticks, and turn the heat to low. Keeping the rice uncovered, simmer and cook the rice for 50-60 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to the consistency of yogurt. Stir the rice occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
3. Once the rice has thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and almond extract.
4. Top with your preferred toppings - a sprinkle of cinnamon, a scoop of fruit compote (see recipe below), or chopped nuts.

Fruit Compote Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, sugar, brandy, and water.
2. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the dried fruit and cook until the fruit is slightly plumped - about 2 more minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Dutch Baby Pancake

This dish is a real crowd pleaser, mostly due to the high impact, wow-factor of the puffy, airy pancake. Tip: Using low fat or fat free milk with make the pancake puff higher than full fat milk (for a more dramatic effect), though either way, it will immediately begin to settle once it’s out of the oven. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
Apple Topping:
1 large gala apple, peeled and sliced
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
2 tablespoons butter

Pancake:
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup fat free milk, room temperature
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons butter
Maple syrup, for serving

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, toss the apple slices with the cinnamon, granulated sugar, brown sugar, orange juice, and pecans until coated. On the stovetop, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft. Transfer the apple mixture to a bowl and wipe out the skillet.
2. Heat the cast iron skillet in the preheated oven until very hot, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl until ingredients are smooth and free of lumps. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter inside the hot pan, swirl to evenly coat the bottom and sides. Immediately pour the batter into the hot skillet and bake for 15-20 minutes until the pancake is puffed and the edges are golden brown.
3. Top the pancake with the cooked apples and serve immediately with warm maple syrup.