French Toast with Balsamic Strawberry Sauce

I have this problem with buying too many strawberries. It happens every year when strawberry season hits - I see them lined up so beautifully at the market, perfectly plump and glistening, and I can't resist buying them by the crateful. Unfortunately, my eyes are usually bigger than my stomach, and before I know it, I've got a half-eaten box of strawberries that's about to go south. Is this just me?

French Toast with Balsamic Strawberry Sauce, Brunchographers

To assuage my berry-related guilt, I've been experimenting with the best ways to use them before they go bad - I found that freezing them for later use in smoothies is an uncomplicated solution, roasting them can make for an unexpected dessert when paired with vanilla ice cream, or making a simple jam with them can make you feel like the accomplished farm wife you've always dreamt of being (again, just me?). Or, if a dressed-up, sexy brunch dish is what you're after (and lets be real, that's what we're all after), you can simmer them slowly with butter, maple syrup, and a touch of balsamic vinegar, and pour them over some custardy French toast. It's basically like going to strawberry heaven. 

French Toast with Balsamic Strawberry Sauce, Brunchographers

For this recipe, I called upon the grocery-delivery angels at Milk & Eggs to bring the ingredients right to my door - including Bread Lounge's Walnut Loaf, a perfect petite rustic loaf that's chock full of walnuts and has a firm, chewy texture. If you use a dense loaf like this, be sure to give the slices ample time to soak up the egg mixture - you want to make sure the centers are nice and custardy! 

French Toast with Balsamic Strawberry Sauce, Brunchographers

French Toast with Balsamic Strawberry Sauce 

For the French Toast:
1 loaf Bread Lounge Walnut Loaf (or similar small loaf of bread)
2 eggs
½ cup almond milk
¼ tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1 tbsp butter or neutral oil 

For the Balsamic Strawberry Sauce:
2 cups strawberries, sliced
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tbsp butter (or margarine if dairy-free) 
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 

To serve:
Whipped cream
Additional sliced strawberries
Powdered sugar

Method:

1. Begin by preparing the strawberry sauce. In a medium skillet or saucepan, heat butter over medium-low heat until melted and bubbling. Add the 2 cups of sliced strawberries, and saute until softened, about two minutes. Add maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and salt, and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low and simmer until strawberries have partially broken down and sauce has thickened. Remove from heat. 
2. Next, prepare the French toast. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, almond milk, and vanilla bean paste. Set aside. 
3. Slice the walnut loaf into one-inch-thick pieces. Slowly dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture, allowing some time for the mixture to soak into each slice (tip: I like to let each slice rest in the mixture for a minute or two, to ensure it soaks all the way into the bread). 
4. Heat the 1 tbsp butter or oil in a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Fry bread slices for 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown and crisp on the edges. 
5. To serve, reheat the strawberry sauce if it has cooled. Top the French Toast with additional fresh sliced strawberries, a generous pour of the strawberry sauce, a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and a dollop of whipped cream. Enjoy! 
    

French Toast with Balsamic Strawberry Sauce, Brunchographers

Groceries for this post were kindly provided by Milk & Eggs, our favorite grocery delivery service! All opinions are our own.  

Star-Spangled Blueberry Banana Bread

Guys, it's taking all my willpower not to title this post "Star-Spangled BANANNER Bread." Everything I know about SEO is telling me that I really, really shouldn't, but everything I know about puns is telling me that I really, really should. Practicality wins again. 

Star-Spangled Blueberry Banana Bread, Brunchographers

Speaking of practicality, this recipe is oozing with it. Ok, maybe not the banana stars (which are excruciating to cut out, but make for an oh-so-festive touch on the Fourth of July), but everything else about it is exceedingly practical. For one, it's full of healthy ingredients that almost no one could argue with, and for another, you make the batter in your blender. That's right, you just dump all the ingredients in the blender and whizz to combine. And hey, if you're short on time, you can skip the banana stars. As my old pal Ben Franklin used to say, "employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure." So he'd understand if you skipped the stars. Nobody's calling you un-patriotic. 

Star-Spangled Blueberry Banana Bread, Brunchographers

Star-Spangled Blueberry Banana Bread 

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, plus 2 more sliced or cut into star shapes for garnish (optional)
2 cups rolled oats
2 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper, and lightly coat with cooking spray. 

2. Place bananas, oats, eggs, maple syrup, baking soda, vanilla, and salt into the blender, and blend until just combined. Be careful not to over-blend! Fold in blueberries gently with a rubber spatula. 

3. Pour batter into the prepared pan, and arrange banana stars or slices on top. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 35-45 minutes. 

4. Let cool in loaf pan for 15 minutes, and then using the edges of the parchment, gently lift the loaf out of the pan and place it on a rack to cool. Cool completely before slicing. Serve with butter, jam, or almond butter. 

Recipe adapted from Delish

Star-Spangled Blueberry Banana Bread, Brunchographers

Low-FODMAP Banana Nut Pancakes

Many of my most vivid memories revolve around food. I don't remember much of my childhood, most of it is a pretty blur now, but I can remember clearly my mom's banana-nut pancakes. I can see her whisking together a batch on a leisurely Sunday, while my dad and I lounged around the kitchen, still in our pajamas. Maybe we'd help her with mashing the bananas (even though she was really the best at that) or chopping up the frozen pecans that Grandpa had sent from Mississippi, while she started heating up the near-ancient griddle (which probably still makes perfect pancakes to this day). I remember how perfect those pancakes looked and smelled, how fluffy they were on the inside, and how satisfying each bite was - especially those bites that had a nice crunchy pecan inside. Pure, sweet, Sunday heaven. 

So with today being Mother's Day, and my mother being three thousand miles away, you can imagine how badly I might be missing her. And, how much I might be wishing for a plate of her banana-nut pancakes. While it's impossible to recreate those perfect pancakes of my childhood, I have found that this absurdly simple recipe can help satisfy my crazed banana-nut nostalgia. Better yet, I've adapted it to meet my current low-FODMAP diet needs (more about that here), and even better yet, you can make this in your blender, so cleanup is a snap. 

I like using buckwheat flour here when I have it on hand, because I enjoy its earthy, nutty quality. Feel free to sub out another type of flour if you'd prefer. Walnuts are a classic partner to banana, and I like them in my pancakes, but you could also use pecans (which would be more faithful to my mother's version), hazelnuts, or whatever you have on hand. Maybe even chocolate chips, if you're feeling wild! Treat yourself - it's Mother's Day, after all! 

low-FODMAP Banana Pancakes, by Brunchographers

Ingredients

• 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats 
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 2 unripe bananas*
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk 
• 2 tbsp maple syrup**
• 2 tbsp melted butter or oil, for frying
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method

1. Place the oats into a blender, and blend until they have reached a flour-like consistency.

2. Add the buckwheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to the blender carafe and pulse to combine. 

3. Add the bananas, eggs, almond milk, and maple syrup to the blender. Process until well combined, about 30 seconds. Let the batter rest for about five minutes. 

4. While the batter is resting, heat a nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Lightly grease the skillet with butter or oil. 

6. Working in batches, add heaping quarter cups of batter into the hot skillet, gently spreading the mixture into circular shapes if needed. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts onto each pancake while the batter is still wet, about 1-2 tsp per pancake. Once the edges begin to appear dry and the bottom sides are golden brown (about 3-4 minutes), flip each pancake and cook for another 3-4 minutes, or until cooked through.

7. Transfer to a 200 degree F oven to keep warm or serve immediately with maple syrup. 

* If not following a low-FODMAP diet, you may use ripe or unripe bananas! For individuals eating low-FODMAP, bananas that are still slightly green on the outside are best, per Monash University. 
** If you're not low-FODMAP and are making these with ripe bananas (see above), feel free to omit the maple syrup - they're pleasantly sweet without it! 

Makes 4 servings. 

Fancy French Toast with Blueberry Sauce & Whipped Cream Cheese

December is nearly here - which means, the time for fancy food is upon us. Between the holiday soirées with intricate canapés and cocktails and the marathon family dinners that take days to prepare, people tend to go a little overboard with sensory delights at this time of year - and we love it. Especially when that overboard attitude is applied to brunch, like in this recipe for Fancy French Toast. Can you think of anything more over-the-top delightful than orange-scented French Toast with not just one ooey-gooey delicious sauce, but two? We surely can't. (Unless, of course, you were to pair that French Toast with a fizzy Mimosa.)  So naturally, this is our new go-to recipe for a homemade holiday brunch.

To keep our holiday to-do list to a manageable length, we employed one of our favorite shortcuts for this brunch: ordering groceries from Milk & Eggs. Having farmers-market-quality groceries dropped at our doorstep feels a little bit like getting a visit from Santa himself - fortunately, these gifts are available year round. 

Whether you make it for a crowd or for yourself, this decadent brunch treat is exactly the right amount of fancy to celebrate the season. Happy Brunching! 

Fancy French Toast with Blueberry Sauce and Whipped Cream Cheese

Ingredients

For the French Toast
1 loaf challah or brioche, cut to 1" thick slices
4 eggs
1 1/4 c half & half or milk of choice
1/4 c fresh orange juice
zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 c sugar
pinch of ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
butter or neutral oil for pan-frying

For the Blueberry Sauce
2 c fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 c fresh orange juice
zest of 1 orange
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c water
2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved into 1/4 c water

For the Whipped Cream Cheese
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c cream or half & half
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Begin by preparing the whipped cream cheese. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the cream cheese and cream or half & half. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and beat until just combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 
2. Next, prepare the blueberry sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 1/2 cups blueberries, orange juice and zest, sugar, and 1/4 cup water. Stir gently, and bring to a low boil. Once the mixture has reached a boil, stir in the dissolved cornstarch mixture and simmer for about three minutes, or until the mixture has thickened. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries and remove from heat. If mixture is too thick, add more water to achieve desired consistency. Cover and set aside until ready to serve. 
3. In wide mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy. Add in the half & half or milk, orange juice and zest, vanilla, sugar, ginger, and salt and whisk until well combined. 
4. Working in batches of two, soak bread slices in egg mixture for 1-2 minutes per side or until soaked through. 
5. Meanwhile, melt one tablespoon of butter or oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is hot and bubbling, place the soaked bread slices in the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown and crisp on the edges. 
6. While the first slices are cooking, heat the oven to 250 degrees F, and begin soaking next two slices of bread. Once first slices are done, remove from pan and place on a baking sheet in the heated oven to keep warm. Repeat frying process with remaining slices of bread, replenishing butter or oil in frying pan as needed. 
7. To serve, top each serving of hot French Toast with a generous drizzle of warm blueberry syrup and a large dollop of whipped cream cheese. If desired, garnish with fresh blueberries, powdered sugar, or orange slices. Enjoy!

Groceries for this post were kindly provided by Milk & Eggs, our favorite grocery delivery service! All opinions are our own.  

Chicken + Waffle Skewers

Looking for an easy crowd pleaser for your Super Bowl party but want to stick to your usual brunch theme? We've got you covered! Try whipping up these chicken and waffle skewers! 

1. Prepare your favorite waffle recipe or prepared waffle mix and let stand in a bowl. Make enough for 4 large waffles. We made one serving of this waffle mix which we picked up at our local Sprouts (we believe in taking some shortcuts when serving a crowd!).
2. Chop up 1 lb. chicken breast into 1 inch pieces.
3. Put 1 cup flour into bowl and add in 1/2 tsp each of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix to combine.
4. Fill cast-iron or large non-stick pan with about 1/2 inch of a light non-flavored oil like canola oil. Put burner on medium and heat oil until little bubbles form when you put a wooden spoon in the oil. Don't let oil get too hot!
5. Dust chicken in the flour and put pieces in the hot oil one by one. Don't dump all the chicken in quickly, or the oil temperature will drop quickly.
6. Cook chicken 7-8 minutes until golden and delicious! 
7. Heat up waffle maker and spray with cooking spray.
8. Cook waffles as directed by your waffle maker. You'll want them to have a bit of crunch for best results.
9. Take waffles off the waffle maker and chop into similarly-sized 1 inch pieces.
10. Place one piece of chicken and one piece of waffle on a skewer and put on a platter.
11. Mix 1 tsp of sriracha or your favorite hot sauce and 1 cup of maple syrup up and set aside in a jar for your guests.
12. Sprinkle all the skewers with some chives for garnish and serve alongside syrup in an easy-to-hold plastic up. 
13. Watch your team win the big game! 

Makes about 20-25 skewers.