Do you like surprises? I don’t. Okay, so let me rephrase that – I don’t like surprises that I know are surprises. Does that make ANY sense? I don’t mind if Barry surprises me with something…but I don’t want him to say, “Hey honey, I have a surprise for you and you don’t get it for a while.” That’s not a surprise. That’s TORTURE.
We love French Toast in this house – I really should make it more often. It takes something that is already awesome (bread) and makes it awesomer. Awesomer is not a word. Lame. I’m getting pretty good at telling you all things that are NOT words.
This week in Cooking Through Stacy’s Stash we’re tackling another Betty Crocker cookbook. I love Betty Crocker – I try to imagine that she’s a real person and that we’re friends…then I remember that her name is all made up, I get a little ticked off because I feel like I’ve been lied to – but whatever.
I used to have more of her cookbooks before I purged my collection and I just kept my favorites. This one is called Easy Entertaining. I love looking through the pictures – and there are a lot of them! Basically, this cookbook is laid out based on party types. It has outdoor get-together themes, party themes, and holiday themes. With each theme there are menu ideas and recipes – pictures included. Makes me wanna have regular parties every time I look through it.
I chose the recipe for Surprise French Toast because it looked kinda sad. Based on the name, you’d think there was something super exciting about it – but no. It was just French toast with cream cheese inside. While that’s a very happy thing, it’s not exactly a surprise, so I “healthified” this recipe and made it happier. Booya.
*I didn’t use powdered sugar or margarine.*
So, to make this more special I added almond butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and coconut. This is more of an “idea” than a “recipe.” I’m not going to give you specific amounts really, because you can make as many sandwiches as you like – one or 50…and after you have one you might want 50.
You can use any bread you have: store-bought, homemade, banana bread, English muffins, etc. I actually used this Grain-Free Sandwich Bread (I left the honey out). We love it and I can’t quit making it – it’s killer with some butter. YUMMO!
You’ll need two slices of bread for each sandwich – on one slice of bread spread on some almond butter and sprinkle with coconut. On another slice spread some cream cheese and sprinkle with cinnamon. Don’t really be liberal with the fillings for they will just ooze out the sides when you fry them – oozing almond butter? Nevermind – be liberal. Put the pieces together to make a sandwich.
In a shallow bowl, combine eggs, milk and vanilla. Whisk. Dip each side of sandwich in this mixture.
Now, heat up some butter, coconut oil, or palm shortening (I used palm shortening) in a skillet of your choice. I fry almost everything in my cast iron skillet. When it’s hot, add the sandwiches. Fry for about 8 minutes on each side.
Serve with maple syrup…or do like me and Barry – I melted some coconut butter and drizzled it on top of ours. Annie stuck with maple syrup.
NOTE: When making French toast, I always scramble the leftover egg mixture. Yes, it has vanilla in it but I don’t want the egg to go to waste and I really like the flavor of vanilla in my eggs. 🙂
Verdict? SURPRISE!!! These rock. For real. Make them today…my surprise is way better than Betty’s. No offense, Betty.
Surprise French Toast
- Spreadable cream cheese
- Bread (any type, 2 pieces per sandwich)
- Nut butter
- Cinnamon
- Shredded unsweetened coconut
- Eggs
- Milk
- Vanilla
- Butter, palm shortening, or coconut oil for frying
- Spread one slice of bread with cream cheese and sprinkle with cinnamon. Spread another slice of bread with nut butter and sprinkle with coconut. Place together to make sandwich. Repeat for how many sandwiches you need.
- In a shallow bowl, combine egg, milk, and vanilla. (For my family of 3 with 3 sandwiches, I used 2 eggs, ½ cup milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla…and had a tad of mixture left over for scrambling.)
- Heat skillet over medium heat and melt fat of choice (I used two tablespoons).
- Dip sandwiches in egg mixture. Place in hot skillet. Fry 8 minutes on each side.
- Serve with maple syrup or melted coconut butter (yum!).
I just left it out. I need to update the recipe to say that. 🙂
For the bread, what did you use in the place of the honey?
I make a little extra egg mixture so I can scramble up the extra to eat with the french toast. I have also been known just to mix eggs, milk and vanilla and scramble that up too.
Well I’m glad I’m not the only one. 🙂
I’m thinking this wasn’t in line with THM, was it? I can’t see how it could be, because even if you only stuck to two pieces (and how could you???), you’ve got all that fat to contend with, so it would go beyond Crossover numbers, I’m thinking. Right? This is just a delicious treat? (Oh, how I wish it could be THM… 🙂
Ah ha! Fooled ya! 🙂 I’ve gotten really good at converting recipes to fit THM. This was an S meal. It all depends on the type of bread. I used the recipe I linked to, which is made from coconut flour and almond flour…both S. The cream cheese, nut butter, coconut, eggs, milk (almond), and butter for frying are all S. 🙂 Bingo!
Hi Stacy,
This looks great, and I’m glad you like my grain-free sandwich bread so much! Cream cheese french toast sounds amazing. (Like you, I also love Betty Crocker cookbooks. I often use mine for inspiration when coming up with new recipes. There are so many wonderful ideas in there, even if I do need to change lots to make them more “real food”.)
I’m also intrigued by your blog and posts about living debt-free. We are still working on our house, but all of our other debt was paid off a few years ago, and this allowed me to become a stay-at-home mom even though it meant a greater than 50% pay cut for us. I’m subscribing to your blog!
Betty is such a staple in any homemaker’s kitchen. 🙂 But yes, we do LOVE that bread. I wish I had a piece right now slathered with butter. YUM! Being a SAHM is worth the pay-cut, don’t you agree? 🙂
Absolutely worth the pay cut!
Just made this for “spring break breakfast for lunch” (trying to spice up a stay-at-home break), but with peanut butter and some mango jam my mom made. YUM! Almost didn’t give it to the kids!
I have that happen a lot – wanting to hoard food from Annie. Glad I’m not the only one. LOL
Hello, you don’t know me, but I have been following you for quite a while and really learn alot from you. I tend to not comment on larger blogs, but I really thought you would enjoy a post from another blog that I follow. cindyknoke. She travels and takes beautiful pictures and blogs about them. She lives near Better Crockers house and has a couple posts about it, tells some of the history and shows pictures of her house. I just thought you might be interested in seeing them. Please let me know what you thought. Thanks so much for all the wonderful info, and recipes and such you give. I love your blog. Here is the link: http://cindyknoke.com/2012/10/11/i-promised-betty-crockers-house-and-here-it-is/ Have a great day.
That. Was. Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
h this looks really good Stacy! Definitely a must try!
Thanks! 🙂
You’re using regular cream cheese out of the store? I’m not sure I trust what I read on the ingredients label. I tend to drain yogurt and use that instead. Or, leave raw milk out in a window until the curd separates on its own, then drain that for a cultured natural cream cheese.
Yep. 🙂 I use cream cheese from the store. As a busy mommy I try to do the best I can, but sometimes I don’t have time to make cream cheese. I do make everything I can, but I also offer myself grace for those times when I can’t make it all. 🙂
My kid’s do not like coconut, but this recipe has my old brain a’churnin….. I’m thinking cream cheese on one side and some of my homemade strawberry perserves on the other; actually the possible ingredients are endless… But I love the “sandwich” idea. YUM!
Oh yeah – so many different variations that it boggles the mind!
I have not heard of coconut butter before. What are the ingredients in it? I am always learning something from your blog.
It’s just ground up coconut meat. It’s SO good! I buy mine from Vitacost. It’s a bit pricey, but you can make your own too. 🙂
Love it – love healthifying conventional recipes.
It’s so much fun, isn’t it? 🙂