OK, it’s Labor Day weekend… having a nice time with some family and pretty much a laid back weekend. Nice way to end the summer. Kids are heading home this afternoon, so decided to try a new recipe for a hearty breakfast. I subscribe to “Clean Eating” magazine and often find some “winners” for recipes. Today I hit the mark big time. Julia O’Hara had a recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast. As I read through it, I made a few minor modifications and put it on the table to rave reviews.
Blueberry-Cheesecake French Toast for a weekend breakfast
Blueberry French Toast
Ingredients:
- 10-12 slices of whole-grain bread.
- 1 cup part-skim Ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup low fat cream cheese (use the real-deal if you wish 🙂
- 5 eggs, divided
- 4 Tbsp organic raw cane sugar (regular sugar should work – the original calls for evaporated cane juice so I used what I had)
- 2 cups (1 pint) fresh blueberries
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I’m generous with this)
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 cup sliced unsalted almonds
For the Blueberry Sauce:
- 2 cups fresh blueberries (more doesn’t hurt)
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 Tbsp. organic raw cane sugar
- Recipe didn’t call for it, but some lemon zest might be interesting
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 & lightly grease a 13 x 9 inch pan. Place half the bread in the pan, covering the bottom and cutting crusts as necessary to fit.
- Combine cream cheese, Ricotta cheese, 1 Tbsp. sugar, and 1 egg in food processor. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the mixture over the bread and then layer a pint off blueberries on top of this. Cover with remaining bread slices, cutting crusts as needed to fit.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 4 eggs, the milk, 1 Tbsp. sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, & salt. Pour this over the top of the bread.
- Mix the almonds and 1 Tbsp. sugar and then sprinkle over the bread evenly.
- Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10 more minutes. Then turn your broiler on and broil for 2-5 minutes (watch carefully) to get a nice lightly browned crust. Remove from oven and cool a few minutes before serving.
- While toast is baking, combine the remaining pint of blueberries, 1/2 cup water, and 2 Tbsp. sugar in a small pan. Bring to boil, and then simmer 5-10 minutes until the berries burst and sauce begins to thicken. Add lemon zest if desired.
To serve, divide casserole as you would a cake and place 2-3 Tbsp. blueberry sauce over the top. The way my crew dumped on the blueberry sauce, I’m thinking another cup of blueberries wouldn’t be the worst thing in the sauce – add another 1/4 cup water and adjust as needed. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did and thanks to Ms. O’Hara!
Food, Recipes and a Few Other Thoughts 