Stuffed Pumpkin French Toast with Buttery Pumpkin Syrup

I made this recipe for dinner the other night . . . It felt more like dessert! I loved it . . I especially loved how buttery the syrup was and the rich-nuttiness that the pumpkin added to it! So good! A great recipe for fall!Stuffed Pumpkin French Toast with Buttery Pumpkin Syrup
Recipe by: Emily
1 loaf of bread, sliced (wheat or white)
6 eggs
2 cups of milk
8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup Pumpkin Puree
1/2 tsp Pumpkin Spice
1/2 tsp Vanilla
5-6 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Salt

1. Beat the eggs and 2 cups of milk together in a bowl with 1/4 tsp salt. Set aside.
2. Combine the cream cheese, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, pumpkin spice, vanilla, and a pinch of salt together. Spread a generous layer of cream cheese/pumpkin filling on one piece of bread and top it with another slice. Continue until all of the cream cheese mixture is gone.
3. Heat a griddle and butter lightly. Dip the stuffed bread in the egg mixture and soak on both sides. Place egg dipped bread on a hot griddle and cook until golden brown and cooked through on both sides. Serve french toast with pumpkin syrup and enjoy!

Buttery Pumpkin Syrup

1/2 cup Butter (use the real deal)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/3 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 tsp Pumpkin Spice
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add all the remaining ingredients and bring syrup to a boil. Simmer syrup for 5-10 minutes stirring often to keep from scorching. Enjoy!

-I only cooked 1/2 of my stuffed french toast and froze the rest before it was dipped in the egg mixture. . . a decadent brunch waiting for another day . . .

Homemade Bagels with Butternut Squash Caramelized Onion and Roasted Garlic Cream Cheese

All I can say is that my husband ate these bagels . . . a few of them . . . WITH the cream cheese! If you know my man this is quite the feat . . . the eating of the butternut squash cream cheese! When I told him I was making bagels he asked if we had cream cheese and I told the boy that I "made some" . . . at which point he said that he had to stop at the store on the way home and would buy some plain cream cheese . . . but he trooped it out . . . came home and enjoyed my creation . . . made my day! I have to say that he is ALWAYS a trooper! All I have to say is pumpkin burgers and my fam will say "yeah you owe the kid big time lady!" Thanks love for being the best sport and indulging your wife by eating things that you normally would never dream of!!! I used the recipe for bagels from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. . . so check out their site for the recipe or better yet the book is a GREAT investment! I love it!

Butternut Squash Caramelized Onion and Roasted Garlic Cream Cheese
Recipe by: Emily

8 oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1/2 - 3/4 cup Pureed roasted Butternut Squash
2-3 Tbsp Caramelized Onions
1-2 cloves Roasted Garlic
Salt
Pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together and spread on toasted bagels or use as a spread for sandwiches!!! Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Oven Puffed Pancakes with Apple Butter, Buttermilk Syrup

I am not a huge pancake fan . . . I don't go for "regular" pancakes often . . . but I do LOVE Ricotta pancakes . . . and any "jazzed up pancakes." I made these pancakes with the plethora of apples waiting patiently in my kitchen to shine.I am in love with the apple butter, buttermilk syrup! It would make anything taste good! In fact it was a pretty decadent breakfast! Caramel Apple Oven Puffed Pancakes with Apple Butter, Buttermilk Syrup
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese, or blended cottage cheese, or strained sour cream, or strained yogurt
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp Sugar
1/8 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Milk
3 eggs, divided
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Tbsp Apple Butter
2 Granny Smith Apples, cored, peeled, and sliced
2 Tbsp Butter
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add butter and brown sugar to an oven safe skillet over medium heat. Once the butter has melted add the sliced apples and cook until softened and the butter and brown sugar have thickened a bit.

2. While apples are cooking whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar together in a medium bowl. Seperate egg whites and yolks. Combine ricotta cheese, milk, eggs yolks, apple butter and vanilla in another bowl, mixing well. Combine the flour mixture with the ricotta mixture and set aside.

3. Beat the 3 egg whites until stiff. Gently fold egg whites into ricotta batter.

4. Turn off the burner and arrange apples evenly on the bottom of the skillet. Butter the sides of the skillet and then pour the batter over apples and bake in a 375 oven until pancake is puffed and golden brown. Flip pancake onto a plate so that the apples are on top. Serve with butter and syrup or fruit preserves if desired. Enjoy!

Apple Butter Buttermilk Syrup
1 cube Butter (or margarine)
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1/3 cup Apple Butter
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, buttermilk, apple butter and vanilla. Cook and stir until thick. Add the baking soda, stir and serve warm.

Over the Top Stuffed French Toast with Strawberry-Rhubarb Buttermilk Syrup

This french toast is over the top! If you need a breakfast that is just going to brighten your day and tickle your toes you have found it! I LOVE this french toast!!! The syrup is D-E-L-I-S-H as is the cream cheese filling . . . second best part is that it is super fast and easy to make! YUM-O!!! At girls camp our amazing cook made buttermilk syrup and added a container of strawberry yogurt to it =wonderful stuff so thanks for the ideas Colleen!Over the Top Stuffed French Toast with Strawberry-Rhubarb Buttermilk SyrupRecipe by: Emily

1 loaf White Bread or Brioche
5 Eggs
1 cup Milk
1/3 cup Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/3-1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Butter

1. Mix the cream cheese and brown sugar together using a fork. Set aside. Beat the eggs, milk, vanilla, and sugar together in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Set aside.
2. Cut the bread into thick 1 inch slices. Make a pocket in the bread by slicing into the top in the middle. (Or you can use two regular slices of bread and spread the cream cheese between the two slices.)
3. Stuff the bread pocket with 1-2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture, dip the stuffed bread into the egg mixture coating well on both sides.
4. Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium-low to medium heat. Lightly butter the pan and fry the french toast on both sides until golden brown. Serve with Strawberry-Rhubarb Syrup. Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Buttermilk Syrup

1 cube Butter (or margarine)
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/3 cup Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla. Cook and stir until thick. Add the baking soda, stir, add the jam. Serve warm and enjoy!

Ricotta Pancakes with Buttermilk Syrup

Breakfast . . . Mmmm! My husbands favorite meal of the day! There seriously is nothing like a great breakfast . . . especially on the weekends when the stress and craziness of the week has your eyes rolling around in your head and your mind is ready to shut down! At our house my hubby is the king of Saturday morning breakfast . . . and he goes to town!!! I am not an egg girl or a huge fan of pancakes . . . but if they have buttermilk syrup on them I will take them anyday! This buttermilk syrup recipe is a FAVORITE on both sides of our family!!! I could drink the stuff! It is SOOOOO GOOD!!! Last weekend we whipped up a batch of heavenly ricotta pancakes to pair with it and mensch was it good! The pancakes are delish! So light and moist! I actually love them (Never thought that I would say that about a pancake . . .) This Buttermilk Syrup recipe is from my Aunt Alyson of Caramel Popcorn fame! It is amazing!!! Ricotta Pancakes
Recipe by: Emily
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp Sugar
1/8 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Milk
3 eggs, divided
1 tsp Vanilla

1. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar together in a medium bowl. Seperate egg whites and yolks. Combine ricotta cheese, milk, eggs yolks and vanilla in another bowl, mixing well. Combine the flour mixture with the ricotta mixture and set aside.
2. Beat the 3 egg whites until stiff. Gently fold egg whites into ricotta batter.
3. Heat a griddle to medium high and lightly coat with melted butter. Ladle batter onto buttered griddle and cook pancakes on each side until golden brown. Serve with butter and syrup or fruit preserves if desired. Enjoy!

Buttermilk Syrup
Recipe by: Alyson Christensen
1 cube Butter (or margarine)
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla. Cook and stir until thick. Add the baking soda, stir and serve warm.

(When you add the soda it is going to bubble up so use a large saucepan . . .)

Strawberry and Cream Cheese filled Skinnies

Skinnies are a fav in my fam for breakfast/lunch/dinner. I remember my mom and my aunt making them as a child and they still remain a fav of mine! To celebrate the end of another semester of school I knew that we had to have a killer breakfast and since I still have bags and bags of strawberries in my freezer from making freezer jam, strawberry filled skinnies were a perfect choice! I could seriously eat these every day! Strawberry and Cream Cheese filled Skinnies
Strawberry filling

2 cups strawberries, whole or halved
Sugar (to taste)
2 Tbsp Water

Cook the strawberries, sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until the mixture begins to boil. Cook until the strawberries have softened and the desired consistency is achieved.

Cream Cheese Filling

8 oz Cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup Whipped cream, cool whip can be used to

Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add 1/2 cup whipped cream and beat again until incorporated. Fold in remaining whipped cream. (If you want the cream cheese lighter, fold in more whipped cream.)
To assemble skinnies: Place a skinny on a plate, spoon in desired cream cheese and strawberry fillings. roll up skinny and serve with additional whipped cream and strawberries on top. Enjoy!

Hawaiian French Toast with Coconut Syrup and Caramelized Pineapple

Last night a recipe came into my head that came to existence at the break of day today . . . Hawaiian bread french toast with coconut syrup! I must have been seriously inspired to get up early this morning and make breakfast for my handsome hubby because today just became a day of celebration!I will have to share more later but no I am not expecting and no I am not graduating yet (got a lovely e-mail a little while back that said that they miss calculated my classes and I need 1, yes 1 more! . . . story of my life!) Life it great though! What can I say! This tropical twist on french toast was something awesome too! Next time I am definately going to make bacon to serve alongside it because it was something sweet in the end! But oh so good! I especially love the syrup! Yum-E!Hawaiian French Toast with Coconut Syrup and Caramelized Pineapple
Recipe by: Emily

4-5 Slices of Hawaiian Bread (Kings is best! or homemade!)
3 eggs
1/4 cup Coconut Milk
Pinch of Salt

1. Wisk eggs, milk and salt together. Dip the slices of bread into egg mixture on each side to coat. Cook bread slices in a buttered frying pan over medium heat until browned on both sides.
2. Pour 3 tablespoons of pineapple juice or water into the frying pan and add 1/4 cup brown sugar and then pineapple slices. Allow the pineapple to warm through and caramelize in the sugar.
Serve with butter, pineapple slices and coconut syrup. Enjoy!

Coconut Syrup
Recipe by: Emily

1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Water
1/2 tsp Coconut Extract
1/2 cup Coconut Milk

1. Pour the sugar, corn syrup, and water into a sauce pan, stir and bring mixture to a boil. Allow to continue boiling for 3-4 minutes, until the sugar is completely disolved and the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat add coconut extract and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before wisking in coconut milk. Serve over french toast, pancakes, poundcake etc. Enjoy!

This syrup would be great to baste cakes with to keep them moist!

Chorizo Stuffed Breakfast "Skinnies"

My hubby loves eggs, he could eat them everyday for probably every meal . . . conflict: I am not a big egg eater, in fact to eat eggs they had better be loaded with veggies or something to take away from the "eggy-ness." So if my hubby wants them more often than not he makes them . . .
One way that I actually enjoy them is by adding chorizo to them and making a breakfast burrito . . . however on Saturday I felt adventurous and added a twist to breakfast when I was REALLY craving skinnies! Okay some people may be thinking "what is this lady talking about!?!" Skinnies are like skinny pancakes! I'd say they are more of a cross between pancakes and crepes actually.
We used to eat skinnies all the time when I was a kid! My mom and my aunt would make them . . . they are the best thing to wake up to in the morning (well next to my hubby) . . . they are easy to make and honestly don't need any filling or syrup, just roll'em up and chow down (maybe that's why they were super appealing to eat growing up!) Actually the addition of a little cream cheese and apricot or strawberry jam is pretty delightful too! I really loved filling them with something a little savory and spicy though! I made so many that we ate them for 3 days straight!
Skinnies
Recipe by Mama P.

1 cup Flour
6 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp salt
4 Eggs
1 1/3 cups Milk
2 Tbsp Butter, melted

1. Sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Set Aside.
2. Mix eggs and milk. Add to the flour mixture and whisk until lumps are gone. Pour in the melted butter and stir.
3. Heat a 6 or 8 inch skillet over medium heat. (lightly grease if needed) Ladle 1/4 cup batter onto skillet. Swirl the skillet to spread batter out evenly. Cook until lightly browned and roll up. Serve with syrup, jam, or fill with eggs, meat and veggies. Enjoy!

To make them "Chorizo Style" I cooked 1/2 cup chorizo, 4eggs, and 2 Tbsp milk together. Layered a skinny with a mixture of rice and black beans, and chorizo eggs. Top off with sour cream and diced tomatoes. (Shredded cheese, jalapenos, salsa, chilies etc. would also be great to top with!)

Apple Stuffed French Toast with Cinnamon Syrup

   Since I am going to be a college widow again soon (the hubs and I are starting yet another semester on Monday) I felt like making one treat of a breakfast this morning since we have a jam packed weekend and I may not cook until finals are over in December (sarcasm . . . I hope)

So scouring the cupboards led me to a can of pie filling and some whole wheat bread that we needed to eat . . . hence the results of apple stuffed french toast to greet my handsome man this morning! I am not a big syrup fan, I mean it is good but if I am going to make breakfast we are going to indulge and one of my favorite breakfast indulgences is cinnamon syrup. Anywho this little breakfast delight graced our morning table and was a delight to scarf down before heading off to work! The cinnamon syrup is so good that I could drink it! I love it on waffles and pancakes too! Simply d-lish!

Apple stuffed French Toast with Cinnamon Syrup

4-6 slices Whole Wheat Bread

3 eggs

1/2 cup Half and Half, Milk or cream (I used fat free 1/2 & 1/2, just because I had it)

Butter

Beat the eggs and milk together in a shallow dish. Dredge the bread in the egg mixture on both sides. Cook the egged bread in a frying pan over medium heat in a little melted butter. Brown toast on both sides. Heat 1 can of pie filling. Spoon some of the apple filling between two pieces of french toast and top with cinnamon syrup! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Syrup

Recipe from: Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?

1/2 cup Corn Syrup

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Water

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 cup Evaporated Milk

Combine the syrup, sugar, water, and cinnamon; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Stir in milk. (Make sure you allow syrup to cool or milk will curdle) Serve warm.

The syrup is a deep caramel color when it is finished and tastes even better served the next day!