Overnight French Toast Breakfast Bread Pudding

This breakfast dish gets prepared the night before, so all you have to do is pop it into the oven and serve. It’s full of fall spices and is perfect for brunch or a holiday breakfast.

You will need:

• 1 loaf challah bread (or favorite of your choice), cut into 1-inch cubes
• 8 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 c milk
• 1/2 c apple butter
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t ground ginger
• 1/4 t ground cloves
• Sugar in the raw or brown sugar to sprinkle on top

Then you will…

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, apple butter, vanilla, and spices.
2. Mix in the bread cubes.
3. Stir to coat and allow most of the liquid to soak into the bread.
4. Spread the mixture into a 9×13 baking dish.
5. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
7. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the breakfast bread pudding and bake 30-45 minutes. The top should be golden and the middle set.
8. Serve with warmed maple syrup.

Fresh Apple Cake

The fall is a wonderful time for baking, especially with apples. We had a lazy Sunday, so I made this for an afternoon treat. It would also be yummy with a cup of tea or coffee.

You will need:

• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c apple butter (substitute brown sugar if needed)
• 1 c sugar
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 c unsalted butter, melted
• 3 green apples, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t ginger
• 1/4 t cloves
• 2 c flour
• Extra raw sugar to sprinkle on top

Then you will…

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 baking dish with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugars, apple butter (if using), vanilla and butter.
3. Stir in the apples.
4. Mix in the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
5. Mix in the flour.
6. Spread in the prepared baking dish. Top with the extra raw sugar.
7. Bake 45-60 minutes or until set in the middle and golden on top.
8. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Fresh Blueberries

This cake is inspired by lemon poppyseed bread. The cake is sweet enough for dessert, but it would be a great addition to any brunch.

You will need:

• 1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 + 1/4 c sugar, divided
• 1/3 c brown sugar
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• 1 egg
• 3 T poppyseeds
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c light sour cream
• 3 c fresh blueberries
• 4 T blueberry jam
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1/3 c powdered sugar
• 2 T strong coffee

Then you will…

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan with a non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter together with 1/3 cup of the white sugar plus the brown sugar.
3. Mix in half of the zest and lemon juice.
4. Mix in the egg, poppyseeds, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla.
5. Stir in half of the flour and half of the sour cream.
6. Repeat with the remaining flour and sour cream.
7. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
8. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, the other half of the lemon zest and juice, the blueberries, blueberry jam and nutmeg.
9. Spread the fruit on top of the batter.
10. Bake 40-50 minutes or until the center is set and the cake is golden brown.
11. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing the springform sides.
12. In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar with as much of the coffee as needed to making a drizzling consistency. Drizzle to taste on top of the cake.

PB&J Bars

I adapted this recipe from a September 2013 Real Simple. I also recommend trying it various combinations of fruit and jam until you find your favorite. I happened to have blueberries and some yummy blueberry jam at home, so that it was I used. You could also swap out 1/2 of a cup of the flour for a 1/2 cup of old-fashioned oats if you wanted!

You will need:

• 1/2 c blueberry jam
• 3/4 c fresh blueberries, roughly mashed (I just used a fork)
• 1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 t pure vanilla extra
• 1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t ground nutmeg
• 1 c peanut butter
• 3/4 c chopped nuts (I used an unsalted combination of peanuts, pecans, almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts)

Then you will…

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8-inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving some hanging over the edges.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the mashed blueberries with the jam.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Cream the butter and sugar together (recommend via electric mixer) until light and fluffy.
5. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined.
6. Beat in the peanut butter until thoroughly combined.
7. Gradually stir in the flour mixture just until combined.
8. Press half of the down into the baking dish. Spread with fingers and try to keep an even thickness.
9. Spread the fruit mixture on top of the dough.
10. Stir the chopped nuts into the remaining dough.
11. Crumble the dough on top of the fruit mixture, lightly pressing to ensure top is covered.
12. Bake until golden brown, about 40-45 minutes.
13. Allow the bars to cool in the pan for a half hour before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling.