Banana Creme Brulee French Toast

First Sunday brunch as Mrs.

(Well, technically, it is the second as we had a lovely goodbye brunch with all of our guests last week after the wedding.    I'm not really counting it though as the first as it didn't require any work on my part and truth be told, I was physically exhausted.)

First Sundays call for something special.   I also have this philosophy that if you are good the vast majority of the time, every once in awhile you can take a little time out to indulge in something decadent.

John and I spent our first married Saturday Date Night on the couch eating a very healthy dinner of roasted sweet potatoes and broiled chicken thighs while watching the NCIS spook-a-thon (It is the one show we can fully agree upon, and luckily, it is always on).    It has been a long week.  

Time for a treat.  (Not of the Halloween Trick or Treat variety... that was last night too.  I should know better than to buy candy too far in advance.)

French toast is always a good Sunday option.    I wanted to make it a little more special than usual this time.

 John loves Creme Brulee.

 I love Bananas Foster.   (Check out this recipe for Bananas Foster Gelato that I must also make someday!)  

How about a little dessert for breakfast in the form of a modified  Creme Brulee French Toast recipe I adapted from Epicurious?

I am hereby calling this new creation Banana Creme Brulee French Toast.    It is definitely not your everyday french toast, but I'd serve it again in a heartbeat for a special occasion or when you just need a little something indulgent to end (or start) your weekend.    Super easy to prepare and to my credit, I did try and lighten it up a bit by substituting the skim milk and adding some fruit and nuts.

I made it in the morning and therefore did not let it soak the originally required eight plus hours, but it turned out perfect anyway.    Light, sweet, custardy and filled with banana almondy custardy brown sugary goodness.    No need for syrup with this recipe!    Rated "most excellent" by the taster.

Banana Creme Brulee French Toast

Ingredients
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 banana, sliced
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 cup of skim milk
6 thick slices of sourdough bread
1 teaspoon Cointreau
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs
sprinkle of cinnamon

Preparation
1.   Toast almonds lightly in pan on stove.   They are done when you smell the nutty aroma, but before they start burning.
2.  Sprinkle almonds into 9 x 13 pan and set aside.
3.  Melt butter in pan on stove.   Add brown sugar.   Mix until combined and smooth.   When smooth, add in sliced bananas and stir another minute until coated.    Remove from heat and pour over almonds in the pan.   You will likely need to smooth it out a bit until the sugar mixture reaches all corners.
4.   Squeeze together slices of bread into pan.   You can remove the crusts, but I left on for extra texture. Set pan aside.
5.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6.  In a medium size bowl, add eggs and milk and whisk together until combined.   Whisk in vanilla and cointreau until combined.
7.   Pour egg mixture over the bread slices in your pan, covering equally.   Shake pan until mixture reaches all sides. 8.   Set aside pan for 30 minutes to allow egg mixture to soak in.   Dust with cinnamon.
9.   Place uncovered pan in preheated oven and bake for 30 - 40 minutes until puffy and golden brown.

Bon Appetit!    Wishing you a fabulous Sunday!  

Oh, and how could I forget, Happy Halloween!

(PS - If someone can educate me on how to add in the many accent marks I am missing on my recipe title, I'd be forever appreciative.)

Candied Maple Bacon Oatmeal Muffins

Special Sunday mornings call for totally decadent outrageously imaginative breakfasts.   One of life's sweetest pleasures.

Even better when you get to share them with someone you love!   This is the first Sunday in a gazillion Sundays that John is not working and we have so many fun things planned.   The only thing is... he's still sleeping.   I believe he will sleep until noon if I let him.   Considering he's been working days and nights for months, I shall allow him this little treat.

Which means I get to play in the kitchen until he wakes up and then we get to eat bed and breakfast style.   Yay!   Minus the 70 year olds.

I was reading on line this morning that men prefer breakfast in bed to bed and breakfast.   Duh.   I think we might actually be a little weird though.   We do enjoy sitting around the table with a bunch of strangers early in the morning on our days off eating fancy little breakfast things.   It is pleasant, civilized.  

Bottom line, if John does happen to make it out of bed today, he will have a fabulous breakfast waiting for him.    Plus a very sunny happy me which is always a good thing.

Check this out... this morning I am perusing and I run across this recipe for Maple Bacon Oatmeal Muffins on FoodBuzz this morning.     A recipe inspired by imagination... gotta love that.

But better yet, listen to these ingredients.   Bacon.   Oatmeal.   Maple.

How can I not try this?   I gave it my own little spin too.   I have had in the back of my mind forever that someday I must try candied bacon.   The kind you slather in sweet stuff and bake in the oven until it turns into CANDIED BACON.   Totally crazy.  

So here's the recipe...  adapted slightly from Hot Polka Dot's very own Love Muffin:  Bacon Maple Oatmeal

Ingredients
3 packages instant maple brown sugar oatmeal
1 1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
5 strips candied bacon, cooked, chopped

Note:   I made the bacon first.   Basically just put down five pieces on a baking sheet.   Preheated oven to 350 degrees.   Painted each strip with a thin layer of maple syrup.   Sprinkled each with sugar.    Put it in oven for ten minutes.   Flipped them.   Sprinkled more sugar on second side.    Baked for another five minutes or so.   I let them cool and then crumbled it up into candied bacon goodness.   Yes, I ate some too.   How can you not?

Back to the real recipe,

1.   Keep the oven on 350.   Fill muffin tin with liners.  I used the gorgeous little silver liners that I've had sitting around since a time when some friends and I had the brilliant idea to open our own dog bakery.   Needless to say, I still had them available.
2.   Mix the packages of oatmeal with the milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.
3.   In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
4.  Add the egg, sugar, maple syrup and butter to the liquid mix.
5.   Gently stir in the flour mixture to the liquid mixture.   Add the bacon.
6.  Pour liners 3/4 the way full.   Bake in oven.   About 20-25 minutes.

If John ever wakes up, I'll let you know how they turn out.   They smell FANTASTIC though.   This alone may get him downstairs.

On another note, I think I need to put a picture of my wedding dress on the fridge as incentive to stop eating like this.    Now that we have a date in mind, I suppose I need to cut back a bit.

Wishing you a fabulous Sunday filled with yummy breakfast with loved ones.   Or if you are sitting in the kitchen, by yourself, drinking tea and hanging out with your cats while the sweet smell of candied maple bacon wafts through the house, that's fine too.