Apple Cider French Toast

What’s the best way to use up some delicious bread?? Our answer is French toast! Earlier in the week I made Apple Cider Bread. It made two loaves and we just couldn’t eat it all fast enough. So I decided to slice it up and make some French toast. It’s one of our favorite weekend breakfasts! This makes slightly dry bread into a delicious moist breakfast treat.

1 small loaf of Apple Cider Bread (or other bread)

1 egg
½ cup almond milk
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp coconut oil

• Heat coconut oil on a large griddle at 350°F. In a medium sized bowl, beat eggs and milk together and add cinnamon.
• Slice bread into ¼” thick slices. Dip bread slices into egg mixture until both sides are coated.
• Place bread slices on griddle and cook on each side for about 10 minutes or until batter has browned.
• Serve with fruit, maple syrup and powdered sugar if desired.

Apple Cider Bread

I think I’ve said it before but I LOVE fall. It might be because during the summer it is simply too hot to bake every day. Not in the fall though – I can bake all day long! So one morning after breakfast, I needed to bake something. I started rummaging through my pantry and saw some apple cider. So I thought why not?! This is a slightly sweet yet savory bread recipe. I prefer eating it with a little butter for breakfast with my eggs but it also makes a wonderful PB&J!

1 package of GF bread mix (I used Bob’s Red Mill – yeast packet included)

2/3 cup apple cider (homemade – here's my recipe!)
1 ¼ cup warm almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla)
2 eggs
¼ cup apple sauce
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp brown coconut sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp apple pie spice (or a mix of cloves, nutmeg and allspice)

• In a small mixing bowl, combine milk and yeast from packet and let sit for about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine eggs, apple sauce, cider, vinegar and oil. Add in bread mix and yeast mixture.
• Mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
• In a small bowl, combine coconut sugar, cinnamon and apple pie spice.
•  Over the top of the batter, sprinkle spice mixture. Carefully using a spoon, swirl in spice mixture into dough.
• Pour dough mixture into a greased 9x5 bread pan. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about 35 minutes.
• Bake at 350°F for 60 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Cover bread with foil after 30 minutes of baking to prevent burning. If desired, sprinkle with additional sugar and spice mixture.

All Natural Apple Cider!

Today is a big day for us - starting bright and early! I have an appointment in KC and this will be a great start to the day!

Apple cider is a perfect fall drink. It goes great on a cool evening, roasting smores by a campfire or in the mornings with a warm slice of coffee cake. Either way it is great! I’m not sure if you’ve looked at some of the packaged cider drink mixes. I challenge you to read the labels – most of them have a lot of “extra” ingredients and tons of sugar. Don’t get me wrong – they taste great, but now that we have become food label inspectors we decided to take a more natural approach. Honestly, this is so easy and delicious I wonder why we never tried it before. This makes 2 servings but is easily adaptable to make plenty more. If you are making a lot, try it in the crock pot!

3 apples (I used Gala for a little tarter flavor but still sweet)

½ orange, sliced (I used Clementine’s because that’s what I had)
1 cinnamon stick
1 bag of black tea (I used a peach tea blend)

• Juice the 3 apples, whole, peel included in a high powered juicer.
• Pour apple juice into a saucepan and add in orange slices, cinnamon stick and tea.
• Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes to get the drink warm and allow the flavors to blend together.
• Strain out the orange slices and cinnamon stick if desired and serve.
• Take pride in knowing that you just created something that is healthy and delicious without extra sugars and preservatives!

Apple Cider Chai Latte

How about another warm fall drink to start your Sunday?? Last week I made a Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte and it was great – apparently you all thought so as well! I need a warm drink this morning and had some freshly juiced apples so I thought we’d give it a try! Grab a mug, pour some of this delicious latte and have a quiet moment to yourself (or do like I did and try to tune out your kids for a couple seconds!).

½ cup almond milk

½ cup strong brewed chai tea
¼ cup fresh apple juice (not from concentrate!)
1 tsp honey
½ tsp cinnamon
Whipped topping, if desired
Apple pie spice, if desired

• In a saucepan, combine milk, tea, juice, honey and cinnamon and bring to boiling.
• Cook for a couple minutes and let cool.
• Once tea has cooled slightly, pour into a mug.
• Top with whipped topping and a sprinkle of apple pie spice if desired. Enjoy!