French Toast Cups

Labor Day, or any other weekend for that matter, is a perfect time to try this recipe.

1. There is little work.
2. Old, stale bread will always have a purpose and never be wasted.
3. You don't have to use cups or special equipment. You can use the Pyrex 9" x 13" baking dish.
4. You can make it the night before so it's ready for baking in the morning.

Found this on Pinterest from food blogger Roxana Yawgel and modified it just a tad in that I made 1 1/2 amounts of more custard, put in a splash of vanilla, and cooked everything a little slower. This is a rich dessert and really more like a bread pudding, ie great for the occasional splurge or brunch. 

I originally tried these in a 2 1/2" ramekin, but felt this was "too much"--they expand substantially--so, I would suggest changing that to a smaller cup (which would also help the waistline) or just making it in a baking dish altogether.  Of course, if you want to be fancy...

Hope everyone is having an awesome Labor Day weekend. Is it fall already? 

Equipment:

Mixing bowl

Ramekins or Muffin cups (or use 9" x 13" pyrex baking dish)

Cookie sheet

PAM spray

Ingredients:

6 - 8 cups of stale bread, preferably Challah, but Italian or French ok as well

6 eggs

1 1/2 cup half-and-half

3/4 cup whole milk

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chip / chunks

Instructions;

1. Wash your hands.

2. Spray your baking dish or ramekins or muffin cups with PAM spray

3. Tear your stale bread into 1/2" cubes and place in a bowl.

4. Make your custard by whisking the eggs, cream, milk and vanilla together.

5. Add just enough custard to the bread pieces to soak them.  

6. Fold in chocolate chunks.

7. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate x 4 - 8 hrs or overnight.

**you can choose to layer the bread and chocolate in the ramekins and cover with custard, but I found it easier to let everything soak in a big bowl until ready to bake.  

**or just use the pyrex  9" x 13" dish from the get-go

8. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325F degrees. Remove plastic wrap.

9. Make sure whatever baking dish you use, there is 1/4" space at the top. Do not overfill to rim.

**if using muffin cups or ramekins, I would suggest placing them on a cookie sheet to bake.

**if using pyrex dish, cookie sheet not necessary.

10. Bake for:

 --30-35 minutes if using 2 1/2" ramekins or pyrex dish

 --20-25 minutes if smaller ramekins.

11. Allow to cool x 5 minutes. Use a knife to separate edges if you want to remove from ramekin.

12. Drizzle with powdered sugar or a little syrup. Or both.

12. Got Milk? or great coffee?

Key Lime Delight

Of all the pies that Jon loves, Key Lime Pie has got to be one of his favorites. No matter how stuffed he is...if Key Lime Pie is on the menu he's getting a slice!  So, I am honoring his request to post his favorite dishes and recipes--and why not, it doesn't get any easier than this!

If you buy the graham cracker crust, this takes 10 minutes max to prep and 15-18 minutes to bake--the hardest part is letting it set up for 2 hours after you've baked it! You thought a college student couldn't make pie? Think again!

I have gone ahead and demo-ed "How-To-Make-Your-Own-Graham-Cracker-Crust", but if time is of essence, buy one instead!

(Adapted from 'The Pioneer Woman's Holiday Cookbook')

Note:

--If using a larger (12" diam.) or deeper pie dish, you should make a double batch of the custard filling!

--If you don't have a pie plate, use your 9"x 13" rectangular baking dish and double the filling!

--save the egg whites for breakfast.

Key Lime Pie

Equipment:
Mixing bowls

'Fine' side of regular grater (or zester)

Whisk

Regular Pie Plate (or buy the pre-made one, usually 8"-10" diameter)

Ingredients:

1 Store-bought graham cracker crust (or homemade as below)

or Homemade :

2 Graham Cracker packets, crushed

5-6 Tbls of butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 egg yolks

1 Tbls of lime zest

1/2 cup key lime juice (or use regular lime juice in a pinch)

Instructions:

1. Wash your hands.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

3. Prepare the store-bought crust according to the package and set aside.  

Or make your own as below.

4. Crush 2 graham cracker packets (16 full cracker cookies) in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin or can.

5. In a mixing bowl, combine the crumbs with melted butter.

6. Add sugar. It should resemble a coarse meal.

7. Add the crumb mixture to the pie plate and flatten.

8. Bake the crust x 5 minutes. Set aside and cool.

9. Combine and whisk sweetened condensed milk, yolks, zest and lime juice into a smooth custard.

10. Fill the prepared crust and bake for 15-18 minutes or until custard sets.

11. Remove from oven, allow to cool.

12. Place in refrigerator x 2 hours so that pie can "set up".

13. Sit in a room with whipping cream or Redi-Whip…and enjoy a food-coma…or share some!

Sugar Cookie Brownies

Trolling thru my old post-graduate recipe book, I stumbled upon 'Butter Cake Custard Squares'.  I realized that I had never tried making this dessert; but, what I found was remarkably similar to a half-baked sugar cookie. Thus, I decided to simply change the name.  See what you think.

To elevate this dessert to an ultra decadent treat, make the Marshmallow Fudge Hot Sauce and top it off with a scoop of ice cream!  Not bad for college dining and it sure beats anything the cafeteria might offer next to the jello cups.

Equipment:

9" x 13" x 2" Pyrex dish

Mixing bowls

Spatula

Ideally, this recipe would be super-easy with a hand-mixer, but if you don't have one, it can be done with fork and upper body strength as I did in the pics.

Ingredients:

1 box mix Dromedary Pound Cake Mix 

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 stick butter, melted

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened at room temperature

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 box (1 lb) powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Wash your hands.

2. Preheat oven to 325F degrees.

3. Make the dough base first by combining pound cake mix, eggs and melted butter.

4. Spread the base evenly into the oven-proof dish.

5. Make the custard by combining cream cheese and eggs into a smooth liquid.

6. Add the powdered sugar.

7. Pour the liquid mixture evenly over the dough base.

8. Bake for 40 minutes.

9. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting into squares.

10. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or go all out with fudge sauce and ice cream.