Cinnamon Archives - Chewsy Lovers

I wish I could tell you some fancy story about how this recipe came about, but I just don’t have one. I REALLY wanted to make french toast yesterday for breakfast, but I was feeling lazy. Standing there watching and flipping, just was not how I wanted to spend my morning. So I took all of my ingredients that I normally would use for French Toast and decided to pop it in the oven. It turned out AWESOME, so I felt compelled to share. CHEWS love…sharing is caring!

I used a non stick brownie tin to make the square servings. The cool thing is, I can freeze them in a ziploc bag, pop a few out and nuke them for a quick breakfast during the week! They also would make a nicer, more “guest friendly” presentation (than a full pan people have to scoop out of) if you are hosting a special brunch or breakfast.

Breakfast Bread Pudding Squares
(Makes 12 Squares)
3 Eggs
1/2 c. Brown Sugar
2 c. Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
8 slices of Honey Wheat Bread, cubed

Preheat the oven to 350. Whisk eggs and brown sugar together in a clean bowl. You should see air bubbles from the whisk. This is going to make your pudding so light and fluffy!

Then add in heavy cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Whisk well.

Add your bread to the cream mixture and toss the bread in the custard with your hands. Make sure all of the bread is covered in the mixture. The bread will get soggy and start to fall apart. That’s cool. You want that.

Scoop the bread mixture out evenly into each square.

**ATTENTION** This is a crucial step. Don’t miss it. Place your brownie/muffin pan on a flat sheet pan and put in the middle rack of the oven. Don’t close the oven. Get a cup of water and pour ONTO THE SHEET PAN until the bottom of the squares are covered. Do NOT pour the water IN your pudding. You want the water to come up just before the rim of the sheet pan. This is called a water bath.

Look at you CHEWSing to learn a lil’ something today!

Let it bake for 25-30 minutes. Insert a toothpick to see if it’s done. If it comes out clean you are ready to go! Take out one pan at a time. Let cool for 10 minutes. Pop those suckers out, drizzle a little maple syrup on them (although they are SUPER tasty without it) and get ready to be blown away!

By now you know how we roll at Chewsy Lovers, simple and delicious! M.W.A.H.! (Making Whet Appetites Happen)! Follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, all !

M.W.A.H.,

The Lady

What’s your favorite dessert for breakfast? A slice of pie with coffee?

One thing we love to do is cook with our children. Cooking has allowed us a unique avenue to reinforce what the kids are already learning in school, teach them new things, and spend time as a family. The kitchen is The Lady’s classroom and real lessons go on in it. We thought it might be cool to share one of our lessons here today, in case you have little ones who love to cook, or you want to get them interested in it. We pick an ingredient or a theme, and we just go with it. This lesson’s ingredient is the Asian Pear.

First we discussed what an Asian Pear is. Asian pears are also known as “apple-pears” or “Nashi pears.” They grow on trees found mostly in Asia but they are grown in Australia and New Zealand as well. They have the texture of a pear, but are round and have a similar taste to apples. Like apples they are pome fruits having a core with tiny seeds in it. They are much juicier than apples, or pears. Then we talked about the continent of Asia where it is, some countries in Asia, and some ingredients that are used frequently in their cuisine such as peanuts, and Chinese 5-Spice Powder. Since Asian pears are a lot like apples, and crisps are one of our favorite desserts, we took a chance at making Asian Pear Crisps.They turned out great!

The main ideas enforced in our ASIAN PEAR CRISP lesson: Ingredient Identification, Asia, Counting, Following Directions, Creativity

Asian Pear Crisp
Serves 4.

2 Asian Pears, peeled and sliced
½ c. Sugar
½ c. Brown Sugar
2 tbsp. Flour
1 tbsp. Chinese 5-Spice Powder
¼ tsp. Salt
1 tsp lemon juice
½ Stick of Butter

Topping:
4oz. (1/2 c.) Peanuts halved, or chopped
3/4 stick of butter diced small (cold)
2oz. (1/4 c.) flour
½ c. Brown Sugar
¼ c. Sugar
1tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Salt
½ c. Oatmeal

Preheat oven to 350. Place pears in a clean bowl. Add sugars, 5-Spice, salt, flour, and lemon juice, and mix until the pears are covered evenly. Melt butter in a skillet on medium heat and sauté pears for about 5 minutes. Spoon the pears into ramekins or other oven-safe dishes evenly. Mix all ingredients for the topping in a separate bowl and top each dish. Bake until topping is golden brown, about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. Top with whipped cream or serve with ice cream. Enjoy!

Do you cook with your kids? What are some fun things you do to incorporate learning in the kitchen?