Sometimes in the morning when I'm ready for breakfast I look for something that is easy to prepare and can be eaten on the go. For these reasons, we are a big fan of quickbreads as they freeze well and they only take a couple minutes to toast for a quick breakfast.
Quickbreads can be whipped up in a matter of minutes since there is no kneading involved and most recipes usually can be turned into muffins if you like. This recipe,
Lemon Coconut Bread, had orange yogurt and orange zest as the predominate flavors but I love the fresh taste of lemons and decided to change things up a bit. The recipe called for 8 ounces of yogurt, but since most containers around here are now about 6 ounces, I added some sour cream instead of opening a new one for 2 ounces.
The bread was moist, bursting with lemon flavor, and I love how the bright yellow zest stands out when you slice it. You can taste a subtle coconut flavor and it brings just enough additional texture to make it interesting. Next time I might try adding some frozen blueberries or maybe some dried fruit to bring in another dimension of flavor.
For tonight's dinner, I decided to change around a recipe I've been eyeing.
Cubed Caramel French Toast Casserole turned out to be quite the tasty dish. Some reviews of the original recipe said it turned out a little mushy, but with some changes I did not find that at all. Instead of using whole french bread slices, I decided to cube mine (10 of them would not fit in the dish anyway) and I let the bread sit out overnight to stale a bit. Because of the use of High Frutose Corn Syrup in light corn syrup, I tend to stay away, but lately I've been using Brown Rice Syrup for a substitute and it worked quite well here. I also slightly reduced some of the wet mixture to see if that would help the mushy factor.
A bottom layer of sweet sticky caramel is topped with crunchy bread cubes which slowly drinks up an eggy vanilla milk mixture over a few hours. After a trip through the oven, the bread firms up and sets well. The gooey caramel sticks well to the bottom bread layer and wiggled its way up through the cubes. We found the bread to be soft, but not at all mushy, just how we like it!
Quickbreads can be whipped up in a matter of minutes since there is no kneading involved and most recipes usually can be turned into muffins if you like. This recipe, Lemon Coconut Bread, had orange yogurt and orange zest as the predominate flavors but I love the fresh taste of lemons and decided to change things up a bit. The recipe called for 8 ounces of yogurt, but since most containers around here are now about 6 ounces, I added some sour cream instead of opening a new one for 2 ounces.
The bread was moist, bursting with lemon flavor, and I love how the bright yellow zest stands out when you slice it. You can taste a subtle coconut flavor and it brings just enough additional texture to make it interesting. Next time I might try adding some frozen blueberries or maybe some dried fruit to bring in another dimension of flavor.
For tonight's dinner, I decided to change around a recipe I've been eyeing. Cubed Caramel French Toast Casserole turned out to be quite the tasty dish. Some reviews of the original recipe said it turned out a little mushy, but with some changes I did not find that at all. Instead of using whole french bread slices, I decided to cube mine (10 of them would not fit in the dish anyway) and I let the bread sit out overnight to stale a bit. Because of the use of High Frutose Corn Syrup in light corn syrup, I tend to stay away, but lately I've been using Brown Rice Syrup for a substitute and it worked quite well here. I also slightly reduced some of the wet mixture to see if that would help the mushy factor.
A bottom layer of sweet sticky caramel is topped with crunchy bread cubes which slowly drinks up an eggy vanilla milk mixture over a few hours. After a trip through the oven, the bread firms up and sets well. The gooey caramel sticks well to the bottom bread layer and wiggled its way up through the cubes. We found the bread to be soft, but not at all mushy, just how we like it!
YUM!
ReplyDeletethey both look great, I applaude your use of brown rice syrup too!
If you are making something with apples apple concentrate if fantastic too
Yum! I love quick breads. I have some toasted coconut I need to use....hmmmmm
ReplyDeleteThere goes that 'to try' list again. It just keeps growing!
Clare - Thanks! Good advice with the A-J Concentrate! So far, using brown rice syrup has been a good experience!
ReplyDeleteJJ - I know what you mean about that to-try pile... We call it the "monster" around here.. hee hee!
Joe, I'm a huge fan of quick breads myself, and that looks absoltutely wonderful!
ReplyDeleteIt just so happens I've half a carton of blueberries leftover...
Breakfast for dinner is wonderful and not practiced nearly enough in my house :)
ReplyDeleteYum, coconut and lemon and yogurt, oh my! You just gave me another recipe for my lemon fetish. Thanks for the brown rice syrup substitution too - I'm always looking for new ways to edit out all the processed/bad ingredients in my kitchen too. I'm going to try your weekend planning trick too...now if I can only stick with it...
ReplyDeletecorrect me if I'm wrong, but I dont think corn syrup contains high fructose corn syrup. I believe they are two different things. HFCS is actually modified corn starch. Nevertheless, Corn syrup is still terrible for you, the brown rice syrup is much better. Next time I go to Whole Foods, I have to get some.
ReplyDeleteJoe, the breads look awesome. And the Caramel toast - wow!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been making quick sweet breads alot lately. The favorites here are banana (with chocolate chips) and zucchini (with cranberries and pecans). Thanks for adding another to my list.
s'kat - Thanks! I have a bunch of blueberries in the freezer to use!
ReplyDeleteungouremtgal - I love breakfast for dinner!
micki - Good luck with your planning! Just make it a priority and stick to it!
randi - Yes, light corn syrup *does* contain HFCS. You can see here for an ingredient list for a popular brand in the states. Light Corn Syrup ingredient list
Ruth - Thanks! I love using zucchini for breads too - and how can you go wrong with banana and chocolate chips?!