Pound Cake French Toast Muffins (with Chocolate)

 My 4-year-old Sous Chef had spent the night and when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she declared, "French Toast"!

I knew I had some leftover pound cake from one of my cake classes,  denuded of its frosting, hiding in the back of the refrigerator for just such an occasion.

Little Sousie is getting quite good at her cooking skills. She stands on a chair at the kitchen counter. She cracked 6 eggs and only got one bit of shell in egg #1. I gave her a cutting board and a butter knife to cube a few pieces of pound cake and she did a fine job while I worked on another board making the remainder of the cake cubes.

I measured the milk (carton is still heavy for her) and she poured from the cup into the bowl with the eggs. Then she whisked to blend. I handed her a half bag of chocolate chips and suggested she add as many as she wanted. She made herself a little pile of chips on her cutting board to sample and dumped the rest into the egg mixture.

I poured in a little vanilla and asked (silly question) if she wanted cinnamon. She loves sim-a-non! Again, I let her decide how much to add.  Lastly, we tossed in our cake cubes and stirred to coat them. A couple of little hands might have been used.

After the muffins came out of the oven, and we waited a few minutes for cooling,  she enjoyed sprinkling them beautifully with powdered sugar. 

Just in case her mother is reading this, I want it to be known that we drank a smoothie made with fresh pineapple, banana, pear, yogurt, and almond milk while we waited for the muffins to bake.

Pound Cake French Toast Muffins (with Chocolate)
8 - 10 cups cubed pound cake or dense bread
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
Chocolate chips, to taste
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 12 cup muffin pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Mix in the vanilla, cinnamon, and cake cubes. Divide into the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes until set and golden brown. Let cool in pans for about 10 minutes. Remove muffins to a cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar.

Oatmeal Streusel Muffins

So, my husband has been on an oatmeal kick lately. I suppose it is his body's natural response as an antidote to all the rich foods and sweets from the holidays. Oats are a very nourishing and healing food and I understand his desire to eat them.

I ate oatmeal at lot when I was in the hospital and also quite a bit when I got home. I am taking a break from it now.

A couple of days ago, I decided to make some portable oatmeal for Pritchard Parker's morning commute by making oatmeal muffins. This is a recipe from Quaker Oats which I almost made as written. As I was mixing the batter, I was thinking that some raisins or diced apples would be good stirred in. Later, I was wishing I had listened to me and added some golden raisins. I did, however, add cinnamon which was not listed in the recipe. 

Oatmeal Streusel Muffins

STREUSEL
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 Tbsp. chilled butter, cut into pieces

MUFFINS
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray bottoms only of 12 muffin cups.

For streusel, combine oats, sugar, and flour. Cut in butter, using fingertips, until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

For muffins, combine all the dry ingredients and mix well. In another bowl, combine milk, oil, egg, and vanilla and blend well. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, all at once, and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix.

Fill muffin cups almost full. Sprinkle with reserved streusel, patting gently.

Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool muffins in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pan.

 

Try one with a smear of butter and a drizzle of honey.