fairy french toast casserole

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Hello all! I hope you’re enjoying your holidays!! Bernie and Nick and I are on our beautiful Italian fake-cation and I left my computer behind! But I wanted to leave you with this fairy bread-inspired overnight baked french toast because I cannot imagine a better New Year’s brunch dish. Can you??? It’s as if the Times Square ball dropped and instead of confetti, sprinkles poured out, and luckily we were standing there with a casserole of bread sandwiched with almond paste. (You are all hip to fairy bread, right? The Australian delight that consists of buttered bread and sprinkles?!! If not, get on it!!)

fairy french toast casserole

serves 4-6

Ingredients

¼ c unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted 

¾ c sugar

1 loaf challah or french bread, cut into 1-inch slices

6 oz almond paste, grated on the big holes of a box grater (or if it’s too soft to grate you can tear it into little tiny pieces)

8 large eggs

1 c milk (whole, 2%, or dairy-free)

1 tb vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

½ tsp kosher salt 

Zest of 1 lemon

½ c sliced almonds

TONSSSSS of Rainbow sprinkles*

*make sure they’re rainbow sprinkles you really like the taste of. the sprinkles in this photo are a mix of india tree’s nature’s colors sprinkles and good old wilton nonpareils. 

Clues

Pour the butter or oil into a 9x13 casserole dish and swirl it around to coat evenly. Sprinkle on the sugar. Arrange half of the bread in the baking dish, overlapping if necessary, and sprinkle on the almond paste. Arrange the remaining bread on top.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, almond extract, salt, and lemon zest and pour evenly over the bread slices. Sprinkle the almonds all over the top.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350ºf.

Bake uncovered until browned on top and set throughout; begin checking for doneness at 35 minutes. If the top starts browning too much, tent it with foil.

Remove casserole from oven and take no prisoners while you cover it completely with sprinkles. Enjoy!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

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One of the number one things that I was told to prep before Bernie’s arrival was oatmeal muffins! Oatmeal to help with lactation and muffins because they’re quick and easy to thaw from frozen and you can eat them with one hand. I do love oatmeal in the morning, and I usually have it with peanut butter or almond butter, cinnamon, berries, a little dark chocolate, and Trader Joe’s crunchy super seed mix for some Omega-3s, so I made a muffin version of this! They’re super good and filling, they’ve got pockets of melty chocolate, and they’re topped with just a few sprinkles that I thought would add a little humor to times that were destined to be insane, filled with Bernie wails, and true muffin emergencies. This is a pretty versatile recipe— you can add different spices, use butter or coconut oil, and change up the nut butters and mix-ins (don’t skimp on the chocolate though!). I would definitely recommend topping them with something, whether it’s sprinkles or turbinado sugar and/or seed mix, the added crunch on top is the loveliest.

Side note: I can’t really eat these muffins without thinking about the Bojack muffin episode when Neal McBeal the Navy Seal calls dibs on muffins at the store and Bojack eats them all. I wonder how Bojack is doing these days. I’m afraid to watch it with Bernie in ear shot and all. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

Makes 8 Jumbo Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 c (120g) rolled oats

1 c (240g) milk (2%, whole, or almond)

1/2 c (65g) all-purpose flour

1/2 c (65g) whole wheat flour or more all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c (113g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled

1/2 c (128g) creamy unsweetened peanut butter (almond butter works too!)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/2 c (150g) maple syrup

3/4 c (90g) dried cherries, blueberries, or raisins

3/4 c (4 oz) chopped dark chocolate

3/4 c (45g) unsweetened coconut flakes

Super seed mix, optional, for topping

Coarse sanding sugar or sprinkles, for topping

Clues

Preheat the oven to 400ºf. Line 8 jumbo muffin tins with liners and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the oats and milk and let soak for 20 minutes.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the butter or coconut oil, peanut butter, vanilla, eggs, and maple syrup until smooth. Add the oats and flour mixture and stir to combine and then fold in the dried fruit, chocolate, and coconut. Scoop into muffin tins and sprinkle with seeds, if using, and sanding sugar or sprinkles. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean; begin checking for doneness at 22 minutes. Let cool in the pans for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely or enjoy warm! 

Cooled muffins can be stored in a ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in the microwave for about a minute.

-yeh!

pancakes and sausage on a stick

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Back in March when I was doing all of my meal prep, I realized that Mother’s Day would happen soon after I gave birth! It was a wild realization that I’d suddenly be an honoree of the day and I obviously immediately got the urge to cry and be emotional. I imagined my perfect Mother’s Day with a newborn (which is different than my perfect Mother’s Day with, say, a 6-year-old because by that time I can expect some super cute breakfast in bed, right?!) and what I imagined was holding a little nugget in one hand and eating my special brunch in another. A brunch on a stick. And one of my favorite brunches ever, pancakes and sausage! I mean, a bouquet of flowers would be nice but a bouquet of pancakes and sausage on a stick would be nice and tasty. So here we are, I made my own Mother’s Day brunch and it’s in the freezer now waiting to be microwaved. Lol. Pressure’s off, Eggboy! 

Pancakes and sausage on a stick were one of my faaaavorite breakfasts growing up. We’d get them in bulk from Market Day at school (does Market Day still exist?! Omg, it does!) and I’d have them before early morning ice skating practices. These days I can’t walk by them in the freezer section of the Super Target without seriously considering buying them every single time but then I look at the ingredients and have to put them down. So with this homemade version, even though they’re a totally fried breakfast version of a corn dog, I feel a little better about eating them because I can use my fave sausages (I like Applegate’s natural chicken sausages) and then also add some oat flour to the batter. More oats = more boob milk! Yeah! And the oats add a nice nuttiness to the pancake.

So here’s a big batch that you can make, freeze, and nuke for breakfast in a snap and Mother’s Day with a newborn and the like! 

Pancakes and Sausage on a Stick

Makes 18

Ingredients

1/2 c (65g) all-purpose flour

1/2 c (65g) oat flour, or more all-purpose flour

2 tb sugar

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 large egg

2 tb flavorless oil

1/2 c (120g) buttermilk

18 pre-cooked breakfast sausages (if frozen, heat them a little just until they’re soft enough to insert with lollipop sticks)

Flavorless oil, for frying

Maple syrup, optional, for serving

Clues

Fill a large heavy pot or high sided skillet fitted with a thermometer with 1” of oil and heat over medium high heat to 360º F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In a separate small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the egg, oil, and buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Transfer the batter to a tall skinny glass or measuring cup (this step isn’t completely necessary, but it will make coating the sausages easier). Working in batches of 3 or 4 sausages at a time, insert popsicle sticks or lollipop sticks into the sausages, pat off any excess moisture with a paper towel, and dip them into the pancake batter to fully coat, scraping off excess. It doesn’t need to be a very thick coating as the batter will puff up when frying. Carefully lower the entire thing (stick included) into the hot oil and fry until golden, 1 1/2-2 minutes. Use tongs to transfer to a paper towel or wire rack. Repeat with the remaining sausages. Cool slightly before serving. 

To freeze, cool completely and then store in a ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, wrap loosely in a paper towel and microwave for about 40 seconds, or until heated through. Let cool slightly and enjoy!

-yeh!

photos by chantell and brett quernemoen

potato bagels

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Potato bagels were my first love, years before the everything bagel became my go-to. I would get them at the Einstein Bros. in my suburb back in the early 90s when it first opened and had this cool industrial vibe and really tasty cakey black and white cookies. I loved the potato bagels because they were all around softer than the others, and there weren’t any scary toppings like poppy seeds and dried garlic looking to ruin my day. They fit comfortably into my very picky childhood and I’d usually have them with fluffy whipped butter, or plain cream cheese if I was feeling wild. I pretty much forgot about potato bagels though until my severe first trimester bagel craving brought me back to an Einstein for the first time in forever. It was actually right around Yom Kippur I think. I’d been planning for weeks to make bagels for Yom Kippur break fast, even though I didn’t fast this year after reading mixed things on the internet about fasting while pregnant. I made my dough on a Monday, and you know the dough needs to rest overnight before you complete the process, but my craving by Monday night was soooo insane that I had no choice but to put the bagel dough to sleep and then immediately drive out to the other end of town to the Einstein to buy a bagel so that I could eat one ASAP. And I got a potato bagel because when I spotted it in the basket it made me all nostalgic and brought back my earliest bagel memories. I also chose it because as intense as my craving was, I was still in need of very bland food as to not get nauseous. This potato bagel was not as I remembered it though, it seemed skinnier and much less doughy. Or maybe it was exactly the same, and I was the one who had changed. Living in New York must have just spoiled me bagel-wise because these days when I eat a bagel I’m looking for tons of height, doughiness, and a moderate jaw workout. So although I didn’t break out in a jaw sweat in the parking lot scarfing down my bagel (ew, jaw sweat? Sorry, that just came out.), it was still good enough to hold me over until the next day when my homemade bagels came out of the oven.

I couldn’t shake my desire for a hot mind-blowing potato bagel though! So I made these. I added riced potato to my go-to bagel recipe and learned that the defining look of the Einstein potato bagels is easy to achieve. The outcome is a deliciously chewy bagel that has a perfect amount of tenderness and the faint flavor of potato. My freezer is packed with them now, so I no longer run the risk of emergency cross-town bagel runs. Which is good because my pants don’t fit anymore, I really don’t wanna put on pants and drive across town.

A note on bagel size: I’ve been making smaller bagels (batches of 16) because I just find that they’re less committal that way and yield a good size for breakfast with a side of green smoothie or lunch with a side salad. Or first dinner that leaves you room for second dinner. That’s what’s pictured. If you’re looking for larger bagels, go ahead and make 12. 

For more bagel talk and a tutorial video, check out my everything bagel post.

Potato Bagels

makes 16 small-ish bagels or 12 large-ish bagels

Ingredients 

12 oz peeled russet potatoes, cut into 1” cubes

1/2 c (118ml) cool water

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp + 2 tb (25g) brown sugar, divided

6 c (780g) high gluten flour, plus more for dusting

1 tb kosher salt

2 1/2 tb (54g) barley malt syrup, divided

1 tb baking soda

Clues

Place the chopped potato in a large pot and cover it with water. Bring to a simmer and cook until a fork pokes easily into the potato, begin checking for doneness at about 10 minutes. Drain the potato, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water in a medium bowl. Rice the potato and set it aside. Add the 1/2 cup cool water to the bowl with the hot cooking water, the two temperatures of these waters should even out to warm (about 105º-110ºf), if it’s too cold, microwave it a little, or if it’s too hot, let it sit for a few minutes to cool. Add the yeast and the 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, give it a little swirl and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until foamy on top.

In a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Add the mashed potato, yeast mixture, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of barley malt and mix to form a stiff dough. Knead in the stand mixer or turn onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 7-10 minutes, until smooth and slightly sticky, adding additional flour if the dough is sticking to the bowl or too sticky to handle. Transfer to a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. 

When ready to shape, let the dough sit at room temperature for an hour and then turn it out onto a clean work surface. Divide it into 12 or 16 equal parts (see notes about sizing) and stretch them into smooth balls, making sure to seal any dough seams well. Shape the bagels by sticking your thumb through the center of each ball and using your fingers to gently stretch a 2” hole. Cover the bagels with a towel and let rise for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450ºf and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and grease them well. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the baking soda and remaining tablespoon of barley malt. Working with 3 or 4 bagels at a time as to not crowd the pot, boil them for 1 minute on each side (use a timer for this). With a slotted spoon or spatula, lift them out of the water, allowing excess water to drip off, and then transfer them to the baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (If making 16 bagels, you will likely need to bake a third pan of bagels, which you can do after the first 2 pans come out of the oven.)

With a serrated knife, make 3 cuts in a triangle shape on top of the bagels and then dust them lightly with flour. Bake the bagels for 10 minutes, switch racks and rotate the pans 180º, and bake for 5-8 more minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly and enjoy! 

Leftovers should be cooled fully, stored in the freezer in plastic bags, and reheated in the toaster. Slice them before freezing if you’d like so you can put them directly from the freezer into the toaster.

Enjoy! 

-yeh!

photos by chantell and brett!