This Apple Cinnamon French Toast Bake will simultaneously brighten your morning and help sharpen the kids’ skills in the kitchen!
I was so thrilled to be offered the opportunity to review the by Anjali Shah. It’s available for preorder now and will arrive on your doorstep on October 9th! I’ll discuss more about that later.
My kids and I love spending time together in the kitchen, cooking and baking. It’s actually one of their most favorite boredom buster activities! So I jumped at the chance to peek into this new cook book that’s full of kid-friendly recipes and detailed yet straightforward step-by-step instructions for how to make them.
My kids (and, let’s face it, probably many kids) are super finicky about food, so everything in the book is fun and appealing to their little picky tastes. 🙂 Lots of colors and catchy titles. 🙂
We can’t wait to make the Bunny Pancakes and Magic Unicorn Toast next! I love that each of the recipe steps are clearly broken down, so the kids can easily follow them. And each recipe has a list of kitchen tools that will be required to get the kids in good habits of learning how to plan for, then prepare the dish.
The cookbook also contains helpful rules and instructions for how to keep kids safe around kitchen equipment. Plus, there are special symbols throughout, prompting adults to supervise for certain portions. And the introduction contains a detailed list (with pictures) to familiarize kids with common cooking equipment.
I’ve found that when my kids help prepare the meals, they’re more likely to eat them. So I love getting them involved in the prepping process. Plus, I want to send them out into the world when they’re grown, feeling confident in the kitchen!
Since we’re big on homemade breakfasts at our house, I knew this Apple Cinnamon French Toast Bake would be a hit and, boy was I right about that. The apples combined with the melty dots of cream cheese and cinnamon french toast flavor is just perfection! Top it with your favorite berries and a nice drizzling of maple syrup and you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven!
Apple Cinnamon French Toast Bake
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. room-temperature butter plus more for greasing the baking dish
- 8 slices whole-wheat bread
- 1 medium apple
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup strawberries blueberries, or other berries of choice for serving
- 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- Oil the pan, and preheat the oven. Use your fingers or a paper towel to spread butter all over the inside of the baking dish. (Ask an adult for help here) Preheat the oven to 350 ?F.
- Cut up the bread and apple. Using a cutting board and a kid-safe knife, cut the bread into small cubes. Spread the bread pieces evenly to cover the bottom of the baking dish. (Ask an adult for help here) Core the apple. Cut the apple into small pieces. Sprinkle the apple pieces over the bread.
- Measure and stir together the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, crack 1 egg. Remove any shells and pour the egg into a large bowl. Repeat with the second egg. Add the milk, cream cheese, maple syrup, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla to the large bowl. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir until smooth.
- Add the mixture to the pan. Pour the wet mixture over the bread and apple. Stir everything around in the pan to make sure it's completely coated.
- Bake the French toast. (Ask an adult for help here) Bake for 45 minutes. Once cooled, cut into small squares, top with the berries, sprinkle with powdered sugar (if using,) and serve.
Notes
I drizzled the top with maple syrup after baking and just before serving.
Overall, the is a fantastic and fun resource for helping kids feel comfortable about the cooking/baking process with 25 easy-to-follow recipes! My kiddos and I are so excited to work our way through it! Grab your copy on Amazon and you can start cooking away with the kids on October 9th!
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