bread

Blueberry French Toast Casserole

Blueberry French Toast Casserole is made with day old French bread, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, milk and fresh blueberries topped with some powdered sugar, syrup and more fresh blueberries.

Brunch time this spring is looking extra tasty with this delicious casserole with fresh berries. French toast casseroles are great for feeding guests or just for a nice weekend brunch with the family. They are really easy to toss together and are affordable. The blueberries add a nice pop of color to make a dish that typically looks little bleh, look really appetizing! Plus, the blueberries are sweet and add extra flavor.

Blueberry French Toast Casserole

Blueberry French Toast Casserole has a crunchy outside layer and a really soft inside. You get a hint of cinnamon and juicy bites of berry. The perfect dish to wake up to!

Tips & Tricks

Crusty Bread

Day old, crusty bread works best. You can buy a fresh loaf, cube it and then have it sit out for a couple hours or until it becomes slightly stale.

Eggs

You can certainly whisk your egg mixture but I find that beating the eggs with hand mixer work best for a really nice consistency and texture in the casserole.

Let it Rest

Go ahead and prep this casserole the night before! Let the egg mixture soak into the bread before baking for best results.

Blueberry French Toast Casserole

Blueberry French Toast Casserole is made with day old French bread, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, milk and fresh blueberries topped with some powdered sugar, syrup and more fresh blueberries.

Course Breakfast

Keyword brunch, French Toast

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Cool 5 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 12 Servings

Author Amber

Ingredients

1 pound Loaf French bread day old
8 Eggs large
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract
2 teaspoons Cinnamon ground
2 cups Whole milk
1 1/2 cups Blueberries
Confectioners sugar
Maple Syrup

Instructions

Cut or tear the day old loaf of bread into bite sized pieces. Place into a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.
Wash the blueberries and add one cup worth into casserole dish.
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. then, add brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and milk and beat again. Pour into the casserole dish over the bread.
Cover with aluminum foil and store in refrigerator until ready to bake. Overnight recommended.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Uncover casserole and bake 45-55 minutes. 55 minutes with allow the top to get a nice crust.
Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
Top with the remaining fresh blueberries, a little bit of confectioners sugar and serve with maple syrup.

Date Night with Bertolli® {+ Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread Recipe}

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. The following content is intended for readers who are 21 or older #MangiaTonight #CollectiveBias

Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching. I feel like once Thanksgiving hit, time went into fast forward and winter is flying by. Valentine’s Day reservations have not been made nor have we set up a babysitter. Time to get creative! This year, we are having date night in with Bertolli® Frozen Meals set up by the fireplace with a cozy blanket, flowers, wine and a freshly baked cheesy garlic pull apart bread. Life is all about the little moments like this. The simple, spontaneous, unexpected, small moments that mean the most.

First, drop by Kroger and grab everything you need to create your own date night at home. Bertolli® Frozen Meals are found in the freezer section under family meals. There are many different options to choose from but I went with the Chicken Florentine & Farfalle because it is a creamy pasta with loads of spinach packed with flavor and big chunks of lean chicken. There are bags for 2 servings which is what I bought for today for our romantic dinner for two by the fire. Family size bags are also available so grab the one that is appropriate for your needs.

Bonus! For the month of February at Kroger banner stores, Bertolli Meals for Two will be the lowest price of the year.

You can’t have an Italian pasta dinner without a garlic bread. I didn’t want to do any kind of garlic bread though for our special night. I am making a gooey, cheesy garlic pull apart bread. You will find fresh Kroger bread in the bread and pastry section. I went with the Italian round bread. The sourdough round loafs would also be a great choice. Mozzarella, garlic cloves and butter will also be needed.

You have the perfect pasta dish, a crazy good cheesy garlic bread planned, so now for the drinks and flowers. It’s date night! Grab some pretty flowers that smell wonderful. There is just something about fresh flowers that just automatically make a person happy. What is it? The color? The smell? Flowers just top off everything and romanticize the night.

Now for the drinks. We are wine drinkers so we grabbed a simple, light wine. For the Chicken Florentine and Farfelle, I recommend a white wine. A light dish pairs with white wines beautifully. Think of a chardonnay, white zinfandel or a reisling. Even a champagne would be fantastic and appropriate for a romantic Valentine’s date night.

As part of date night, we both participate in the cooking. It can be a fun experience just being in the kitchen together watching my husband cook, chatting, laughing and having a glass of wine. Separate the tasks and have on person make the cheesy garlic pull apart bread while the heats up the pasta. Start with the bread since it takes longer to cook. You want to remove the bread from the packaging and make slices one inch apart both diagonal and horizontal. When making your slices, do not cut all the way through the bread. Check out the photo below as a guideline on your slices. Just make the slices go down towards bottom and stop. Melt the butter in a small bowl, add the cheese, fresh chopped parsley and minced garlic to mix together. Now, add your mixture into the slices of the bread spreading it equally throughout. Cover in foil and place in oven for 35 minutes.

As the bread finishes cooking in the oven, begin the pasta. In a large sauce pan on a medium to high heat, add the package of Bertolli. Cook for 11 minutes covered while stirring often to avoid sticking and for thorough cooking. That is it! How easy is this?

Now time for the fun part! Setting up your night date at home. One of our favorite date night tricks is an indoor picnic. This is where we grab a comfy blanket and lay it out by the fireplace to eat. Set up your blanket like a picnic with your Bertolli Chicken Florentine and Farfalle in a big shareable bowl, lay out the cheesy garlic pull apart bread, a bucket of ice with the wine bottle, wine glasses and vas with fresh flowers.

Enjoy date night with Bertolli. Take a few minutes to yourselves and catch up on life. Have a nice discussion, watch a movie, play a board game, enjoy the fireplace and in our case…. try your best to ignore the children running around in circles by us. Better yet, let the kids set up their own picnic area to eat and watch a movie or color in the some new Valentine’s Day coloring books.

Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread

4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
1 loaf fresh italian round bread (or something similar)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups mozzarella shredded cheese

Gather ingredients, aluminum foil, measuring cup, whisk, small bowl, cutting board, knife, bread knife, and garlic press.
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
Use the bread knife to cut your bread. Cut slices down to the bottom of the bread but not all the way through about one inch apart. Do the cross cut slices the same way making sure to not cut all through the bread.
In the small bowl, melt one stick of butter in microwave for 30 seconds- 1 minute.
Chop the fresh parsley and add to bowl.
Mince 4 garlic cloves with the garlic press and put into bowl.
Measure out 1.5 cups cheese and add to bowl. Whisk the ingredients together well.
Spread open the bread to put the mixture on the bread making sure to evenly distribute throughout. Helps to do this by sections or quadrants and spread with a knife.
Completely wrap in foil.
Place in oven for 35 minutes.
Sprinkle the other .5 cups mozzarella cheese on top of bread right when it comes out of oven allowing it to melt.
Serve.

Cheers to Bertolli for bringing date night into our home and helping us create wonderful memories together!

How are you spending Valentine’s Day this year? Can you see yourself having a romantic date night at home by the fire and a glass of wine, a delicious bowl of pasta and some fresh cheesy garlic pull apart bread?

Get some more date night inspiration from Bertolli® Frozen Meals by clicking HERE.

Bertolli® is a registered trademark of R&B Foods, Inc., used under license.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Breakfast breads are common in this household. They are so simple, affordable and there are so many variations. The chocolate chip banana bread is a fantastic option and I love anything that I don’t have to run to the grocery store to buy ingredients for because it uses ingredients already in your pantry and utilizes those over ripe uneaten bananas instead of tossing them in the garbage. We hate throwing food away! Even it is a dollar worth of bananas. Not a fan of chocolate chips? Try the Walnut Banana Bread recipe.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

.5 cups sugar
.5 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
.5 cups chocolate chips
1.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt

Gather ingredients, loaf pan, medium sized mixing bowl, measuring cups, non stick spray and hand mixer. Hand mixer is not necessary, you can easily use a fork to blend.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Peel 3 squishy over ripe bananas into bowl and squish more with fork.
Add pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 eggs, .5 cup brown sugar, and .5 cup granulated cane sugar. Use fork or hand mixer to mix well.
Add 1.5 cups flour and mix for a minute.
Stir in .5 cup of chocolate chips.
Spray loaf pan with non stick spray of choice.
Add mixture to pan.
Place in oven for 1 hour.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Serve and enjoy.

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Homemade Cornbread

This recipe for Homemade Cornbread comes from an old Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. This book was Amber’s grandmothers that was originally published in the 1930’s and we have the 1981 version. We love these older, classic recipes and this Homemade Cornbread is delicious and so easy to make. Make a complete cold day dinner with some Crock-Pot Turkey Chili and try our homemade Chili Seasoning recipes.

Homemade Cornbread

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 vegetable oil

Gather ingredients, 9x9 baking pan, hand mixer, 2 bowls, whisk, and measuring cups and spoons.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Whisk 2 eggs, 1 cup milk and 1/4 cup vegetable together in a small bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
Combine ingredients of both bowls together and mix until smooth.
Grease the baking pan and then pour mixture in.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Enjoy.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Homemade Pizza Dough seems like such a daunting task but it is surprisingly simple. We make the pizza dough entirely with our hands but if you prefer to use a mixer to do the work, you certainly can. We like to make a large batch and save in the fridge after it is done rising to use half for pizza and the other half for Homemade Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks. The Homemade Pizza Dough should stay good in the fridge for at least 3 days and maybe longer, ours has never needed to last past that. Everyone needs a good go-to dough recipe and we really enjoy this one because it gives a nice thick crust.

Try a homemade Taco Pizza with fresh Salsa Verde!

Homemade Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water
3.5 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon yeast

Gather ingredients, fork, large bowl, towel, pizza cutter, pizza pan or stone, and rolling pin.
Mix 1 teaspoon of yeast in 1 cup of warm water and let sit until yeast is dissolved. This only takes a few minutes and water should be around 105 degrees.
Dump 3.5 cups of bread flour onto your working area and make a crater in the center for the rest of the ingredients.
In your crater area, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons sugar, and slowly mix in the cup of water with yeast.
Using your fork, mix from the center out to the edges bringing in the flour slowly as you mix without breaking the crater wall. Add the teaspoon of salt once the flour is mixed to point that the crater walls are not needed.
Use your hands to mix and knead thoroughly until you have a nice elastic ball of dough. This should take around 5 to 7 minutes.
Put dough into a bowl with a bit of olive oil to coat it from sticking. Place a towel over and let sit for one hour.
After one hour, use the rolling pin to roll out the dough into a round pizza shape. Sprinkle flour if the dough is sticking.
Time to dress up the pizza with whichever toppings you choose. Try sausage, pepperoni, olives, and bacon for a meat lovers pizza with 2 cups of shredded cheese.
Pre heat oven to 400 degrees and cook pizza for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and enjoy.

Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks

Homemade Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks are a perfect side for soups or a comforting Italian family dinner. These breadsticks turn out soft and buttery with just the right amount of garlic. These breadsticks are so delicious and no equipment is needed, although a KitchenAid Mixer would save some time. We completely make this by hand and completely from scratch. Yum. Now, won’t your family be impressed when you bring these to the dinner table? Cook up some Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana for a fantastic dinner and everyone will be raving on your cooking.

Here is a little tip for you! Double this recipe for the dough and save half in the fridge for homemade pizza dough sometime through the week.

Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks

breadsticks
1 cup warm water
3.5 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon yeast
garlic butter
4 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic
salt
italian parsley
.5 cups Parmesan cheese

Gather ingredients, 2 forks, large bowl, small bowl, basting brush, towel, pizza cutter, cookie sheet, and rolling pin.
Mix 1 teaspoon of yeast in 1 cup of warm water and let sit until yeast is dissolved. This should only take a few minutes and water should be around 105 degrees.
Dump 3.5 cups of bread flour onto your working area and make a crater in the center for the rest of the ingredients.
In your crater area, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons sugar, and the cup of water with yeast.
Using your fork, mix from the center out to the edges bringing in the flour as you mix without breaking the crater wall. Add the teaspoon of salt once the flour is mixed to point that the crater walls are not needed.
Use your hands to mix and knead thoroughly until you have a nice ball of dough. This should take around 5 to 7 minutes.
Put dough into a bowl with a bit of olive oil to coat it from sticking. Place a towel over and let sit for one hour.
After one hour, use the rolling pin to roll out the dough. Sprinkle flour if the dough is ticking.
Using your pizza cutter, make 10 even cuts to make 12 breadsticks. Twist these and lay on a cookie sheet.
Let the breadsticks sit for one hour to finish rising.
Prepare garlic butter. In the small bowl, add 4 tablespoons room temperature butter, 1 clove of minced garlic, fresh Italian parsley and salt to preference. Mix well.
Pre heat oven to 400 degrees and cook breadsticks for 10 minutes.
Immediately brush on garlic butter and sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

bread

Blueberry French Toast Casserole