Holiday French Toast

What better way to celebrate a three-day weekend than with a scrumptious, eat-it-in-your-pajamas breakfast? In honor our day off, I cooked us up some vanilla French toast (topped with maple syrup and a sprinkle of powdered sugar, of course) and served it along with some peppered bacon from my local meat market. I do use real sugar in the batter (just a tablespoon!), because it helps the toast caramelize in the hot pan. A little almond extract gives it that extra bit of pizzazz, and serving it is easy—just let eaters dress their own from any range of toppers. Oh, and this dish is gluten-free, too. (Thanks to the folks at Rudi’s Organic Bakery for making such versatile, non-dry gluten-free multigrain bread.)

Nutty Banana Muffins

Continuing onward with my almond flour experiment, I decided to use some to whip up some nutty, dairy-free (obviously) breakfast muffins. Inspired by the fabulous Elana’s Pantry blog (a must-read for anyone looking for white flour alternatives or just loves beautiful pictures of cupcakes), I added a little arrowroot powder into my almond flour. Let me tell you, that woman knows her cakes. These muffins taste like muffins—springy texture, moist with banana, and filled with the occasional bite from the crunchy peanut butter I used.

Berry Breakfast Scone Cookies

Scones have been one those gorgeous breakfast pastries that that I’ve had to learn to live without since becoming lactose intolerant. Well, now I can have my digestive health and my scones, too. Inspired by a raspberry scone recipe in the bible of all vegan and gluten-free cookbooks, Babycakes, I decided to whip up a version of the classic pastry sans cream and butter. Since it’s not quite summer, and I didn’t have any fresh berries on hand, I used some organic frozen blueberries and raspberries. Any mixture of fresh or frozen berries would work.

Also, these aren’t technically scones—I decided not to bother with the whole cutting and shaping process. These no-regrets, dairy-free scones look more like cookies, but they have the light and fulfilling texture and fresh flavor of a satisfying morning pastry.

The one rule that you absolutely must, must, MUST stick by: Do not overmix!