Cinnamon and Apple Baked French Toast

Hi Everyone,

May  is National Celiac Awareness Month and I teamed up with Udi’s Gluten Free to help raise awareness of Celiac Disease.  As you know from my recipes, I am not allergic to gluten, but I do try to make some recipes that are gluten-free for those who may have Celiac Disease.  If you don’t know Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disorder where gluten triggers the immune system to attack the lining of the small intestine.  Over time, Celiac Disease can cause malabsorption, leading to a wide range of health problems such as iron and mineral deficiencies, osteoporosis, liver disease, infertility, neurological disorders, and even some forms of cancer.

So what is Gluten anyway?  Gluten is the protein found in wheat, barley, rye and related wheat species such as spelt and kamut.  It helps baked goods keep their form and chewy texture and is also added to other food items more and more, both for consistency and taste purposes.  Gluten is found in a high range of foods besides baked goods and breads, it’s also in foods like pickles, beans, candy, marinades and more.  I’m not going to give you the whole speech about Gluten and Celiac Disease, because to be honest, I don’t know too much about it and I don’t want to give the wrong information.  It’s actually a disease that I have been learning about when I started blogging and now I am discovering a lot of people I know have it.  If you know someone or you may think  you have Celiac Disease and want to get checked, I recommend going to Udi’s website and checking out the links they have provided.

For teaming up with Udi’s Gluten Free, they sent me a kaboodle of goodies to try out.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I received my package.  The package ranged anywhere from hot dog rolls, to poptarts to muffins.  My Husbands eyes lit up when he saw the muffins.  He took them to work, and I never got one.  He said they were good.  I was pretty proud that my Husband ate a gluten-free product.  You have to know if it doesn’t have all-purpose flour in it, he turns his nose up to it.  Also in my package I received a loaf of Cinnamon Rains Bread and I LOVE cinnamon raisin bread, it’s my favorite.  I never buy it though, because I know I will eat the whole loaf.  So with my loaf I received, I made a Gluten Free Cinnamon and Apples Baked French Toast.  This has been on my bucket list forever!!   I don’t know why I waited to so long??

First thing I did was cut up my Udi’s Gluten Free Cinnamon and Raisin Bread and placed it in my little baking dish.

Then I tossed some apples in cinnamon and stevia and placed it in with the bread.  Don’t mind the pictures, I took these at 11 at night.

I checked all of my ingredients to make sure it is Gluten-free before making the batter.  It contains egg substitute, greek yogurt, coconut milk and vanilla extract.  I poured my batter on top of my bread and apple mixture and placed it in the refrigerator overnight.

I was so excited in the morning to make my Baked French Toast, I couldn’t wait!!!  I made this on Sunday morning and this was the first time my family and I sat down together for a meal.  Little Jenny was home and so was my Husband.  This just made me so happy!!  When I took my bread mixture out of the refrigerator  it was a little frozen.  I guess the fridge is set to cold.  I baked my french toast in the oven for about 50 minutes, but because it was partially frozen the timing probably took a little longer.  When I opened the oven door the bread was exploding!  I love that!!  Here it is fresh out of the oven!

The baked french toast may not look like a lot, when you make it, but it is very filling.  I cut up some large slices and gave it to Little Jenny and my Husband for breakfast.  Jenny loved it!!  She told me it didn’t need any maple syrup because it was perfect the way it was.  My Husband of course used maple syrup.  They both loved it!  I took a slice myself, and oh my gosh!!!  The cinnamon and apple combination in the bread is amazing!   Every bite you take you get a chunk of apple and a taste of cinnamon and because the bread had raisins in it, it made it all that much better.  The bread was also soft, but yet firm to hold together!  I couldn’t be happier with this recipe if I tried!  I also love that it’s under 200 calories and full of protein!!  This is a win, win recipe and I was requested to make it again.  My Husband actually preferred it over his eggs!  Wow!  We had one slice left and Little Jenny is taking it to her boyfriend’s house, she wanted him to try it too!

Be sure you check out Udi’s Gluten free site to get the facts and more information on Celiac Disease.   Just think 1 in 133 Americans have Celiac Disease.  That is just horrible, but at least with companies like Udi’s there are still options to have your favorite foods gluten-free.

Oh, and speaking of gluten-free, Udi’s also sent me pizza crusts, and for a quick dinner, I made my Husband a cheese and pepperoni pizza and he loved it!

I want to tell everyone to have a great day and send out a special thank you Udi’s for sending me all of your goodies to try out!!  We have loved them so far and I can’t wait to dig in to the Snickerdoodle Cookies!  Yum!

Toodles,

Jennifer