Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Brie & Apricot French Toast


411 calories of delicious breakfast goodness. I'll admit, I've been on a little bit of a kick with apricot and brie lately. Every since I tried out brie-apricot crescent roll pockets and have had extra ingredients just lying around, it's pretty much all I can do not to eat it every day. And by lying around, I mean, I bought more brie to go with my jam. And by all-I-can-do-not-to-eat-it-every-day, I mean I have been eating it every day. 

The good news is, it's not as bad as scarfing down cookies.  The bad news hasn't been found yet. Especially not after this amazing go-be-jealous-now breakfast I just ate.

So, it's very simple. Make french toast, then throw some brie and apricot jam on it. If you're substituting your normal maple syrup, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how many fewer calories are in it, and this combo does actually carry other nutrients that delicious tree sugar does not. (Not to dis maple sugar, which if you buy locally may actually help alleviate some of your maple allergies!)

Ingredients:
2 slices delicious bread (I used 9 grain bread or homemade beer bread)
1 egg
splash of 2% milk (1/8 c.)
1 tsp. vanilla
Sprinkle of cinnamon

1 tsp. butter or coconut oil 

1 tbsp. brie
1 tbsp. apricot jam


What I did: 
My french toast is some form of wheat/grainy toast, this time around I actually used my homemade Beer Bread, but for the sake of figuring out calorie count, I used 9-grain bread.  For two slices of bread, use 1 egg and a splash of milk (I use 2%). If you use skim, go a little lighter on the milk as it makes the mixture more watery.  Throw in some vanilla extract - no more than a tsp. 

I used coconut oil to grease my cast iron pan - butter is factored into my calorie count though, so feel free to get buttery if you need to. 

Turn the heat to medium-medium high before you add the bread.  Dip the bread into your mixture, coating each side evenly and throw it into the pan. Sprinkle some cinnamon to the up side while it's in the pan. Turn to medium. Then flip and cook on the other side until nice and brown on each side.  

(Tip: If you have a little extra egg mixture left, right before you flip to the other side, pour the rest of the egg mixture onto the top of the uncooked side. It will seep into the bread a little more and you won't have any waste! It will be a little messy when you flip it, but it's worth it.)

While the bread is still warm, take a tablespoon of brie and spread onto the french toast until it's gooey. Microwave for 10 seconds for extra gooey-ness. Then add a dollop of apricot jam to the top, and you're all set. 


Calories: 411; 16 gram fat (6 saturated); 15 grams protein; 13 grams sugar.
If you look at the calorie breakdown (I'm obsessed with this pie chart feature in MyFitnessPal), then this meal is pretty spot-on with 48% carbs, 35% fat, 17% protein. MyFitnessPal goals are for 50-30-20 in those categories, so this isn't too shabby! 

Cut out the brie, and you've got 371 calories; 13 grams fat (4 saturated); 15 grams protein; 13 grams sugar. Calorie breakdown: 53% carb, 31% fat, 16% protein. Not bad!