In a little over a month, I will be packing my bags and making my first (ever!) trip to California. I am SO excited!! I’ll be heading to San Francisco for the 2nd annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival to enjoy a weekend of eating delicious food while meeting and connecting with many of my favorite bloggers.
Nature’s Pride bread is one of the official sponsors of the Foodbuzz Festival, and they are hosting a Bread Ambassador recipe contest, where bloggers are challenged to create unique recipes using Nature’s Pride bread. For my entry, I knew I wanted to do something totally different and unexpected. After two days of recipes trials, and 64 muffins later, feast your eyes on these…
Maple Cinnamon French Toast Muffins
Featuring Nature’s Pride healthy multigrain bread!
Ingredients for “French toast” topping: (makes 18 muffins)
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1 tbsp ground flaxmeal
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 6 slices Nature’s Pride healthy multi-grain bread
Ingredients for muffin base:
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (unpacked)
- 2 tbsp ground flaxmeal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1.25 cups almond milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- pinch of cinnamon sugar
To Prepare: First things first, start by pre-heating the oven to 375 degrees. Next, you can begin preparing the “French toast” topping. I chose this healthy multi-grain bread because it was soft and fluffy on the inside, and the outside was covered with yummy seeds.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Start by using a bread knife to cut all six slices into 1/2 inch cubes.
In a medium sized bowl, combine 1 tbsp ground flaxmeal with 3 tbsp of water (to make a “flax egg”), along with 1/4 cup almond milk, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Whisk all of the ingredients together, and then add bread cubes to the liquid mixture. Toss well and set aside to soak while the rest of the ingredients are prepared.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the muffin base – all purpose flour, rolled oats, baking soda, baking powder, flaxmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
Stir to combine.
In a smaller bowl, whisk all of the wet ingredients together – almond milk, maple syrup, and vanilla.
Then slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients…
And stir just until all ingredients are incorporated. Try to avoid over-mixing!
Once the muffin base is mixed…
It is time to gently fold in the toppings. I chose 1/4 cup each of raisins and sliced almonds, but other nuts and dried fruit could be subbed in to your liking.
With everything ready to go, get out your muffin tin and give it a healthy shot of non-stick spray.
Then spoon the muffin mixture into each cup, filling it only about 1/2 way. You should have enough to fill 18 cups, so you’ll need 2 muffin pans (or you can just do two rounds of baking, like me).
Once they are all filled to the half-way point…
Grab the bowl of French toast topping that you set aside when we first began. Give the bread cubes one more big stir, and then add a healthy pinch to the top of each cup of batter – just enough to fill to the rim of the baking cup. As you add the bread, push it down gently into the batter a bit, so that some of the batter squeezes up between the cubed topping and holds it all in place.
With muffin batter and French toast topping in each muffin cup, we are ready to BAKE!
Slide your muffin pan into the 375 degree oven and let it bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Fifteen delicious smelling minutes later…
Oh.my.muffins. Give them each a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top, before carefully sliding them out of the muffin tin.
Set them out on a cooling rack and try to resist sampling until they have cooled for a few minutes (yeah right).
Set on your favorite pretty plate, and ENJOY!
These muffins are amazing – just enough maple cinnamon flavor to really bring the taste of French toast, without so much overwhelming sweetness that it turns into a cupcake.
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And you know what’s even better? By using non-traditional baking ingredients like almond milk and flax instead of butter and eggs, these muffins are HEALTHY! Even with the delicious flavor of maple syrup, raisins, and almonds, these muffins cash in at only 165 calories, 2g fat, and 4g protein each!
In that case, I will have three please. :)
Moist, soft, delicious, and healthy– what more could you possible want in from a muffin?
Many thanks to Nature’s Pride for allowing to me to participate in their Bread Ambassadors Challenge. Hopefully I will get the chance to showcase these delicious treats in San Francisco.
Until then, happy baking!
71 Comments so far
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yum! they look so delish- and defintely super creative!
ps, i used to live in SF- let me know if you need any SF tips- sOOOOO many good food options (esp for vegans/vegetarians!) and so much to see, i miss it so much!!!!
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Emily these look fantastic! You’re so creative.
The teal-ish walls in your house look beautiful in the pictures!
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Leanne @ Simplicitlee Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Oh & is flaxmeal the same thing as ground flaxseed?
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Yep, same thing! :)
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They look delicious! Good luck on the contest!
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Cute Apron!… And those muffins look sinfully delicious… I’ll take 3 too!
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Yum another great frontburner recipe! I used te multigrain bread in my recipe too. Can’t wait for foodbuzz!
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That is so creative! I love, love, love french toast anything so this one is a winner in my book! Great job!
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YOU. WIN. Yummers!!!
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Thanks lady! xoxo
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Looks very yummy for my tummy. Hope you win!!!!!!!!
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These look so cute! The bread cubes make them seem like they’ll be a crunchy topping.
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Soaking them before baking helps them bake into the muffins so they aren’t too crunchy. But they do get a little toasty on the top!
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These look awesome. A local bakery makes muffin-sized bread puddings that are amazing, but definitely lacking in the nutrition department… your french toast muffins look like a tasty alternative :) I’ll have to give them a try soon!
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Oh. My. Gosh. I want one of these SO BADLY. Whenever I have my next spare afternoon, I am MOST DEFINITELY making this. Yum.
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We live 90 minutes from the bay. I will cross my fingers for you. Where is your apron from? I am mildly obsessed with tea towels and aprons and LOVE the one you are wearing!
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Apron is from Anthropologie, and I have the matching oven mitt. :)
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Hahah. I just made a VERY loud “MmmMMMMmmm” sound and my husband was like “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” — These are so incredibly creative, Emily! I can’t wait to try these!
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Haha thanks! :)
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YUM! I can’t wait to try these!!
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If this tastes half as good as it sounds and looks i will be a very happy fellow.
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18 muffins? multiple test recipes? i wanna be your neighbor!!!!
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
It is out of control how many muffins are in a bowl on top of my fridge right now!
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TOTALLY want to crumble one of those in my oats!!
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I know, I know the almond milk is better, but….can I sub ff milk for it? I’ve never baked/used it before – I have everything else so I am good to go
Would I need to add anything else to compensate? I am so excited to do these
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Not totally sure what FF milk means – torn between full fat and fat free – haha, which are two totally different things! But either way, I think you would be fine using that as a sub. I use unsweetened almond milk which is very low in fat and calories. I hope you like them!!
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Those look great–and make me want to use maple syrup in place of brown sugar! Is it a 1:1 substitution, or should something change because it’s liquid v. solid?
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Hmmm I’m not totally sure, but I don’t think it’s a 1:1 ratio. I dont usually use a lot of regular sugar – try to use brown rice syrup or maple instead. I have a feeling its more like 3/4 to 1 (liquid to solid).
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I needed this post about 10 hours ago! I had to make 2 dozen muffins for my kids’ school. Yours look way better!
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very clever recipe :) i love making unhealthy things healthy.
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Holy awesomeness! These look awesome! I must try ;-) Thanks for being so creative!
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Yeah… if I were the judge, you would have just one that contest! I’ve read a few other blogs that are doing this contest and your recipe looks like something I can actually make in MY kitchen! :)
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Thanks!!
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How creative!!! Love it.
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GIRL, THOSE LOOK AWESOME! What a great idea, they better choose you!! :)
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OMG, those look so good! You are so inventive. =)
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These look brilliant! and oh so creative :)
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It’s weird to think that you’ve never been to Cali, but then again I haven’t been to DC or 35/50 United States.
Your recipe seems like a winner to me :) How did you get to participate in this awesome contest?
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Just submitted through the website!
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Oh My! Those look delicious! I would never have thought to put french toast on a muffin! You are really creative!
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Oh my!!! These look sooo good!
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Great entry recipe!!! These are so creative and look delicious! :) Good luck to you.
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Emily, you are so creative! I love the look of the French Toast topping. I may have to make some of these, and try to incorporate some pumpkin as I seem to be obsessed with it at the moment. Good luck in the competition!
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 12:57 pm
I already ate all my pumpkin, or else I’m sure it would have made its way in.
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Those muffins look delicious! French Toast muffins are such a unique idea! Good luck with the contest! :)
PS. I love the apron!
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I like any type of muffin so these would be a winner for me! Best of luck with the competition.
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I feel like you are in my kitchen baking these just for me! I love that I have all the ingredients. They look so good and bonus-they are healthy! These could be served at breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. Love that versatility
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 12:57 pm
So far, I have eaten them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. :)
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Oh my, Emily, these look amazing! You are going to win. :)
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 12:57 pm
I hope so!
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so clever!
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Holy yum! Would have never thought to make muffins with bread topping. I may have just drooled on the computer.
Also, your cooking posts always make me want to go out and buy an apron or twelve!
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Emiy,
This may be a silly question, but is ground flax meal the same as ground flax seeds? I have that at home and really want to make this recipe–it looks delicious!
Thanks!
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Yep, same thing! And not a silly question, I probably should have been more clear.
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Lisa Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 1:30 pm
That’s great-thanks! And sorry for the typo in your name–I hate typos!
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I know you’re a trained chef, but how do you determine the exact calorie, fat and protein amounts in a homemade item like that?
Those do look really tasty.
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 12:56 pm
I use a really great tool – the Spark Recipes Nutrition Calculator! Let’s you put all the ingredients in and divide by the number of servings.
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Hands down, this is the best entry for the Nature’s Pride contest. you totally deserve to win!
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 12:55 pm
THANKS!
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That is awesome.
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These look AMAZING!!! I really should have left work yesterday for a muffin – my day would have gone better overall :) How could it go wrong with delicious and healthy muffins! Where did you end up finding the bread? Definitely excited for tomorrow!!!
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Oh. Wow. Not at all what I was expecting when I saw the post title! The French toast chunks are just adorable!
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totally love your blog, have made zucchini/spghetti squash pasta and “fried” green tomatoes, I love them. Anyway, i would love to know how do you cook and sit down to eat breakfast before going to work??? I dont eat BF, but know i need to. not sure how? We get up at 530/545am, and in work by 630 (20 min commute). I guess i dont get how to make a good BF and eat it (cant get up earlier/ 530 is stretching it!!!).
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Oh my goodness! I love this recipe. Pure awesome-ness.
Heidi xo
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Wow that is by far the most creative recipe I’ve seen thus far…I really hope you win!!
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I made the muffins and we loved it Emily! Thank you for sharing the recipe, the muffins are awesome.
We like healthy muffins for breakfast or snack a lot at our house so I am always making muffins and looking for new healthy ideas to try. We also happen to love cinnamon in our muffins so when I saw yours I knew I had to make it.
Thanks again, very delicious muffins, and they look so pretty!
Ana
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[...] morning I woke up craving MUFFINS. Sweet, savory muffins. And Emily’s Maple Cinnamon French Toast muffins were the first thing to come to [...]
Can you make a printable recipe?
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
October 6th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Unfortunately no. :( That’s something I’m still working on!
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Yowzas, those look amazing!
Are you going to be in town just for the conference or staying the week? I live in the city and would love to meet up if you have any free time! :) You’ve been a huge inspiration for me in my journey to becoming a runner (running my first half-marathon in a week and a half!). Either way, I’m glad you’ll be making your trip out to California shortly, I’m sure you’ll love it here!
-Lisa
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I just made these and they are delicious! My husband couldn’t believe they didn’t have egg, milk, and butter! Thanks :)
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