Recipe: Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin Pumpkin Pecan French Toast

It’s a mouthful.  I know.

But trust me…this little experiment this morning turned out to be a delicious mouthful.

Now, I admit…I’m not big on French toast.  I don’t know what it is.  I think growing up I had one too many still-soggy slices that were rushed to the table in an attempt to get us fed and then out the door to catch the bus to school.

But I’m getting ready to head out on vacation so I’m trying to use up things that I have open in my fridge…and as I’ve been using pumpkin recently in a lot of recipes (instead of eggs/oil/butter), I had some pumpkin to use up.  So…this is the recipe I created on a whim this morning.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin Pumpkin Pecan French Toast

Servings: 2
Time: Prep 5 minutes; Cook 8 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of gluten-free cinnamon raisin bread (I used Udi’s Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup pure pumpkin (I used Libby’s)
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Dash of ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar (optional…for sweetness)
• Chopped pecans

Directions:

In a bowl, mix together the eggs, pumpkin, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.  Add the brown sugar, if using.  Mix well.

Preheat a pan (for about 3-5 minutes).  Spray it with gluten-free non-stick spray or olive oil over medium-high heat.

Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture and place into the pan to cook until golden brown on one side (about 2-3 minutes).  Turn the slices over and cook until golden brown on the other side (another 2-3 minutes).

Remove and place two slices on each plate, garnish with chopped pecans.

~*~*~

I added a little pad of butter and some maple syrup to these this morning and they were heavenly.  I absolutely loved the variety of flavors, from the sweetness of the syrup and the raisins to the spice of the cinnamon and nutmeg in the pumpkin.  And that pumpkin flavor was there, but wasn’t overpowering.  Every flavor came out and took the spotlight.  It was a culinary experiment totally worthy of a Top Chef Quickfire Challenge.

Or…at least I’d like to think so.  But…that can be left to you as well.  Go ahead…give this a try.  I promise, it’s a filling, low-calorie breakfast treat.