Community Corner

Recipes: Make-Ahead Breakfast for Mom

Westhampton Beach Cookbook author Margaret Johnson shares her recipe Blueberry-White Chocolate Muffins and Baked French Toast

With a week to go before we celebrate Mother’s Day, keep these recipes in mind if you’re planning to serve mom something special for breakfast. The muffins get their light texture from buttermilk and their added flavor from white chocolate and lemon zest; the French toast is assembled the night before and popped into the oven on Sunday morning. Enjoy!

Blueberry-White Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

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2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

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1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

4 ounces white chocolate, melted

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 1/2 cups blueberries

softened butter for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 12-well muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, and buttermilk until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture and then stir in the white chocolate, lemon zest, and blueberries.

4. Divide the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20–23 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10–15 minutes.

Baked French Toast

Serves 6

Most recipes for French toast call for the bread to be dipped in a mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, and cinnamon and then pan-fried in butter. It’s most often served dusted with confectioners’ sugar and then topped with maple syrup, fruit sauce, or fresh berries. Making it with challah or brioche gives it an additional eggy flavor, and this version is prepared ahead of time and then baked.

One 1-pound loaf French bread, challah, or brioche, cut into 12 slices

4 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

1 2/3 cups half-and-half

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)

confectioners sugar for dusting

maple syrup for serving

1. Spray a 13- by 9-inch baking dish with butter flavored cooking spray. Butter the top of each slice of bread and arrange the slices in a single layer in the prepared dish.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt. Pour over the bread, pressing down with a spatula to be sure the bread absorbs the liquid. Cover with buttered aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

3. Remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Uncover and sprinkle with pecans, if using. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the bread is puffed and browned. Remove from the oven and dust with confectioner’s sugar. Serve with maple syrup. Serves 2 slices per person.

Editor's Note: Margaret M. Johnson, of Westhampton Beach, is the author of six cookbooks and her latest cookbook called, Flavors of Ireland was released on Amazon on Feb. 23. For more information, click here.


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