Orange French Toast

I woke up this morning with a serious craving for French toast. The problem with French toast: it's usually made from white bread dipped in a creamy egg mixture and then covered in syrup and powdered sugar. Not exactly good for you. So I found a recipe in my "Healthy College Cookbook" for orange French toast that puts a healthy (and fruity!) spin on an otherwise very unhealthy meal.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups orange juice

2 eggs (Substitute: 4 egg whites)

1/4 c. skim milk

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sugar (I used a couple of drops of vanilla extract instead of sugar.)

1/4 cup strawberry jam

2 teaspoons butter or margarine

8 slices whole wheat bread 

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of orange juice and the strawberry jam. Heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally until most of the jam is liquefied. Continue to simmer over low heat until the mixture reaches a thick, syrupy consistency.

2. Combine the other 1/2 c. of orange juice, milk, egg whites (or eggs), cinnamon, and vanilla (or sugar) in a bowl.

3. Melt 1/2 tsp. of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Dip the bread one piece at a time into the egg mixture, turning to coat both sides.

4. Cook each piece of bread in the skillet until both sides are golden brown. 

5. Serve with the orange strawberry "syrup" on top.

Taste rating: 9

I love this recipe. I probably even like it better than traditional French toast. It's heartier, and not nearly as sweet. The fruit syrup was my favorite part. I used a 100% strawberry fruit spread with the orange juice, so I felt good about getting all of the sugars from fruit instead of processed sugar. It just takes a little bit of time, so it probably is a good meal to save for the weekend when you have some time to make it.

Easy rating: 8

It's French toast. How hard can it be? The hardest part is just getting the soggy toast from the mixture into the pan without it falling apart. The syrup requires a bit of attention, since you have to stir it frequently, but that's not hard, just boring. 

Overall rating: 9

This was the perfect Saturday morning breakfast! My roommate, Jenny really liked it too :-)