Last weekend, I hosted a fall-themed brunch in partnership with Keurig Green Mountain® at my apartment for a few of my friends here in Dallas. For the brunch, I used my brand-new, sandy pearl Keurig® K475 brewer and my favorite Green Mountain Coffee K-Cup® pods to make everything I served. Well, except for the mimosas… obviously!
During our meal, I served a towering mound of Pumpkin Spice Pancakes made using Green Mountain Coffee® Pumpkin Spice, which is currently celebrating its 15th anniversary this year (recipe for the pancakes will be shared soon!). I also served my favorite Apple Cider French Toast, made with Green Mountain™ Hot Apple Cider (recipe below). Oh, and each brunch guest got her own dainty cup of the Green Mountain Coffee® Autumn Harvest Blend; it has a medium, fruity roast that pairs so well with vanilla almond milk.
Yep, I’m pretty sure I won fall brunch on Saturday morning. Gold medal, right here.
My favorite thing about using a Keurig® brewer is that I can brew whatever I want – be it coffee, apple cider, or tea – just at the touch of a button. That’s been particularly ideal for me given that I’m a [super busy] MBA student. Lately, I’ve hardly had enough time to eat, let alone brew my coffee in the morning!
Lest ye think me using my Keurig® brewer is only a morning activity, since receiving the Green Mountain™ Hot Apple Cider K-Cup® pods (aka my favorite of the three!), I’ve started a nightly ritual of drinking a cup of cider around 9PM. Sometimes I’ll even add a dash of rum in it – it seriously makes such a good little nightcap! In addition to the taste, I also love that it’s made using actual ingredients (real apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon). Given that it’s my favorite, is it really any surprise that I incorporated the Green Mountain™ Hot Apple Cider into my all-time fav French Toast recipe?
Answer: no, it’s not. And the results were super delicious, y’all.
Apple Cider French Toast
Ingredients
For the Apple Cider French Toast:
- 12 slices of challah, thickly sliced
- ½ Honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced
- 5 eggs
- 1 ½ cups of freshly-brewed Green Mountain™ Hot Apple Cider (just use 1 K-Cup pod on the 12-ounce brewer setting)
- 1 cup of almond milk
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon of nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon of allspice
For the Apple Crumble:
- ½ cup of flour
- ¼ Honeycrisp apple, diced
- 4 teaspoons of brown sugar
- ¼ cup of butter
Instructions
For the Apple Cider French Toast:
- Begin by greasing a baking dish (I used my favorite casserole dish) with butter and placing the challah slices in the baking dish. Place the Honeycrisp apple slices in between each slice of challah.
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs, Green Mountain™ Hot Apple Cider, almond milk, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice until thoroughly mixed. Pour the mixture over the challah, making sure that each slice of challah gets coated in the cider mixture.
- Cover the baking dish (I just use plastic wrap) and place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours. For the best results, make the challah mixture before you go to bed and leave the dish in the fridge overnight.
For the Apple Crumble:
- Combine the flour, diced Honeycrisp apple, brown sugar, and butter in a mixing bowl and mix until crumbly.
- Refrigerate the crumb mixture until you’re ready to bake (it’ll be ready to go after 20 minutes).
To Finish the Apple Cider French Toast:
- When ready, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the challah in the baking dish.
- Place the baking dish in the oven (uncovered) to bake for 60 minutes or until the top of the French Toast appears golden. Serve hot and with a heaping side of maple syrup!