Waste Not, Want Not - Bento Bread Scraps French Toast Muffins!

Wednesday, 12/5/12 - I got up extra early to make this Bento Scrap French Toast Muffin recipe from Rachel's Random Ramblings for breakfast. Z and I ate a few at home before her bus came, and I packed some more to take as a bigger breakfast snack to eat at Baby's preschool class. For some reason, I think Hubby was still home that morning, since I remember him having some too. But I can't remember why. Between us, we managed to polish eight or nine of them off that day.

Bread Scrap French Toast Muffins, maple syrup, Special K crackers, cheese scraps

I changed Rachel's recipe just a smidge, since 4 cups of bread scraps weren't enough. And we looooove cinnamon here!

Bread Scrap French Toast Muffins

Ingredients:

5 cups bread scraps and heels, torn into small bits (1" or smaller.) *For frozen bread scraps, check tips from original recipe 

4-5 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

3 Tbsp maple syrup

1/4 cup applesauce

1/3 cup pancake mix

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

butter, slightly chilled

cinnamon sugar

non-stick cooking spray, butter, or oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F

1. Grease muffin pan and place a tiny sliver of butter in each cup.

2. Divide the bread pieces evenly among the muffin cups, pressing them down to stay below the top of the pan. 

3. In a medium to large bowl, mix eggs, milk, maple syrup, applesauce, pancake mix, cinnamon, and vanilla.

4. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread scraps. Pour slowly and let settle a bit. You may need to top off with extras.

5. Sprinkle a few grinds or a pinch of cinnamon sugar over the top of each muffin, and add a thin shaving of butter on each one. 

6. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until brown and crispy on the outside.

These were a big hit! My husband thought I was being ridiculous, saving my bread scraps in a baggie in the fridge. He'd even thrown one away, just as I had enough scraps to try making these! Doh! But he changed his tune pretty quickly! And even apologized for doubting me!
And my little girl who leaves the crusts on her plate every single time? Gobbled down these crust-and-heel-only French Toast Muffins!

Tips:

• When making shaped sandwiches, if you cut the bread first, before adding fillings, the scraps will be "clean."
• A great use for those pesky heels too!
• To re-heat, microwave one muffin on High for 30-seconds. 
• Store any extras in an air-tight container in the fridge. They should last at least a few weeks. (I re-heated the last few a month later - I was surprised they hadn't gone bad yet!) 
• They taste great with either powdered sugar or maple syrup. 
• You can prep ahead by having the bread scraps pre-torn, and the egg mixture mixed the night before - just be sure to give the egg mixture another whisk before adding to the bread scraps!