Holiday Panettone French Toast

  

I love those mornings....the slow to wake ones followed by some gentle yoga stretches, foamy, rich coffee, and something truly special for breakfast. These mornings don't happen a lot and I cling to them when they do.
On Monday, with no where to rush to and time to hang in my pj's {it's the little things that make life sweet, right?},  I decided to break out the panettone. You can find panettone at most grocery stores during the holidays. It's an amazing soft, sweet bread from Italy, full of candied orange, raisins, and lemon zest. I love it toasted with ghee spread on top and it also makes out-of-this world french toast. Perfect for the holidays and super easy to do for a family breakfast.

I also had to show you all this cool, rustic tray that Jay and I made last weekend. Etsy-inspired. 
Jay and I were like, "hey, we can make that" and we DID! 
We shopped for the cedar and funky handles at Lowe's. Got out the circular saw, drill, orbital sander, acrylic paint to stain it and in a few hours....voila....our first little wood project. 
Of course, we had to shoot it before it got packaged up with love and mailed out to Florida {it was a birthday gift!}.
I imagine we'll be making some more of these lovelies.....I want at least one or two to have at home for serving special breakfasts.

Hope you are enjoying your holidays and finding some peaceful and delicious moments to savor it all.



Holiday Panettone French Toast
Serves 4

1/2 purchased panettone 
3 eggs 
1 cup almond milk 
2 teaspoons orange zest 
1 airplane bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream {I used Vanilla Cinnamon variety} 
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar 
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste 
Ghee or butter
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting  
Warm maple syrup 

Preheat oven to 200F.
Cut the panettone into 4 or 5 vertical slices, each about 1-inch thick. Discard the end slices. Cut the remaining slices in half {I cut into triangles}.

Heat an electric griddle or non-stick skillet on medium heat and brush with ghee or butter. 

In a bowl, whisk the eggs with almond milk, orange zest, Irish cream, granulated sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour the egg mixture into a large, shallow bowl or pie pan and add the bread slices. Soak, turning once, about 10 seconds per side.
When skillet or griddle is ready, add two slices of the bread at a time. Cook, turning once, until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Flip slices over and cook for a few more minutes until golden brown.
Using a spatula, transfer the French toast to serving plates and hold in a warm oven. Repeat with the remaining slices until all are cooked.
Dust the French toast with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately with maple syrup.

*You can freeze the remaining half of panettone {well-wrapped} or just enjoy the rest over the next few days.
It would also make an incredible bread pudding...just saying.