Fruit Filled French Toast Cups: Cooking With Kids for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is that wonderful day in which we celebrate the great things that our Moms do for us. So Dads, this one is for you to tackle with the kids in the kitchen! After all, Dads and kids can cook together too! Wouldn't Mom be surprised to have a wonderful breakfast cooked for her on her special day? So let's get started on this easy recipe that easy and lots of fun for the whole family!

This great recipe puts a new twist on the typical French toast that your family may enjoy. Not only is it easy to make, it is great fun to eat as well.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of whole milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (depending on personal taste)

2 eggs

12 slices of bread with the crusts removed (Any type of bread will work. I prefer to use a sweeter bread like brioche. This time I had found apple cinnamon bread so I tried it with this and it was a hit!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the muffin tin cups with nonstick spray.
2. Remove crusts from bread slices. After cutting the crust off of the slices of bread, allow your children to cut the slices into smaller pieces. We decided to cut them into triangles by cutting an "x" from corner to corner.
3. In a medium sized bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. This is a great task for your children to do. They can add the ingredients and then take turns mixing with a whisk.
4. Transfer the mix into smaller bowls (one for each child) so that dipping the bread into the mixture is a little more manageable.
5. Model for the children to dip the bread piece into the egg mixture and coat on each side. Place in baking cup covering the bottom and sides. Be sure that you leave the center empty. Then have the kids continue this process until all cups are filled.
6. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Once the French toast cups have been removed from the oven, let them cool for about 10 minutes. As you begin to remove them from the muffin tins, use the back side of a knife to gently loosen the French toast on the sides and bottom. This will ensure that you are able to remove the French toast in one piece.

Using whatever type of fruit you would like, fill the center of each cup with fresh fruit. Berries work great but choose any fruit that your Mom will enjoy! Since it is a special occasion, go all out and add a little sweetness to the top of your French toast cups. Squirt a little whipped cream or dust some powdered sugar on the top.

In addition to these French toast cups, you can add some of your Mom's favorite breakfast foods.

• A side of scrambled eggs. Add some diced ham or Canadian bacon or some cheese to make it extra special.
• Mom's favorite yogurt. You can even serve it with some crunchy granola to pour into her yogurt.
• A couple of slices of turkey bacon is a great addition to a breakfast meal.

Be creative, Mom will love it because it's from you!