Somehow we got into a breakfast groove here. I am not complaining. I love a breakfast full of flavor (read: maple syrup) or that’s unexpected (read: sprinkles and sugar.) Sometimes you just have to Treat Yo Self in the morning.

I made this French Toast following the folks at King Arthur Flour. I have their “All Purpose Baking Cookbook” and it’s become my new go-to to find any baking recipe I want to try.

Anyways, so for this I wanted to make French toast, but I wanted it to be bite size like a snack so you could have five and not feel bad (or like, also have some bacon and eggs and then just have two and feel like you’ve won brunch, which you have.)

So here’s how it goes down – pretty straight forward from our good friends at KAF, with the bread being the major difference. This is actually pretty easy to whip up and you probably can make it on Saturday morning and be a hero without spending way more time in your kitchen. It’s basically magic.

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 loaf sourdough baguette, sliced
3 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar
maple syrup
butter/olive oil for cooking

Directions:

1. Place 1 tablespoon each butter and oil in a heavy skillet, and set it to heat over medium heat.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, salt, nutmeg, sugar, and vanilla. Stir till smooth but not foamy. Pour the batter into a shallow casserole dish or wide bottomed bowl.
3. Place two pieces of bread in the pan; let them soak for about 30 seconds, then turn them over, and let soak for about 30 seconds on the other side. You want the bread to absorb some of the liquid, but not to become soggy.
4. Place the bread in the skillet and fry till the underside is golden brown; this should take about 2 minutes. Turn the bread, and fry on the second side for about 2 minutes. Again, it should be golden brown.
5. Repeat until you run out of bread or egg mixture (or, ideally, both, but you know that never happens.) When all the pieces are cooked, serve the French toast with soft butter and maple syrup. Or dust it with confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon-sugar!

What’s your fave breakfast food? Let me know and I’ll whip it up for you so you can get cooking!

So, it’s Cinco de Mayo, and we know traditionally this holiday is celebrated with Mexican food. But avocados are often served with Mexican food, and although these avocados are from California the sentiment still stands. So I put avocados in baked goods, and therefore thinly threaded these chocolate donuts to Cinco de Mayo. You’re welcome.

So here’s how this went down: I had a coworker who I was making a birthday treat for. She requested a breakfast treat, and I knew donuts would be a crowd pleaser. Then, I found an amazing recipe on Joy the Baker, but I had recently learned on my avocado tour that you can use avocado in place of half your fat (in this case, butter) and no one will be any the wiser.

So I doubled the recipe I found (because 10 donuts didn’t seem like enough) and I used half avocado and half butter and no one could tell a thing. In fact, Jeff still doesn’t know that these had avocado in them. I also would recommend the sugar listed below – I only used a cup, and they weren’t quite sweet enough for my taste.

Chocolate Donuts
Adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons avocado, mashed
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
big pinch salt
3 to 4 tablespoons whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
sprinkles (optional but HIGHLY recommended)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray your donut baking pan with olive oil spray and set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar.
3. In another bowl, combine your milk, egg, melted butter, avocado, and vanilla.
4. Add your wet ingredients to your dry until combined.
5. Fill your donut pan – these should be about two thirds full – don’t go crazy or they bake up and over and then you have mini cakes instead of donuts (trust me.)
6. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Then remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before flipping onto a cooling rack.
7. Once the donuts are cooled, make your frosting. I used Joy the Baker’s frosting recipe for 10 donuts and had enough for all 18, so don’t double that baby. Whisk your sugar, cocoa powder, and salt together, then add vanilla and about half your milk. I ended up using 4 tablespoons of milk total, and the frosting was perfect, but do what looks right to you – it will harden quickly, so make sure to add sprinkles, if you’re using, in a timely manner!
8. Serve these in a couple days for the best tasting homemade donuts. Give them to your friends, coworkers, and families and you’ll be a American Cinco de Mayo hero!

I hope you’re going to eat something avocado-y today, and I hope it’s these donuts. If you do make them, let me know! Tag your recipes from GMS as #GMSForRealLife – or better yet, just invite me over to eat one.

May brings a whole new world of in-season fruit and veggies, and we’re excited for the summer ahead, you guys. Here’s what’s coming in:

Apricots
Cabbage
Chard
Citrus
Figs
Kale
Potatoes
Radishes
Rhubarb
Strawberries

And of course, I wouldn’t leave you hanging with no recipes, so below check out some of my fave recipes with the above ingredients!

First up, apricots. These tiny stone fruits are on their way in, and they are one of my fave fruits of the season. I put them in pancakes and I think you should do it too, if you can manage to save any from roaming snackers!

I know, I know, there are better ways to enjoy cabbage. But fish tacos are just delicious, and they scream summer, and for that alone we want to break out a head of the purple stuff and get cooking.

Chard. Burrata. Salad. Does it get better? This salad is a perfect lunch dish and a great side for dinner. Or, throw a chicken breast up in there, and you’re good to go for dinner.

Fig ice pops. These were creamy and delicious, and the perfect after-work snack when it’s 100 degrees out, like it is in May. (No? Just in LA? I’m coming to visit, then…)

Radishes are new to me and cooking, because I love them raw, but they’re good crispy too. In fact, just throw these into the chard burrata salad.

Strawberry Shortcake is a great spring dessert because it’s light while still decadent and it’s got fresh mint to really add a little something-something extra.

What’s your fave item on this list? Have you ever cooked with rhubarb? Do you love all the kale you can get, or are you sick of it yet? Let me know, I love hearing from you!!

This month, we think you should celebrate herbs. They’re basically the food world’s equivalent to magic, turning everything they touch into a more delicious, better version of itself. Anything on your spice rack you’ve never used? Take it for a spin, we dare you. Keep this month’s desktop calendar handy to remind you to be adventurous in your meals and in your life, you fantastic culinary wizard, you!

Speaking of Ana (see what I did there? For those of you who don’t know, Ana is from Colombia!) I wanted to share with you my love of Colombian coffee. Recently I was contacted by the folks behind the Bean Bang Theory, a site dedicated to Colombian coffee and the growers that bring us the delicious stuff.

Ana introduced me to Colombian coffee a few years back after bringing some to me from her trip home, and I’ve been hooked ever since. So when Café de Colombia contacted me to give me coffee (and give you some, too!) I said “YES PLEASE.”

This coffee didn’t disappointed. It was rich, full bodied, and delicious. I made it in the fancy French Press that they sent me and I was one happy lady. I care a lot about where foods comes from and how it gets to me – and when I can’t shop locally (as coffee doesn’t grow here in California) I try to get to know products I support. That’s why I love that the Bean Bang Theory exists – it tells you and me more about what we’re consuming, how it gets to us, how it’s grown, and why that matters. On the site you can meet the growers, you can learn about coffee farming, and you can find out how to get sustainably grown coffee beans.

Giveaway Time

Here’s the deal. You can have a coffee prize pack if you want, too. Here’s what we want you to do.

1) Follow @CafedColombiaWW on Twitter, and @cafedecolombia on Instagram. (If you speak Spanish, like Ana, you can follow @cafedecolombia on Twitter, too.)

2) Post a tweet or a photo on Instagram sharing The Bean Bang Theory’s website, but don’t forget to tag me and @CafedColombiaWW (and also use the hashtags #MindtheBean and #ColombiaCoffee.) You can post a photo from TBBT website or use your own Colombian Coffee photo, perhaps from this morning’s coffee?

3) Comment below so I know that you did this so I can find you and enter you into the giveaway!

This contest will go through tomorrow until 11:59 pm, so please get your comments in before that so you can have some coffee, a French press, a Colombian mug, and other goodies to get your Colombian Coffee party started!

(Just a note: Cafe de Colombia did send me coffee, but opinions are my own. Know more about your food chain! Read up on how this coffee gets to us today.)