Milk Bread French Toast

Ingredients

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup milk
• 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 3 Tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar or honey
• Slices of stale Asian milk bread
• Butter

Directions

1. In a shallow dish, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, maple syrup, orange juice, vanilla, and sugar. Soak each slice of milk bread in the custard mixture, about 1-2 minutes on each side (depending on how stale your bread is). Repeat until all the custard is used up.
2. In a nonstick skillet, melt some butter to grease the pan. Over medium-high heat, fry each slice of french toast until golden brown on each side. Remove from heat, top with maple syrup, powdered sugar, jam or other desired topping. Serve immediately.

Cake Pops

Ingredients

• 1 box (about 18 ounces) favorite cake mix
• Eggs, water, and part yogurt/applesauce/oil for oil on package
• 1/4-1/2 cup frosting (store-bought preferred), more or less as needed
• 1 bag (14 ounces) Candy Melts
• Ez-Thin or Crisco, as needed, to make coating thinner (optional)

Yields: 48 Tablespoons

Directions

1. Prepare cake mix as instructed on package. (Use part applesauce, yogurt, and oil for the oil to prevent the cake from having too much fat.)
2. After baking, cool cake in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling grid and cool completely. Divide cake in half; freeze one half for future use.
3. In large bowl, use hands to crumble cake until no large chunks remain. Add icing; mix with fingers until well combined. (Do not add too much icing or the cake mix will be too moist and not hold shape! It will also be much harder to dip the cake pops.)
4.  Form mixture into cake balls. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours. Melt Candy Melts according to package directions. Dip sticks into melted Candy Melts and insert into cake balls; let set. Wait until candy is completely firm before dipping the pops completely in melted Candy Melts. Holding the cake pop stick in one hand, gently tap stick with your other hand to remove excess coating.
5. (Make sure both uncoated cake pops and melted candy coating are as close to room temperature as possible before dipping. This will prevent cracking.)
6. (Add Ez-Thin or Crisco to melted candy melts to make coating easier for dipping.)
7. Let set. Store cake pops in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Makes 48 - 1 tablespoon sized cake ball pops (each about 1-1/4 in. diameter)
Makes 24 - 2 tablespoon sized cake ball pops (each about 1-1/2 in. diameter)
Makes 16 - 3 tablespoon sized cake ball pops (each about 1-3/4 in. diameter)

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• *optional- sea salt for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Sprinkle with sea salt. (optional)
4. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, approximately 11-14 minutes. Do not overbake.
5. Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
6. Yields about 24 big cookies.