Panettone French Toast with Apples and Pomegranate

Let me start by staying, this is not a typical breakfast in my house.  This is a rich and decadent holiday breakfast, suitable for Christmas morning, or a pre-soccer game brunch for 11 year olds.  ðŸ™‚

Panettone is a traditional Milanese sweet bread that is enjoyed around Christmas and New Years throughout Europe.  It is an egg bread with a light and fluffy texture, and usually contains raisins, currents, candied orange, or other dried fruits.   It is widely available in the US around the holidays.  I have seen it at Whole Foods and Trader Joes.

I had some panettone left over from a holiday snack mix that I was making, so I decided to use the remaining pannetone to make a holiday french toast.  The results were delicious.  Enjoy!

pannetone french toast

I used sauteed apples, pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds, and greek yogurt flavored with honey, vanilla, and cardamom for toppings on this french toast.  Pomegranate molasses is a common ingredient in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking.  It is essentially a reduction of pomegranate juice with sugar and a bit of lemon.  It is a perfect condiment for this french toast.  I buy it at my local Mediterranean grocery.  You can also find it online.  

Panettone French Toast with Apples and Pomegranate

A delicious and decadent holiday breakfast or brunch dish.
Total Time25 minutes
Servings: 3

Ingredients

For the Apple Topping

  • 1 large granny smith apple peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
  • 1 TBSP brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cardamom
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 lemon wedge squeezed
  • 1 TBSP margarine or butter

For the French Toast

  • 3 slices panettone approximate 3/4 inch thick
  • 3 eggs beaten
  • 1/2 cup milk I used almond milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 TBSP brown sugar
  • 3 TBSP margarine or butter

Toppings

  • 3 TBSP pomegranate molasses
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 1/2 cup greek yogurt combined with 1 tsp vanilla 1 TBSP honey, and 1 pinch cardamom

Instructions

  • Heat 1 TBSP of margarine or butter in a non-stick or cast iron pan.
  • Add apples and saute for ~3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom and salt and cook until apples are softned and beginning to brown, ~ another 3 minutes.
  • Remove apples from pan, add lemon juice, and set aside.
  • In a shallow dish or pie plate, combine eggs, milk, vanilla and brown sugar.
  • Heat 1 TBSP of margarine or butter in pan on medium heat.
  • Dip one slice of pannetone in egg mixture, coating both sides of the bread with egg mixture.
  • Place pannetone slice in pan, and cook for ~3 minutes on each side until browned.
  • Remove slice from pan, place on plate and top with 1/3 apple slices, a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, a dollop of honey-cardamom yogurt and a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds.
  • Repeat process with remaining slices of bread.
  • Serve immediately.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating