If you like bread pudding or baked French toast, these little breakfast bakes should make you happy. Nonetheless, the Apple Butter Breakfast Bakes, unlike bread pudding and baked French toast, have extra protein in them in the form of shredded cheese. So the bakes will keep you feeling full longer as well as taste good. I like to make the bakes when I have a bit of leftover bread as well as an apple that's past its eating prime. In the Apple Butter Breakfast Bakes the bread melts into the custard, and the apple provides great texture as well as flavor. Apple butter--which darkens the the appearance of the bakes--also acts to intensify the apple flavor and give a little sweetness to the bakes without adding sugar to the batter. I suggest using whatever cheese in the recipe that you like to eat with apples. Cheddar is good, and Colby Jack provides a milder, more subtle cheese taste. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Apple Butter Breakfast Bakes -- Makes 4
1 cup crumbled bread (a little dry is just fine, and I use whole wheat or sourdough)
1 medium-smallish apple, cored and chopped (3/4-1 cup), peeled if you want or not
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of apple butter
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of shredded cheese (Cheddar, Colby Jack, etc.)
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
Spritz 4 ramekins with non-stick cooking spray and set them aside. In a medium bowl or measure combine the bread, apple, milk, apple butter, eggs, and cinnamon and mix them until everything is thoroughly combined and the bread is softening. Stir in the cheese. Divide the mixture among the ramekins. Sprinkle a little of the brown sugar over the top of the batter in each ramekin. Spritz the top of the batter/brown sugar with a little non-stick cooking spray. Place 2-4 of the ramekins in your air fryer basket and place the basket in the air fryer. Air fry the breakfast bakes at 360 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 320 degrees and continue cooking the breakfast bakes for another 5 minutes or until puffed and mostly firm to the touch. The bakes will be a deep brown. Remove the ramekins from the air fryer and repeat the cooking process with the remaining batter/ramekins. Let the breakfast bakes cool a few minutes before serving them. You can serve the bakes in the ramekins or flip them out to serve (one the ramekins are cool enough to handle them).
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