Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple

I love going out to breakfast. In fact, I think I may actually love it more than going out to dinner but I never want to claim this fact with confidence lest my husband decide to eliminate dinners out completely for the sake of saving money. I don't know what it is about breakfast but I adore all things carbohydrate, particularly specialty pancakes and, for some reason, going out somehow gives me the green light to indulge in these richer treasures that I normally wouldn't produce in my own kitchen. Don't get me wrong. I think I've mastered a pretty mean whole wheat buttermilk pancake but there is still something about going out that makes that pancake even better. Maybe it's the globs of butter and mountains of whipped cream? Or maybe it's the fact that I didn't have to do any of the work myself? Whatever the case, I would normally prefer breakfast out....until today....

It's been a busy week here in the Crozier household so I wanted to treat my family to a special Saturday breakfast since it was the first Saturday morning we've been home together in all the month of May. My husband tore this recipe out from my most recent Cooking Light magazine that I thought I'd surprise him with it and give it a try. I'm telling you, it is to die for and french toast usually isn't even my thing.

They came together really quickly and the great thing about the recipe is that it could easily be made dairy-free if needed by eliminating the 1/4 cup milk and replacing it with the same amount of coconut milk. (I've been surrounded by breastfeeding mamas who have had to go dairy and soy free lately and so I thought I'd throw that out there!) Also, I bet the sugar could easily be reduced to 2 Tbsp. Of course, everything is a little better with whipped cream so I made that little addition. I like to do it myself by whipping 1/2 cup of whipping cream with 1 to 1 1/2 Tablespoons powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla extract until stiff peaks formed. A little dollop will do ya! ENJOY!

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple
(from Cooking Light Magazine)

1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fat-free milk
3 large eggs
1 (12-ounce) French baguette, cut into 15 slices
Cooking spray
10 (1/4-inch-thick) slices peeled pineapple
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 200°. Place a baking sheet in the oven.

Combine coconut milk, sugar, fat-free milk, and eggs in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Working in batches, dip bread in the milk mixture, and let stand for 1 minute on each side.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, and coat pan with cooking spray. Add 5 coated bread slices to pan, and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place on warm pan in oven to keep warm. Repeat procedure in batches with cooking spray, remaining slices, and milk mixture.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Add pineapple, and grill for 2 minutes on each side or until well marked. Chop pineapple. Place 3 slices of French toast on each of 5 plates, and divide the pineapple among servings. Top with coconut.

Serves 5