Orange Honey French Toast Muffins

This is the perfect day to indulge in sweet treat swimming in honey! Why? Well because it’s Scoopy’s 70^th Birthday! Yes, Scoopy is a bee and he is the official mascot of our local paper, The Sacramento Bee. He was drawn by Walt Disney in 1943 has been flying around the masthead of the newspaper ever since. Around here, just the mention of Scoopy will brighten up your day and make you smile. So, in honor of Scoopy and his birthday – I hope this recipe for Orange Honey French Toast brings a smile to your taste buds and warms your tummy!

Orange Honey French Toast Muffins
(inspired from Two Peas and their Pod)

For the Muffins
1 Sourdough baguette, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 6 cups of bread)
1 1/4 cups milk
3 large eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
Zest from 1 orange

For the Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1 tablespoon orange zest
Pinch of salt

For the Orange Honey Glaze
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup butter

In a medium bowl, preferably with a spout, whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, honey, orange extract, orange juice, and orange zest.

Generously grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Fill each cup with the bread cubs. Carefully pour the mixture evenly over each muffin tin. Be careful as you do this as not to overfill the cups. Press down on the bread cubes as you pour. When all are filled, cover the muffin tin with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. To make the streusel topping, in a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, flour, orange zest, and salt. Mix together with your hands, until you have a crumbly mixture. Remove the muffins from the refrigerator and sprinkle the muffins evenly with the streusel topping.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes. While the muffins are cooling make the glaze. In a small sauce pan over medium heat add the honey, orange juice and butter, let gently come to a boil while stirring constantly. Remove muffins from pan and pour glaze over the top.

You can also serve with Orange Honey Butter too — simply amazing!

Enjoy this sweet breakfast treat and think of Scoopy flying around with a big smile on his face!