You’ve never really had French toast until you’ve had strawberry cream cheese stuffed French toast. With a glorious strawberry cheesecake filling then drenched in luxurious custard before frying, it’s French toast for days when average just won’t do.
(Planning a special breakfast? Try these Classic Buttermilk Scones or these Light and Fluffy Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. They’re pretty awesome too!)
Red and I have this bad habit of eating out when we’re very (very) hungry. This is one of the very first lessons in Saving Money When Eating Out 101 – eat a light snack before you go out so you don’t end up overeating and overspending.
We know this, but hunger often strikes us when we’re already out doing errands with no snacks in sight (Lesson 2: always have snacks in your purse). So we usually end up ordering half the menu.
We bring leftovers home (we’re not too proud to carry doggie bags) but still. It’s a habit we’re trying to get rid of.
So one Saturday, at brunch, we deliberately only ordered one dish each (and of course a mimosa for me).
There was this awesome looking strawberry cream cheese stuffed French toast on the menu that I really, really wanted to order too (the table beside us had it) but being a good soldier, I sadly looked away and just quietly ate my eggs Benedict.
It stayed on my mind though, that French toast. I thought about it for days.
So I finally did something about it and attempted to recreate it at home. I don’t know how the restaurant’s strawberry cream cheese stuffed French toast tastes like but this homemade one is delicious.
Extra special French toast
There’s French toast. And there’s French toast that’s filled with cream cheese and strawberries.
This is an indulgence for sure (I felt each bite go straight to my thighs) but hey, we have to reward ourselves sometimes right?
This is the kind of breakfast you make for yourself when you need cheering up, when you have company, if you’re celebrating an anniversary and breakfast in bed is in order. It’s that kind of French toast.
(Craving for blueberries instead? Try blueberry french toast bake!)
Expert tips
The rules for making stuffed French toast are slightly different from making regular French toast. Though we will still eat this however it looks like, we don’t want to serve a soggy mess to our guests or loved ones, yes? So here are some of the things I learned:
- Forget about the pre-cut bread slices. Buy a whole loaf (something sturdy and crusty) and slice them at home yourself.
- Also forget about spreading the filling on two bread slices then frying them – just leaves too much room for disaster (think: filling oozing out on all 4 sides). Make bread pockets instead. Cut the bread about 1 to 1.5 inches thick then cut along the top to create a pocket inside your bread where the filling will go. Be careful not to cut all the way through.
- Stale bread is better but you can still use fresh bread; you just need to dry them out on the counter before using. I laid mine out for a few hours.
- Don’t over soak the toast before frying. But don’t under soak them either. I’d say about 15-20 seconds on each side. And only soak just when you’re about to fry. This means don’t soak everything at once unless you have a giant pan where you can fry everything at the same time.
- Make sure your pan is hot enough. I try to keep mine at medium heat.
- Don’t use just butter for frying. It burns too fast. You can use a butter & vegetable oil combo.
- Change your oil often. You don’t want nasty stuff from the previous batch sticking to your new batch.
Other brunch recipes for a wonderful morning!
That is it. Just a bit of planning and preparation for a delectable treat. Buy the ingredients today and have a wonderful time making and eating it on the weekend.
Here are other brunch recipes you can try:
- Greek Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes (Strapatsada)
- Strawberry Ricotta Cake
- Easy Huevos Rancheros Recipe with Crispy Chorizo & Chipotle Sour Cream
- Super Chocolatey Double Chocolate Waffles
Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 loaf bread sliced into 1-1.5 inch thick pieces
- 1 8-oz package cream cheese room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups strawberries diced
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 4 pcs large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- butter and oil for frying
- maple syrup for serving
Instructions
- Prep your bread by slicing a pocket into each one (see my tips above).
- In a large bowl, mash together 1 package of cream cheese and 2 teaspoons of vanilla until well combined. Stir in 1 ½ cups strawberries.
- Put a generous amount (I put about 2 heaping tablespoons) of your cream cheese mixture inside each bread pocket and press each slice closed. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk ¾ cup heavy cream, 4 eggs, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg and 1 tablespoon sugar until fully incorporated.
- Soak each bread slice in the custard about 20 seconds each side before frying on medium heat (you can use oil or a combination of oil and butter). Fry until golden (about 2-3 minutes) then flip and continue cooking until the other side is golden too.
- Serve with maple syrup. You can also sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and serve with extra strawberries if you have it.
Video
Notes
- There is no sugar in the filling, the sweetness comes from the strawberries. If you happen to get hold of bland or sour ones, you can add a bit of sugar to the mix (about ½ teaspoon at a time until you’re happy with the taste).
- The filling is not supposed to be overly sweet though. This is meant to be eaten with maple syrup and trust me, the combination of flavours – cream cheese, strawberries, custard and maple syrup – is lovely.
- The yield depends on the size of the loaf you have but the spread is good for about 6 bread pockets the size of a regular loaf of sliced bread.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
(Recipe adapted from Just A Taste).
Happy stuffed French toasting!
Did you make this strawberry cream cheese stuffed French toast? Tell me about it in the comments section below. I’d love to hear all about it.
Raquel
I am drooling. I know what I am having for breakfast tomorrow
Jolina
Nice! I’m excited for you! Make sure you have lots of maple syrup on hand 🙂 Hope you like it!
Daundra Becker
Wow! My mouth is watering!
Jolina
Cool. My job is done haha 🙂 Thanks Daundra! Happy Thursday!
Karly
Holy YUM. This is so gorgeous and looks so delicious! Also, never thought that stale bread would be better, but makes so much sense! Thanks for the tip!! 🙂
Jolina
Thank you very much Karly! Hope you get to try the recipe sometime and let me know what you think 🙂
Sangely Roman
I am beyond ready to start my weekend just so that I can make this on Saturday morning! I am a huge fan of french toast and fruits. This just looks so delectable! Hopefully I can make it and have it taste good and look somewhat like your photos! If not, well then at least I had fun making it! Thanks for sharing!
Jolina
Hello Sangely! I’m sure you’ll do fine 🙂 There’s nothing not to love about this dish. Just make sure to bake it all the way through and check for doneness properly…we don’t want liquidy bread pudding!
Sara
This looks so good! I love how bright your photos are, too!
Jolina
Thanks very much Sara! I try to improve my photography little by little. The constant rejection by a certain food/recipe curation website certainly helps motivate me hahaha!
Christine
Looks amazing! I used to make breakfasts at a bed and breakfast and I made stuffed french toast a few times. Soooo yummy.
Jolina
Seriously, breakfasts at B&Bs are the best. Those big breakfast buffets at hotels don’t compare! Love it. Thanks Christine!
Christine
Yuuuuummmmmm! I LOVE french toast, and this recipe sounds perfect for this weekend’s brunch!
Jolina
Fantastic! And gorgeous strawberries are everywhere. Let me know how your brunch goes. Thanks Christine 🙂
Jared
I love stuffed french toast! This looks amazing!
Jolina
I’m a fairly recent fan 🙂 I’ve read others say they’ve tried other fillings like peanut butter and banana cream. I cannot wait to experiment with those. Thanks Jared!
Tiina A
I can make it too, because I found a bakery neat me which bakes gluten free bread – a wide variety of different ones. We have a strawberry season here so it would be great to make a toast like this. thanks for a great tip to make a poket in bread!
Jolina
That’s great Tiina! I don’t think I’ve ever tried gluten free bread but I don’t think it will affect the recipe at all. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Remi
I needed to pinned this! It looks fantastic… I have strawberries in the fridge waiting!
Jolina
Nice! Thanks for the pin! Hope you get to make this soon to take advantage of strawberry season at its peak 🙂
Hannah
This looks lovely and if I had it for breakfast, I reckon it would fill me up until the next day! Thank you x
Jolina
Hi Hannah! It is quite filling. Though to be honest, I crave for it so much I eat more than I should teehee.
Melanie
Omg yes!!! These look amazing
Jolina
Yes, we really should just say yes to recipes like this eh? 🙂 Thanks Melanie!
Sahvana
Breakfast is my favorite… and this looks absolutely divine. I have to make this tomorrow morning!
Jolina
Thanks very much Sahvana! I’m excited for you 🙂 Hope you have all the ingredients on hand!
Caitlin Culver
I’ve died and gone to French Toast Heaven! I went to a breakfast place in Boone, NC not too long ago that had a raspberry version of this and I’ve been on the hunt every since 🙂 I also love your tip about using stale bread. It’s a great way to use up ingredients that only have a day or two left and it’ll make a huge different in how it holds up to all the maple syrup I know I’d put on it! Thanks for sharing, Jolina!
Jolina
Raspberry would be so good too! In fact any berry I think 🙂 You are most welcome Caitlin! Hope you enjoy this stuffed French toast 🙂
Nellwyn
Looks amazing! I’ve always wanted to make stuffed french toast at home!
Jolina
Thanks very much Nellwyn! Not difficult to do at all right? 🙂