Stuffed French Toast

Looking for a delicious breakfast to make for general conference weekend that won't mean slaving in the kitchen all morning?  Look no further!

One of my favorite breakfasts ever is french toast.  This stuffed french toast recipe takes a really good thing and makes it extraordinary.  This is a great breakfast to serve to guests, because it's not difficult or expensive to make, but it looks fancy and it tastes soooooooooooooooo delicious!

Just look at this beautiful picture that I stole from the Tasty Kitchen website:

Yes, that is pretty much exactly how mine look, too!  It's not one of those scrumptious looking photos that are impossible to duplicate in real life.  :)

I found this recipe on the Tasty Kitchen website.  You can click HERE to see step-by-step instructions with pictures.

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf French or Italian Bread 
• 6 Tablespoons Any Flavor Fruit Spread (You Can Also Use Jelly, Jam, Or Fresh Fruit) I used my homemade strawberry jam
• 1/2 cup fresh fruit (optional) I used 1/2 cup of sliced strawberries, mixed with a little sugar
• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature 
• 2 whole eggs 
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon 
• ½ cup skim milk 
• 2 Tablespoons butter

Heat skillet or electric griddle to 325 to 350 degrees. Cut french bread into 2-3 inch wide slices. You should get about six pieces from a loaf of French or Italian bred, minus the end pieces.  Then, with a paring knife, go back and cut halfway into each slice, in the center, creating a ‘pocket’ that your fruit mixture can be stuffed into. In a bowl, place the room temperature cream cheese and fruit spread of your choice. Combine well. In a separate bowl, break 2 eggs; add cinnamon and milk and combine well. Now, take the fruit and cream cheese mixture and stuff into the ‘pockets’ of your french bread slices. If using fresh fruit, stuff a couple Tablespoons in as pocket as well.  Place on a plate or baking sheet. Put 2 tbsp (you can use less!) of butter into a hot skillet and melt completely. When done stuffing each piece of bread, completely dip each piece in the egg mixture for about 20 seconds on each side.. Make sure all sides are covered. Fry each piece immediately after dipping.  In other words, don't dip until you're ready to put it on a hot skillet; it'll get too soggy!  Add all of the bread to the skillet and cook roughly about 3-6 minutes on each side, until it reaches a nice golden brown. You want to make sure the cream cheese mixture heats through. When done cooking, serve immediately.

I always reserve a few sliced strawberries to place on top with some slivered almonds.  Then I dust the tops with powdered sugar, as shown in the picture.  They look so pretty!  Finally, my favorite syrup to serve with stuffed french toast is my homemade syrup I use for pumpkin waffles.  You can find the recipe here.  I think this syrup is the perfect flavor to compliment the french toast and leave your family and/or guests raving!  Enjoy!!