Meet the French toast with the most! Jam-sweetened cream cheese, fresh strawberries, and banana slices layered between thick, fluffy slices of bread, this Stuffed French Toast is pure breakfast pampering. Treat yourself!
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One of my “in another life” careers is to own a bed and breakfast. We’d have a wrap-around porch, five-star rating on Trip Advisor, and be renown for our homemade breakfasts. The house special: stuffed French toast.
Now that our lives are busier, cooking an all-out breakfast isn’t something I do often for just Ben and myself (or if I do, it’s a 100% make-ahead option like Overnight French Toast).
The weekend I was testing this stuffed French toast, however, it was just the two of us. I channeled my inner B&B host and threw in a side of Oven Baked Bacon to seal the deal.
SO. FUN.
Indulging in a big breakfast turned a normal weekend at home into a memorable, relaxing day spent in PJs just because.
Whether you need a special breakfast for a crowd, someone’s birthday or Mother’s Day, or just because, this stuffed French toast will put you in a happy mood that’s sure to last the day through.
5 Star Review
“So refreshing to see a French toast that uses some restraint in the amount of sugar! Just what I’ve been looking for!”
— Janet —
How to Make Stuffed French Toast
This creamy stuffed French toast recipe is on the decadent side but (per usual) I used a few simple swaps to lighten it up.
Go ahead, have another piece!
I tested both a stovetop method and a baked stuffed French toast. We both preferred the stovetop method.
- Cooking French toast on the stovetop helps the outsides to turn golden and crisp and the extra thick French toast “sandwich” to cook through evenly.
- For a baked French toast option, check out this Blueberry French Toast Casserole or classic Baked French Toast.
The Ingredients
- Bread. It’s not French toast without it! For a healthy stuffed French toast, use whole wheat bread (just like I do for French Toast Sticks). Whole grains offer additional fiber and nutrients compared to white bread. Plus, this French toast has so much going on, the swap doesn’t take away from it.
- Eggs + Milk. I found 1% milk gave us a French toast that was plenty rich. For even more decadence, use whole milk or swap part of the milk for half-and-half.
- Strawberries + Banana (or fruit of choice). French toast topped with fruit is tasty but French toast stuffed WITH bananas and strawberries is next level! Feel free to use one or both fruits.
- Cream Cheese. I used reduced fat cream cheese, and the filling was every bit as creamy as I dreamed.
- Jam. Instead of sweetening the cream cheese filling with sugar, I used pure fruit jam.
The Directions
- Prepare the reduced-fat cream cheese filling.
- To begin assembling the stuffed French toast, spread the filling on one side of each slice of bread.
- Layer the fruit of your choice on top of the filling.
- Put the two sides together like a sandwich.
- Whisk the French toast batter together in a shallow baking dish.
- Dip each sandwich in the batter, turning it a few times to thoroughly coat.
- Cook the sandwiches for 8 to 10 minutes over medium-low heat, until golden on both sides and the custard is cooked through, gently flipping once halfway through. ENJOY!
Why is My French Toast Soggy?
French toast should be moist and tender inside, but it is not supposed to be gooey. If your French toast is soggy, it’s likely because:
- Your bread is too fresh. The best bread for French toast is day-old bread. Because it’s dry, it can absorb the custard but won’t become soggy. (No day-old bread? Simply toast your slices in the oven for a few minutes first to help dry it out.)
- You let the bread sit too long in the custard. It’s a fine line. You want the bread to be moist almost all the way through, but you don’t want it completely wet or falling apart.
- Your pan is too hot. If your French toast is burning outside before the inside is cooked, lower your skillet heat. For extra-thick stuffed French toast sandwiches like these in particular, you need low-to-medium heat to ensure the custard cooks all the way though.
Side Dishes that Go Well with French Toast
- Fresh fruit. Slice up whatever is in season, or serve this Fruit Salad for a special meal.
- Yogurt + Granola. For a double hit of creaminess, serve plain or vanilla Greek yogurt with a sprinkle of Healthy Granola (or the Ridiculously Addictive Maple Quinoa Granola from my cookbook) on top for crunch.
- Egg Muffins or Breakfast Casserole. Rather than tossing more carbs into the mix (delish, but this stuffed French toast has them covered), serve your French toast alongside protein-rich Egg Muffins, this Healthy Breakfast Casserole, or this veggie-packed Vegetarian Breakfast Casserole.
- Air Fryer Bacon. The sweet and savory combo of bacon and French toast is a forever favorite.
Storage Tips
- To Store. Place leftovers in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Reheat. Gently rewarm French toast in a nonstick skillet until cooked through.
- To Freeze. Tightly wrap individual stuffed French toast “sandwiches.” Freeze for up to 1 month. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Meal Prep Tip
The night before, slice your bread and leave it out to dry. Mix up the cream cheese filling and store in the refrigerator. When ready to cook, let the filling sit at room temperature until it becomes easily spreadable.
Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe
- Stovetop Griddle. Plenty wide to cook multiple pieces of this French toast or Oatmeal Pancakes.
- Cast Iron Skillet. Pre-seasoned and perfect for baking this Sweet Potato Hash, and also searing, sautéing, broiling, braising, or frying.
- Knife Set. Quality steel and ergonomic grips in this 7-piece set, include a bread knife for this French toast.
Serve up this stuffed French toast at your own pretend family “B&B.” It’s 5-star review guaranteed!
Stuffed French Toast
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Ingredients
FOR THE FILLING:
- 8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese or Neufchatel, softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons fruit jam or maple syrup, or honey (I used apricot jam)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch kosher salt
- ½ cup thinly sliced fresh strawberries or try peaches!
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced banana or more strawberries, peaches, or fruit of choice
FOR THE FRENCH TOAST:
- 12 thick about 1/2-inch slices of day-old bread* (about 1 large loaf; I used whole grain sourdough)
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup milk any kind you like. I used 1%
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Butter or nonstick spray
FOR SERVING:
- Pure maple syrup
- Sliced bananas and strawberries
- Whipped Cream
Instructions
- If you’d like to keep the French toast warm between batches, preheat your oven to 225 degrees F.
- Prepare the cream cheese filling: In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, jam, vanilla, and salt.
- Assemble the stuffed French toast: Spread 1 side of each of the 12 slices of bread with a layer of the cream cheese mixture, dividing it evenly between each and leaving a 1/4-inch border around all sides.
- Arrange a layer of strawberry and banana slices on top of 6 of the slices. (It's okay for the fruit to overlap a little bit).
- Lay the remaining 6 slices on top, cream-cheese side down, to create a French toast “sandwich.”
- In a shallow baking dish or bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.
- To cook the French toast: Heat a large non-stick skillet or griddle over medium-low heat (about 325 to 350 degrees F on an electric griddle). Melt butter in the skillet, or coat with nonstick spray. Working one or two at a time, dip each sandwich in egg mixture, turning it a few times to thoroughly coat. If your bread is very dense and doesn't readily absorb the egg mixture (mine was), let the sandwich sit in the egg mixture for 10 to 20 seconds on each side to give the bread time to absorb it (the sandwiches shouldn't be completely soggy, but you do want the egg mixture to penetrate more than just the very outsides; if your bread is very dense, it may need closer to 30 seconds a side).
- Lift up each sandwich and allow any excess mixture to drip off the bread and back into the bowl. Cook the sandwiches for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden on both sides and the custard is cooked through, gently flipping once halfway through. Keep the heat low and adjust as needed so that the French toast cooks and turns lightly crisp and golden on the outside but does not burn.
- If desired, place the French toast on a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you prepare remaining batches. Serve hot with toppings of choice.
Video
Notes
- *For a more decadent spin, make brioche French toast (swapping brioche bread for the whole grain bread) or challah. For max speed and ease, use Texas Toast. If your bread isn’t stale or is very fresh/soft, toast it in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes, flipping it once halfway through.
- TO STORE: Place leftovers in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- TO REHEAT: Gently rewarm French toast in a nonstick skillet until cooked through.
- TO FREEZE: Tightly wrap individual stuffed French toast “sandwiches.” Freeze for up to 1 month. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
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Sweet breakfast recipes are perfect to enjoy with family and friends, or indulge on a weekend. Here are some of my favorites:
I’m definitely ready for fresh peach dishes. I just made some fresh peach lemonade yesterday. Swoon. They rock the summer for sure.
This looks like perfect way to start a summer day!
You should totally buy a B & B and then parlay that into your blog, like the B & B blog where guests get to eat everything you blog. It would be awesome! Especially if there’s more of this. I love this!
I love this, Erin! Especially the overnight part….and the peaches….oh, and the FRENCH TOAST part!!!
Oh gosh. hit me with ALL the peach recipes! This french toast looks totally insane and the easiest summer brunch!
I always love making overnight French toast! It’s such a hands-off way of enjoying one of life’s greatest pleasures. :) One can just sip on coffee while the bake does time in the oven, then voile! Brunch is served. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you so much Kori! I hope you love it :)
This looks insanely delicious!! Peaches are one of my favorite flavors, so it’s nice to have ideas to do with them other than shoving them into my mouth :)
Oh yummy!! This looks really good!! I’m glad y’all had fun last weekend! I did to,remember me telling you about the pig roast we were invited to well we did go and it was alot of fun!! Food, (pig of course) fun,fireworks!! And it didn’t rain!! Thank you Jesus!! I prayed about it!
That french toast looks perfect for breakfast time! And I love that it’s an overnight recipe – how awesome!! :)
I hear ya girl. If I could save up a bit more money, I’d get a place along the Cape, too! Also, several splashes of bourbon are always welcome in baked treats around my house. Love this french toast!
This is the second time I’ve seen an overnight breakfast item on your blog since I’ve started becoming a reader, and each time i’m like “i have to try doing that!!”. so i’m going to this weekend :)
Gooey, sweet, delicious peaches and french toast sound like a dream! Delish :)
I can’t wait to try this!!!
So refreshing to see a baked French toast that uses some restraint in the amount of sugar! Just what I’ve been looking for!
I’m excited to try your recipe but also have to tell you that I live on Cape Cod and there is a beautiful B&B in Sandwich, MA right across from the Glass Museum. (Lots of tourists!) I think it is listed by Sotheby if you want to check it out.
Best Wishes!
We both absolutely loved our trip to Cape Cod two summers ago, and I have been wanting to go back! Thanks for the tip. Hope that you enjoy the French toast!
I tried this recipe yesterday for a brunch and it was amazing. Other peach french toast recipes that I’ve tried have been so cloyingly sweet that you feel like you’re eating straight sugar and I was hoping to find one that was naturally sweet. This recipe perfectly fit the bill. The natural sweetness of the peaches really came through and was delicious with fresh whipped cream on top. This is my go-to peach french toast recipe now…thanks for sharing! :)
Ps. I needed about 3 1/2-4 cups of peaches for the top (I wanted it to be completely covered with them) and ended up supplementing with ripe unpeeled peaches I hadn’t boiled first. Still tasted great!!
Amy, I’m so happy to hear that this recipe hit the spot for you, and that you didn’t find it overly sweet. I too like to let the flavor of the peaches shine. Thanks so much for letting me know about the peach amount too. Really, you can’t have enough!
Looks delish! Unfortunately peaches are not in season now, any alterations for using frozen peaches?
Hi Korylea, I haven’t tried this with frozen peaches, so you’d be experimenting. Frozen fruit is often way more liquidy than fresh once it thaws, so if you’d like to give it a try, I would suggest fully thawing frozen peach slices, then draining them and blotting them with a paper towel to get them as dry as possible before adding them on top of the casserole. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Thank you Erin. It worked perfectly by treating the frozen peaches this way. Also, I eliminated the brown sugar, and instead drizzled maple syrup over the top while it was still hot. It was a hit! I will definitely be making this dish again!
I’m so glad to hear that, Korylea! Thanks so much for reporting back!
Can I substitute coconut milk and coconut cream for the milk and evaporated milk?
Hi Caitlin, yes, you can substitute regular coconut milk (or even light coconut milk) for all, depending on how decadent you’d like it to be!
? Delicious & easy ! I had a LARGE baguette to use up and lots of half & half so I did not make the “lighter” version this time.
Also substituted (local Farmers Market) sweet NECTARINES for peaches. I left the skin on them. Some were diced and scattered throughout my double layer of bread. I will use bourbon next time… when the little ones won’t be indulging in this amazing breakfast/brunch treat. Really a crowd pleaser! Thanks ?
That sounds absolutely delicious, Sheila! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for taking the time to make it and report back!
Erin,
I am so looking forward to trying this recipe when the peaches come in here in Texas. I would like to bake and freeze it as you mentioned you did for your guests. My question is did you still let it soak overnight before you baked it or would letting it soak for an hour or so before baking be sufficient?
Hi Alice! Since you’ll want to bake it all the way through before freezing it, I’d recommend letting it soak as close to 8 hours as possible. Even 4 or 6 will be better than 1 or 2 to make sure the bread has time to fully absorb the liquid. I hope this helps and that you enjoy the recipe!
Hi….so is the 8 oz of bread correct for this recipe serving 6? You show 15 slices in your photo but when I weigh out 8 oz it is less than a half load and only about 8 slices
That’s correct, Sherri! I hope you enjoy the recipe if you try it!
this looks sooooooooooooo goooooooooooooood, I have a quick question or two. can I use canned peached and another kind of milk instead of non fat
Hi Sharyn! Canned peaches should work fine, and you can use any type of milk you prefer. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Nice recipe for a special occasion, made for my husbands birthday. And easy enough anytime. I used blueberries, banana and strawberries and fig jam as what I happened to have handy.
Thanks for the idea!
Great to hear, thank you Frances!