Stuffed French toast, made with either a sweetened cream cheese filling or Nutella, is an easy to make but impressive breakfast. This fun twist will be a new favorite!

There are a few things I make for breakfast ALL. THE. TIME.

These fluffy whole wheat pancakes are a staple on the weekends - and in the freezer - as are my go-to easy whole wheat waffles.

Cheesy baked eggs and freezer breakfast burritos are a great way to get in some protein, and I can pull them out to reheat on busy mornings. (They’re part of my 5 easy make-ahead egg breakfasts that you should check out if you love eggs like I do.)

We also make a lot of oatmeal jars, banana bread baked oatmeal and healthy muffins to have on hand during the week. 

And my son has long been a fan of French toast, which I can whip up in about 10 minutes any time he’s in the mood.

Today though, we’re talking stuffed French toast.

Yup, that’s right, we’re stuffing our French toast and taking it even more over the top!

(This is also my daughter’s preferred way to eat French toast, thank you very much.)

And I’ve got two different stuffing options for you.

One, a classic sweetened cream cheese filling that has a bit of sweet and a bit of tang and is kinda like cheesecake in your French toast. Yup, that’s a really good idea.

Two, Nutella. This is my kids pick most of the time and I can’t blame them. That smooth chocolate hazelnut spread works so well with French toast and is definitely a good way to start the day.

(Confession: I’m totally on team chocolate for breakfast. Sometimes it’s relatively healthy, like these healthy chocolate pancakes or chocolate overnight oats and sometimes it’s questionably healthyish like these chocolate baked donuts or chocolate chip pancakes.)

Anyway, either way you choose to stuff your French toast, you are going to love this twist on the classic.

(You might also love these fun Air Fryer French toast sticks.)

So let’s get to cooking.

Now, I’ve got some notes, tips and substitutions coming up below on how to make stuffed French toast. Just tryin’ to be helpful.

If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.

Notes on making stuffed French toast:

• Bread: Brioche is traditional for French toast and a thick Brioche is needed here. (A brioche-style bread like they sell at the grocery store is fine, too.) It just needs to be thick enough so you can cut the pocket for stuffing. I sometimes just use our whole wheat sandwich bread for regular French toast, but it doesn’t work well for this stuffed version in my opinion.
• Milk: Feel free to use whatever milk you have on hand. We love soy milk for the extra sweetness it gives, but skim milk is fine too. Another alternative like almond milk or oat milk would work fine, too.
• Stuffing: As mentioned, you can use the cream cheese mixture or Nutella for stuffing your French toast. Both are listed in the recipe card below. You could also try peanut butter or another spread if you’d like.
• How to stuff: Use a small, sharp knife (like a paring knife) to cut a slit in the middle of the slice of bread, all the way from one side to the other and going at least halfway down the piece of bread. This pocket is where you’ll stuff or spread the filling. If you have a small tear in the bread that goes through, no worries, it’ll cook up just fine.

As for serving size, the recipe makes 4 slices of French toast. You might be able to get 5 pieces out of the eggy mixture, depending on the size of your bread and how much each piece soaks up.

And of course, you can double or triple the recipe to make more, or halve the recipe if you just want a couple of slices.

Just for reference, here’s my general ratio for French toast, whether stuffed or not:

1 egg + 2 tablespoons of milk (and a splash of vanilla)

So if you want to triple up, you need 3 eggs and ⅓ cup (which is 6 tablespoons) of milk, plus a few good splashes of vanilla.

And just adjust the amount of your filling of choice as needed.

Oh, and if you have extra of the cream cheese mixture after making your French toast, I highly recommend using it to stuff some strawberries. So good!

I just use a regular non-stick skillet to cook my stuffed French toast, two at a time in the pan. If you have a griddle, feel free to make it on that. You’ll be able to cook even more pieces at once.

OK, let’s get ready to serve this up.

Now, we usually enjoy this on its own with a little maple syrup and it’s fabulous. I mean, we’ve got all the filling gloriousness, so we don’t need a whole lot more.

But of course I’m going to give you some ideas for toppings if you really want to jazz this up.

Perfect for brunch or special occasions - or guests!

Topping ideas for French toast:

• Maple syrup or a drizzle of honey
• A pat of butter
• Powdered sugar
• Whipped cream
• Sliced strawberries
• Sliced bananas
• Mini chocolate chips

Everyone can choose their own favorites to dress up their plate!

Speaking of… if you are making a lot of French toast and want to keep the finished pieces warm before serving them all at once, I have some tips on that.

How to keep French toast warm:

- When you are cooking a large amount of French toast and need to keep the early pieces warm while you finish making the rest, place the finished French toast on a sheet pan in a single layer and put into the oven at 200 degrees until ready to eat.

- Don’t cover the French toast on a plate to keep it warm. The toast will steam and get soggy.

Pro tip: Use two large skillets to cook twice as many pieces of French toast at once. 

You can get two pieces in each skillet and knock out the entire recipe at once. If you are standing there monitoring and flipping, you might as well do two batches at once and cut your time in half. Particularly if you want to serve everyone at the same time.

I do this all the time with pancakes. It has saved me countless hours over the course of my life and that makes me happy.

As for leftovers, I tend to say that they don’t keep that well. The bread gets soft and doesn’t really recover.

However, my daughter will happily eat leftover French toast for a snack or the next day.

She eats the Nutella stuffed version cold sometimes or warms it up in the microwave, depending on her mood. So there’s that.

Oh, and if you love French toast like we do, check out the casserole version.

Overnight French toast casserole is perfect for making ahead and is something we often have at the holidays or on Christmas morning, since I can put it together the day before. That and this classic sausage and egg casserole. A winning combination!

I do hope you try this stuffed French toast for a fun new breakfast. It feels indulgent and special, but it’s so quick and easy to whip up any ole weekend.

Or maybe every weekend.

Enjoy!

XO,

Kathryn