Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast….or Grilled Cheese

I’m not going to lie to you, I made this during lunch time and was really tempted to call it a grilled cheese with a maple syrup dipping sauce. So depending on the time of day and however you want to justify it, call this whatever you want to make you feel better! I actually picked this up and ate it like a sandwich and dipped it in the syrup and it was deeeeee-licious!!

One of the worst parts of Scott being on the road is being home alone testing recipes with no one else to eat them but me! One of the best parts of Scott being on the road is being alone and eating judgment free with my hands barefoot in the kitchen with Frito begging at my ankles. Then again, Frito has judgmental eyes so he’s probably reporting back to Scott how barbaric I am when he’s away. You can make this with any fruit; bananas, blueberries, berry medley, strawberries with bananas, you could even stuff with chocolate chips. Why not?!?

Here’s what you’ll need:

One loaf of day old bread (I use a French Loaf from La Brea Bakery)

1 – 8 ounce block of cream cheese, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped

3-4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

a couple splashes of milk (1-2 tablespoons)

butter for frying

powdered sugar & maple syrup

First and foremost you are going to want to put the cream cheese out on the counter ahead of time to soften, it’ll make your life easier when you stir in the strawberries.

Mix the chopped strawberries into the cream cheese and set aside. Slice the day old bread about a half inch thick. Now to get the custard ready. In a shallow bowl mix together eggs, vanilla, salt, and milk.

Spread a thin layer of the strawberry cream mixture on one side of two pieces of sliced bread and sandwich them together. Soak each side of the sandwich in custard mixture for a few minutes before frying.

Heat a large skillet on medium high heat and melt a pad of butter. Fry both sides of the sandwich for about 3 minutes a side or until nice and golden.