Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Sunday mornings are possibly one of my favorite times of the week. Sleeping in a wee bit and having a tasty breakfast is pretty much the best way to start off my day. Add a few friends or family and I'm golden, just as I was this past Sunday at Michelle and Steve's house. I am a breakfastaholic. I'd eat it every meal if I could. Naturally, I couldn't help but eagerly anticipate when I would get to make this Blueberry Stuffed French Toast recipe from Lyuba at Will Cook for Smiles.

Thanks to an abundance of fresh, hand-picked strawberries, I decided to alter the recipe to fit my berries. In this case, alter = substitution. I'm sure come blueberry picking season, I will try her recipe, just to taste test and indulge.

Seriously, do make this as soon as you can and you will have no regrets, except that you waited so long to try it.  This recipe will make about 6 thick stuffed slices. (You will probably have some filling left over, but it can always be a topping or refrigerated for later, simply to top regular slices of french toast or pancakes!)

For Strawberry Filling:

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup strawberries, diced (to whatever size you want to eat - my small berries were cut into fourths, bigger ones in sixths)

For French Toast:

• 3 eggs
• 1-2 Tablespoons milk
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• one loaf French or Italian bread (I used French)

1. Beat cream cheese, milk, powdered sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Fold in strawberries. Refrigerate.

2. Whisk eggs, vanilla and cinnamon in a wide enough dish to dip bread into.

3. Cut a 2 inch slice off the loaf. Then, cut nearly through the middle of your slice lengthwise, to make a pouch to fill.

4. Spoon the filling into the slice pouch, making sure not to overfill, or you will have a lot of strawberry filling on your griddle.

5. Dip both sides of the stuffed slice into the egg mixture.

6. Set on medium hot griddle, until golden on one side. Flip to golden the other side. (about 3-4 minutes each)

7. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, top with a few berries or a few drops of syrup.

8. Share with amazing friends or family and dig in, just like Ellie. Yummy, yummy!