Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

Name: Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 4 heaping tablespoons cream cheese (use low fat if desired); 1 tablespoon maple syrup (OR honey OR powdered sugar); 2 large eggs; 1/4 cup milk; 4 tablespoons bread crumbs (divided); 2 tablespoons sugar (divided); 1 teaspoon cinnamon (divided); 8 strawberries (hulled and sliced); 8 slices stale bread (challah, brioche or thick whole wheat toast all work!); 4 teaspoons oil OR butter (divided); additional strawberries and syrup (optional) (for serving)

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4.77 from 13 votes

Jump to Recipe 05/15/20 | Updated: 05/18/20 | by Nora

This decadent French toast with its strawberry and cream cheese filling is SO good, the bread cooks up perfectly fluffy, and that cinnamon crunch crust… A dream! The best part though? It’s easy to whip up in just 30 minutes.

stack of stuffed French toast on a plate with fresh strawberries

Let me be honest for a second: With three little kids afoot in the house, I definitely make French toast casseroles more often than I do individually stuffed French toast. I have a recipe for an amazing Strawberry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole if you’re in that boat right now…

But for those extra-special, smaller brunches? Those Mother’s Day, Bridal Brunch, quite couple’s brunch occasions? This is the recipe you need. It’s classy, it’s delicious and that cinnamon crunch coating definitely takes it over the top.

Ingredients you need

collage of photos with ingredients to make strawberry stuffed French toast

Ingredient notes

cream cheese: full fat, reduced fat and fat-free are all OK to use here; they just all turn out richer or less rich depending on their fat content.
honey: please use a mild, liquid honey – you don’t want it to completely overpower the dish. You could also use maple syrup or icing sugar to replace it. Regular sugar won’t work and would make the filling gritty.
breadcrumbs: I always just use regular old plain breadcrumbs (please don’t use seasoned crumbs, ha!). Panko is fine to use.
bread: stale bread is best, and please use a soft variety. Challah, brioche, Texas toast or a soft French bread work best.

Ingredient swaps

If you want to switch things up, here are some variations you can try:

use strawberry preserves (or any fruit preserves or pie filling!) instead of fresh strawberries for a sweeter filling. I recommend about 1 tablespoon per sandwich.
make it healthy (OK… healthier) by using whole wheat bread and breadcrumbs, light cream cheese and sticking to sweetening your cream cheese with maple syrup or honey.
make it gluten free: I always get the odd question about making this recipe gluten free. You can absolutely use gluten free bread and gluten free breadcrumbs. Please check all your ingredients to make sure they’re all labelled gluten free. Also, I recommend using a thicker bread, gluten free bread can be a little finicky.
make it decadent by using ricotta or mascarpone in place of the cream cheese.
if you’re not a fan of cream cheese, try Nutella instead of cream cheese… Shhhh, you didn’t hear it from me ?

Step by step photos

This is a simple recipe, but it requires a little prep work (don’t worry though, the hardest part is slicing the strawberries).

1. Prep ingredients

collage of step by step photos for preparing ingredients to make stuffed French toast

To make sure this recipe works, prep all the ingredients before you start! It really makes it quicker and easier, and you won’t be left scrambling and scattered in the kitchen.

2. Assemble and cook

collage of step by step photos for preparing stuffed French toast

Then, you just need to assemble the sandwich, coat it in both egg mixture and breadcrumbs and cook in a skillet in a little oil or butter! I recommend using moderate heat, the sugar in the coating burns if you cook this at too high a heat!

Tips and tricks

careful when spreading the cream cheese: make sure you don’t rip any holes into the bread when spreading the cream cheese. Also, there’s no need to completely spread it – leaving it in a thick layer in the middle with a small edge is just right.
avoid clumping of breadcrumbs: As a little trick, I only use half of the breadcrumbs/sugar/cinnamon mixture at first, do two French toasts and then add the other half to prevent the breadcrumbs from clumping together.
avoid burning the toast: please do really use moderate heat here! It takes a few extra minutes to cook, but that’s definitely better than eating a burnt breakfast.

French toast FAQs

Why is my French toast soggy?

If it is soggy, you likely used bread that’s too thin/too fresh. Make sure you use thicker slices (you don’t have to go crazy, but don’t use the thinnest sliced bread you can find) the are dry.

Should you use stale bread for French toast?

Yes, IF you’re using a very soft bread like challah, brioche or French bread, it should be stale. If you’re going for a healthy brunch option and choose to use a thicker wheat toast, it’s usually sturdy/dry enough without having to be stale.

How do I quickly dry bread for French toast?

Dry out your slices in the oven at 275°F for 10 minutes to quickly stale your bread if it’s fresh.

Watch the video tutorial

We definitely make this recipe for all the big spring occasions: Mother’s Day, Easter, our wedding anniversary…

It’s quick and easy to put together, the kids can help (and they LOVE eating this) and with the creamy strawberry filling, it’s just perfect for when the days start getting warmer. We usually just serve it with hot breakfast drinks and extra strawberries on the side. Feel free to go all out and add a squirt of whipped cream!

close up photo of strawberry filling in a stuffed French toast

More French toast recipes

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