This easy recipe for Stuffed French Toast with Berries is a rich and decadent breakfast that's perfect for the holidays! Thick slices of bread are stuffed with cream cheese, soaked in a rich custard and then griddled until buttery and crisp. Serve with maple syrup and fresh berries for a very special breakfast or brunch.
Are you ready? Presents wrapped? Cookies baked? Mistletoe hung? I am nowhere near what I would consider to be "ready" for Christmas, but I know I'll somehow manage to get there in time. It's like this every year - a mad dash to the finish line. But that's all part of the excitement!
Christmas morning breakfast is major. Do you know what you'll be serving yet? Growing up, my mom always popped open a can of cinnamon rolls, which was everything a kid could want after an exhausting morning of opening up presents. This year, we'll be heading up to Grandma and Grandpa Graff's house for Christmas brunch. The Graff's do Christmas right - I consider them professionals, and I always look forward to spending the day at their home. But this year, I'm especially excited that we get to enjoy their famous Christmas brunch.
The Graff's put out the most amazing breakfast spread, and the past few years we've had to miss it. They have coffee, mimosas and bloody Maries, plus French toast, bacon, fresh fruit and - get this - eggs Benedict made to order with perfectly poached eggs and buttery homemade hollandaise. Jealous? You should be. A lot of work goes into that brunch and I'm so grateful that I get to just sit back and enjoy it. But an extra special Christmas breakfast doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming, and this stuffed French toast is proof.
Serve it up with pure maple syrup (warm it up first for best results) and some mixed fresh berries to make your Christmas morning extra special, extra delicious - and most importantly - extra easy.
One Year Ago: Pumpkin Cinnamon RollsAnd Coquito
Two Years Ago: Scallops with Pomegranate Beurre Blanc
Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast with Berries
This easy recipe for Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast with Berries is a rich and decadent breakfast that's perfect for the holidays! Thick slices of bread are stuffed with rich Italian mascarpone cheese, soaked in a rich custard and then griddled until buttery and crisp. Serve with maple syrup and fresh berries for a very special breakfast or brunch.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 pieces, 4 servings 1x
- Category: breakfast
- Method: sautéed
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 8-oz container mascarpone cheese softened to room temperature
-
¼ cup pure maple syrup, plus more for serving
-
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
-
4 large eggs
-
1 cup whole milk
-
1 teaspoon cinnamon
-
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-
12 pieces thick sliced brioche, challah or Texas toast
-
3 tablespoons salted butter, plus more as needed
-
maple syrup and mixed berries for serving
Instructions
- Make the filling: Use an electric mixer to beat together the softened mascarpone cheese, maple syrup and vanilla extract until smooth.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, cinnamon and vanilla, then set aside.
- Spread about 2 tablespoons of filling on a slice of bread, leaving roughly a ½ inch border around the edges. Top with another piece of bread and gently press to secure. Repeat with the remaining bread and filling.
- Dip one sandwiched piece of bread into the custard, turning a few times to thoroughly coat, then repeat with another. Let them sit in the custard while you melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
- Transfer the custard soaked bread to the hot pan (you should be able to fit two in the pan at once, if not, cook one at a time) and slowly cook until golden brown and crisp, about 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes on the other side. Be sure to keep the heat at a relatively low temperature to avoid burning.
- Melt more butter in the pan and repeat with the remaining pieces.
- Slice each piece of french toast in half on a diagonal, then place 3 halves on each plate. Top with berries and serve with maple syrup on the side
Notes
- Cooked french toast can be held in a 250 degree oven for up to 1 hour before serving.
- You can substitute cream cheese for the mascarpone
- Use half and half instead of milk for an extra rich custard
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 505
- Sugar: 13.4 g
- Sodium: 610.8 mg
- Fat: 27.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 49.5 g
- Protein: 15.4 g
- Cholesterol: 191.6 mg
Keywords: breakfast, brunch, stuffed, french toast, cream cheese, berries, maple syrup, holidays, christmas
Lynn | The Road to Honey
There is no way that I am even close to being ready for the holidays. But I'll tell you what. . .if you serve this amazing french toast, I guarantee that no one will notice that the mistletoe isn't hung or the presents aren't wrapped to perfection. What a divine way to kick off the festivities.
Coley
It's so true!! Food always comes first in my book. The holidays are great, but I can't tell you how glad I am that they're over. Happy New Year to you my friend! 🙂
Joy
YUM!!!
Will have to make these on New Year's Day! It's latkes, bagels, and lox on Christmas morning for us.
I've been trying to find Finlandia's cheeses at our local Shoprite and haven't found them yet... They have the butter... as a matter of fact, I had 5 bricks of the Finlandia butter in my cart yesterday and the lovely woman behind me at checkout (who was kind enough to let me go ahead of her) was checking out the few items I had and mentioned how wonderful Finlandia's butter is! I wasn't expecting that... she said she wanted to come to my house for the holidays... hehehe!
I'll ask at the courtesy desk next time about where I can find the cheeses from Finlandia. I really wanted to make my tiramisu with that... next year, I guess.
Merry Christmas, my friend!