This easy Peach Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast makes such a tasty weekend breakfast or brunch recipe. Homemade cheesecake filling is mixed with a combination of brown sugar and fresh peaches and spooned into the center of thick challah bread. Dipped in batter and cooked on the stove, this french toast is over-the-top but entirely worth it!
Have you ever had stuffed french toast before? If not, you have to try this Peach Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast version! Fresh peaches and cheesecake filling are stuffed inside of bread and then cooked to perfection.
I have this problem.
A farmer’s market problem.
It’s probably not the problem you think either—the one where I buy way too much produce and don’t know what to do with my overflowing fridge drawers of zucchini, tomatoes and berries.
No, my problem is less with the produce and more with the carbs. Namely, the bread guy who’s consistently at my local farmer’s market selling pretty much every kind of bread you can imagine and enticing me in with his amazing prices.
During one ill-fated trip, I managed to buy 5 loaves.
But, my self-control problems are your joy and happiness because this breakfast of champions was born out of one of those farmer’s market trips.
The one where I bought challah bread and decided to stuff it with peach cheesecake filling, dunk it in batter and make french toast out of it.
I’m a pretty big breakfast person, and one of my all time favorite breakfasts is french toast. As a carb-loving girl, I can’t get enough of soft, fluffy bread that’s been transformed into a custard-y piece of toast. Drizzled with syrup and powdered sugar, there is nothing like a classic french toast recipe.
Of course, because I’m me, I’m not sharing a classic french toast recipe (although maybe I should…note to self, get on that…which shouldn’t be hard since I’m sure I’ll be suckered in by the bread guy again this weekend 🙄).
Instead, I’m sharing the reason most of you are here reading this monologue: Peach Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast.
Thick challah bread is stuffed with a homemade cheesecake filling and fresh peaches, then is dunked in a custard and finally is cooked on the stove. Topped with whipped cream, syrup and more fresh peaches, you’ve got the breakfast you’ve never known you were missing.
My favorite part about this Peach Stuffed Cheesecake French Toast recipe is that it is made on the stove.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good overnight french toast casserole. I even have this Pineapple Coconut French Toast Casserole and this Pumpkin Donut French Toast Casserole (because I’m a savage and out of control in the sugar department) on the blog.
However, overnight french toast casseroles take a bit of planning, as they need to soak overnight before being baked, hence their name. Plus, it has an entirely different texture than classic, stove-top french toast. The casserole version is more of a bread pudding consistency and cooking it on the stove gives each piece a nice toasty crunch.
Put all of that together and you’ve got yourself a peachy, cinnamon cream cheese stuffed french toast that has a smooth, sweet filling on the inside and an eggy, vanilla crust on the outside.
How do you make stuffed french toast?
1. First things first, there are two methods you can use. The first method is the one I used in this recipe: the method where you actually stuff the filling inside a pocket in the bread.
- Take a thick slice of bread (I used challah bread, but you can use Texas toast or brioche to make stuffed french toast), and carefully cut a pocket into the top of the bread, slicing about 3/4 of the way down into the bread.
- Spoon the filling inside of the bread.
2. The second method is where you spread the filling between two slices of bread.
- This method is great if you have thin bread that cannot be split open to create a pocket.
- The filling might leak out a little more while cooking on the stove, but if you spoon the filling in the center of the bread, leaving a border around the bread, it won’t leak out much at all.
Can I make this ahead of time?
Absolutely. You can cook this a day or two ahead of time, then refrigerate the stuffed french toast.
When ready to serve it, you can either heat it up in the microwave or heat it up in the oven on a sheet pan (tented with foil at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until warm).
Or, you can eat it cold. It’s fantastic both ways.
Tips & Tricks for this Peach Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast recipe:
- Start with room temp or almost room temp cream cheese. It keeps the cinnamon cream cheese filling from being lumpy.
- Do not overfill each slice of bread. Depending upon how big your bread is, you probably only need about 3 Tablespoons of filling.
- Bread that is a day or two old works great for french toast in general, but also for this cream cheese stuffed french toast. The bread is sturdier and slightly drier, which means it will hold up better with both the filling inside and the custard mixture it is dunked in.
Who wants a fork?? (Need some other brunch recipes? Check out this Southwestern Potato & Sausage Casserole and this Herb, Bacon and Egg Strata.)
- 1 loaf challah bread, or brioche, unsliced*
- 8 oz cream cheese, at room temp
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups peaches, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/3 cups milk
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Peaches
- Whipped Cream
- Powdered Sugar
- Maple Syrup
- With a sharp knife, cut bread into slices, about 1 1/2” thick (you should be able to get about 7-8 slices, not including the end pieces).
- Using a small sharp knife, cut a wide pocket into each slice of bread, making sure not to cut all the way through the bread. Set aside.
- Mix cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla extract together until well combined. Set aside.
- Mix peaches, brown sugar, vanilla extract and ground cinnamon together. Mix 1 cup of the peaches with the cream cheese mixture, reserving the remaining cup for topping.
Spoon filling into the pocket of each slice of bread, about 3 Tbsp per slice.
- In a blender (or with a whisk), mix eggs, milk, flour, cinnamon and vanilla extract together; blend until well combined. Pour batter into a shallow dish (I used a casserole dish).
Heat griddle (or pan) over med-low heat and melt a little butter in the pan (2-3 Tbsp depending upon the size of your pan/griddle).
- Dip bread into the custard, coating all sides, and place in the pan.
- Cook until golden brown (about 2-3 minutes), flip the bread over with a spatula, and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Repeat the process with all slices of bread.
- Serve french toast with the remaining peach mixture, maple syrup, whipped cream, etc.
- Enjoy!
*Notes: Alternatively, you can use sliced bread. If the slices are thinner, you can spread the filling between two slices of bread. It will be messier to cook, but it will work!
Here are some other peach recipes you might love:
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