Pumpkin Cheesecake French Toast

It's the time of year again... the leaves are changing colors, the air is cool and crisp and the produce of the season is ready for all sorts of fun treats!  A few years ago I found a recipe for Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake and I thought it sounded kind of good and interesting.  For thanksgiving that year I decided to try it out and see how my family liked it, turned out it was a huge hit in the Mondo household!  This got me thinking... why can't I make a stuffed french toast with something similar?

From that came a new and delicious creation!  Now... for the most part I try to make food that isn't just delicious but is also pretty healthy.  I have to admit... there's really not much healthy about this recipe but sometimes you just have to let loose and enjoy it.  Some things aren't meant to be healthy and my thought is... if you're going to do it, do it right!  So here it is... french bread stuff with pumpkin cream cheese and dipped in a creamy sweet batter.  Just writing that made my mouth water a little :)

The recipe is fairly simple to make but it takes some time to put it all together, it's nice to have a little help so grab a friend, family member, kid and enjoy each other and the relationship while you create a tasty little treat for everyone to enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese:   

• 5 oz cream cheese  (soft)
• 2 Tbsp raw cane sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon or a little more
• Dash of nutmeg... I just shake it a few times or if you're grating it probably like a 1/4 tsp or a little less
• Dash of allspice and clove, don't need a ton.
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree




You're going to want to pull out the cream cheese and leave it on the counter for a few hours before you make this or it will be too hard to mix!  In a mixing bowl mix together the cream cheese and the raw sugar until smooth.  Add all the spices, vanilla, and pumpkin puree and whip till it's all blended together and creamy.  The amounts of spices you put in is kind of up to you, you might love cinnamon... add a little more!  You can't really mess it up so taste it and add more of anything you like... make it your own!  When you have the mixture ready to go, grab a sandwich size or quart size ziploc bag and scoop the cream cheese into it (try to place it in a corner of the bag).  When you're ready to stuff the french bread you'll just have to snip a little corner off the bag and you have yourself a nice little tool for squirting the cream cheese into the bread!  (I apologize to all you bakers for not knowing the correct name for this tool... or having the real thing!)

To prepare the bread, slice it at an angle in about 1.5 inch slices.  From my experience french bread almost always has holes in it so you might want to buy a little extra just in case!  Take all the solid pieces and on the top (or bottom) cut a slit almost as long as the slice and work your knife inside to make a little pocket for the cream cheese.  It's easiest to prep all the bread and then stuff it all at once.

When you have all the bread ready to go take a slice and insert the baggie into the slit and squirt some cream cheese in there.  It doesn't have to be pretty and you'll probably over stuff the first few :) but try to just add enough to keep it inside the pocket.  You can probably get about a Tbsp of cream cheese into there.  Try to spread it out inside as you fill the pocket.  Repeat until you run out of cream cheese filling.  The mixture probably fills about 20-30 pieces depending on the size of the bread.



French Toast Batter

• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon




You're going to want to at least double this recipe.  Double should make a pretty good amount and you'll be able to make some regular french toast as well.  Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and blend until smooth.  A stick blender works great for this!

Ok you have your batter ready, the french toast is stuffed so now all you have to do is dip and cook!  Get your griddle to about 350 degrees, throw some butter on there if you want and you're ready to go.  Dip your pieces into the batter making sure to fully coat the entire piece, let the excess drip off before you throw it up on the griddle.  These are pretty thick pieces of french bread so it takes a little longer to cook them.  Be sure to cook them a little slower so the insides get hot and cooked through at the same rate as the outside.  You'll just have to experiment a little to figure out how hot it needs to be.

Top the finished french bread with a sprinkle of cinnamon and maple syrup and enjoy with a hot cup of fresh coffee!  Make sure you have plenty of friends and/or family to share the experience with.  Enjoy the relationships as you filly your tummies!

~Melissa