Cream Cheese and Nectarine Stuffed French Toast

Peaches or nectarines? The age-old question. When I was younger and couldn’t stand peach fuzz, nectarines were my go-to late summer fruit. Their stunning coloring and firmer texture make them the perfect choice for a breakfast dish like this cream cheese and nectarine stuffed french toast.

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Stuffed french toast is my absolute favorite fancy breakfast. I have been saying for years that once I open my own B&B, seasonal stuffed french toast will be a regular occurrence on the menu. This one follows my standard formula, using both fresh fruit and cream cheese inside the sandwiches.

What makes this special is the local nectarines. These juicy stone fruits taste a lot like peaches. However, nectarines have a smooth skin, so you never need to worry about peeling them. Also, they tend to be firmer than peaches, which means they stand up better to the heat of molten cream cheese.

What You Need to Get Started

You can easily find all of the ingredients for this nectarine stuffed french toast at your grocery store:

• Pantry: Bread, Confectioner’s sugar
• Fridge: Cream cheese, Eggs, Milk
• Produce: Nectarines
• Spice Rack: Cinnamon, Black pepper
• Equipment: Griddle pan, Sturdy spatula, Mesh strainer

Let’s Make Nectarine Stuffed French Toast

This is a very simple recipe that comes together quickly and easily, but there is a secret to making it taste extra delicious: really good nectarines. For the best results, use yellow nectarines when they are in season in your local area. Choose firm fruits with a slight give.

Depending what nectarines you get, they may be freestone or cling, similar to peaches. Freestone nectarines will be easier to remove the pit and slice. Cut the nectarine in half along its ridge around the pit, and then twist to split it.

Use a paring knife if needed to remove the pit. Then lay each half cut side down on your cutting board and slice into pieces about an eighth of an inch thick. There’s no need to peel nectarines, but if you’d like to, it’s easiest to submerge them in boiling water first.

One of my favorite parts of this dish is that it combines both the fresh nectarine slices and the ones that get cooked into the french toast sandwiches as well. It’s a fun juxtaposition of the sweet and tart, and the firm and softened.

But first, you’ll need to build your sandwiches for toasting. Begin by pairing up your bread slices. Then spread each piece of bread with cream cheese on the side that will become the inside of the sandwich.

Add sliced nectarines on one side of each pair. You will use about a half of a nectarine per sandwich, so be sure to layer the slices so they overlap and scallop a bit, so they all fit nicely. Then top this with the other slice of cream cheese-covered bread to make a sandwich.

Once all of your sandwiches are constructed, add the eggs and milk to a flat-bottomed, shallow pan. I like to use a square baking dish, since its flat bottom helps to more evenly coat the bread. Whisk these together to combine them.

If you need to scale this recipe, it’s really easy to add additional sandwiches. For each additional portion, you will need to add two slices of bread filled with an ounce of cream cheese and half of a sliced apricot.

To the egg mixture, add an additional egg and a tablespoon of milk per sandwich. If you are scaling, just keep in mind that you may need to fry these up in batches when you get to that step. They may not all fit into your griddle at the same time.

Place each sandwich into the mixture, and let it soak up all that milky egg goodness for about thirty seconds. Carefully flip the sandwich while squeezing it gently to keep everything inside. Then, soak the other side for an additional thirty seconds.

Allow any excess egg to drip off the sandwiches. Otherwise, your french toast will taste a bit more like a fried egg. Transfer the coated sandwich to a plate, and then repeat this with the other sandwiches. This whole dipping and soaking process can get a little messy, so I suggest staying near the sink so you can easily wash the egg off your hands.

Now it’s time to fry them up! Heat up a griddle pan or another large and flat-bottomed pan on the stovetop over medium heat. Grease the pan with your choice of butter, oil, or spray. I used a quick spritz of nonstick spray for mine.

Once the pan is warmed up, add in as many sandwiches as you can fit. Cook these on the first side for about four minutes, until they are a nice golden brown. Then flip each one over with a sturdy spatula and repeat on the other side.

If your pan doesn’t heat totally evenly, you may also want to rotate the sandwiches part way through cooking.

Once your french toasts are done, place each one on a clean plate and cut in half diagonally. To make the topping, mix together the confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, and just a tiny pinch of black pepper in a small bowl.

Add this mixture to a mesh strainer, and shake or tap the strainer over each piece of french toast to give it a nice dusting of sugar. Fan out the remaining nectarine slices and add to the plates as a garnish. You will use about a quarter of a nectarine per plate here.

Stuffed french toast isn’t the easiest dish to make in advance, but if you do end up with leftovers, you can store them in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave until warmed through, and add an extra sprinkling of the sugar mixture and some freshly cut nectarine slices before serving. The toast will lose some of its crispness.

How to Serve Nectarine Stuffed French Toast

I obviously suggest serving this stuffed french toast for breakfast or brunch, or even breakfast for dinner. Add a side of vegan breakfast sausage to round it out. You can also easily make it the main selection of a three-course brunch, by flanking it between a basket full of butternut squash cornbread and sour cherry cheesecake napoleons.

Don’t forget the brunch cocktails as well! A traditional paloma is sweet with a little spice. Or try a birthday cake martini for something a bit richer. A mango and rum tropical sunrise is perfect to match the nectarines’ color scheme.

For those who prefer something without alcohol, try serving this nectarine stuffed french toast along with a mango peach iced tea spritzer, or a warm candy corn latte macchiato in the fall.

Use Up Leftover Ingredients

• Nectarines can be used to replace peaches in plenty of baked goods. Try them in peach cupcakes, a sour cream coffee cake, or peach cobbler sticky buns.
• If you have extra cream cheese, it’s the perfect excuse to make a peanut butter cup cheesecake.
• Turn leftover eggs into a delicious and fresh avocado and tomato omelet.
• Cinnamon is the star in cinnamon roll cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Looking for more french toast? Try a blueberry muffin french toast bake, bananas foster stuffed french toast, or savory everything spice cream cheese toast.

Special Equipment

• Griddle pan
• Sturdy spatula
• Mesh strainer

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