Ry’s Cocoa Stuffed French Toast

Editor’s Note: This is for people who are going all out for a breakfast/brunch treat. For lighter fare, um, I don’t know but not this.

Hello again! I’m glad you’re back even though I abandoned you for a while. We’re just going to jump right in to brunch with this delicious stuffed French toast.

Let’s start with the bread. I usually like french toast with a day old sourdough because I like the tang. However, the dark cocoa flavor has a bitterness that pairs so well with a brioche. And brioche is so soft, this works best when you’ve left your slices out for a few hours or overnight. You might do King’s Hawaiian Bread, but for me that was a little too sweet. For my gluten-free folks, La brea makes a great artisan bread.

Milk. This recipe calls for whole milk, but it’s not necessary. Also, for a vegan option, you can substitute your favorite plant based milk mixed with a little cornstarch. This also takes care of the eggs. This recipe taste great on its own, but I added raspberries for a sweet-tart kick. My daughter recommends the Vanilla Sea Salt with blueberries.

Ingredients:

8 slices bread

1/2 cup milk

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

butter or cooking spray

Vegan Batter Ingredients:

3 Tbsp cornstarch (cornstarch helps the batter crisp up // we haven’t tested other starches)

• 1/2 cup plant based milk

• 2 tsp maple syrup

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/8 tsp slat

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

Spread 1 tablespoon chocolate-hazelnut spread onto one side of each of 2 slices cinnamon bread; top each with another bread slice to make 2 sandwiches.

Beat milk, egg, and vanilla extract together in a shallow bowl until smooth. Soak each sandwich in the milk mixture until the bread is moistened (ugh I don’t like that word), about 15 seconds per side.

Vegan Instructions: To a shallow bowl or baking dish add cornstarch, then slowly add in dairy-free milk while whisking. Whisk fully to ensure there are no clumps. Add vanilla and maple syrup and mix well. Soak each sandwich in milk mixture until the bread is moistened (ugh).

Prepare a nonstick pan with butter or cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.

Cook sandwiches in the hot pan until browned on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip sandwiches and continue cooking until other side is browned, about 1 minute more.

That’s it! Serve with your favorite protein and a nice size mimosa (put two drops of orange juice in the bottle, it’s perfect).