Farmhouse Breakfast with Raspberry Stuffed French Toast

When I was a kid I rarely ate a hot breakfast. Both my parents worked full-time and my brothers and sisters were older than me and always out the door first. My mom would compensate by sometimes cooking pancakes or French toast for dinner. To this day I still don’t eat a hot breakfast in the morning, grabbing a banana and yogurt instead. But on occasion hubby and I enjoy a nice farmhouse breakfast at lunch time. My favorite breakfast meal is Raspberry Stuffed French Toast served with a side of Scrambled Eggs and Roasted Asparagus.

The first time I ever ate stuffed French toast was at a farmhouse bed and breakfast in Pennsylvania.

Their French toast was stuffed with peaches. My choice of fruit is raspberries.

 

Before making the French toast, roast the asparagus for the scrambled eggs. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil (I used Pam) and spread out your asparagus after cutting off the tough ends. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and salt to taste. Place under the broiler for about 7 minutes, turning the stalks halfway through the cooking time. Once the asparagus cools, cut into bite size pieces and set aside.

 

Wash the raspberries and let them dry on a paper towel, then slice them in half.

 

Slice a loaf of French or Italian bread fairly thinly.

You’re going to make a sandwich of sorts and you don’t want it too thick.

 

Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on 2 pieces of the bread.  Add a layer of raspberries sliced in half on the cream cheese. Then place a slice of bread, cream cheese side down, on top of the raspberries to make a sandwich that you’ll dip in egg batter.

 

Whisk 2 eggs in a shallow bowl and add 1/4 cup light cream or Half and Half.

Dunk the stuffed French toast in the batter and flip over, coating both sides.

 

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in an iron skillet over medium heat. Place the raspberry stuffed French toast in the skillet after the butter melts completely. Fry for a couple minutes until golden brown and flip over to cook the other side.  I used a hand carved spurtle from Polder’s Old World Market to flip my French toast. Be sure to enter the $350 giveaway from Polder’s to win your own set of handcrafted wooden spoons and utensils.

 

After the French toast is done, place it in a warm oven while you make the scrambled eggs. Whisk together as many eggs as you want. I usually use one or two full eggs, and the rest I only use the whites to cut down on cholesterol. Pour them into the same hot skillet and start to stir the eggs as they cook. Add the cut asparagus when the eggs are about halfway cooked and continue cooking until eggs are set.

 

Take the raspberry stuffed French toast out of the warm oven and cut them in half to serve.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and a few raspberries.

 

Serve with a helping of scrambled eggs with roasted asparagus for a nice mix of flavors.

I like my stuffed French toast with just the powdered sugar, while hubby likes a little syrup too.

This is hands-down my favorite hot farmhouse breakfast. No bacon because I’m a vegetarian!

 

 Raspberry Stuffed French Toast

1 loaf French or Italian bread
10 oz fresh raspberries
1 small package cream cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup half and half
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
powdered sugar

Wash and dry raspberries; cut in half and set aside. Whisk together the eggs and half and half in a shallow bowl and set aside. Thinly slice the bread and spread each slice with cream cheese. On half of the slices, place a layer of halved raspberries atop the cream cheese. Place a second slice of bread on top of the raspberries, cream side down, to create a sandwich. Heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat and add butter to melt.  Dip each sandwich in the egg batter and flip over to coat sandwich on both sides. Once butter is melted, place each egg-dipped sandwich in the skillet and cook on each side until golden brown. Remove from pan and cut each sandwich in half. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and top with a few raspberries. Serve with syrup if desired.