Nutella Stuffed Challah French Toast

I came across some kind of stuffed French Toast recipe a week or two ago, and have been wanting to make my own ever since. The only problem is I generally tend to favor savory dishes more than sweet, so prior to today I hadn't really felt like making it. I'm certainly glad I did. These were totally delicious, easy to make, and ridiculously filling. No, seriously, you'll see later: I had the equivalent of half of what I plated left.

This recipe (as far as the egg mixture goes) is about enough for four slices. Multiply as needed for larger batches.

Ingredients

Loaf of Challah Bread
(Italian, French, whatever works as long as it is soft bread)
2 Eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
A few sprinkles of Pumpkin Pie spice
Nutella
Butter

Optional: Strawberries or other fruit garnish, syrup


Directions

Slice the loaf of bread into THICK slices. You just want to make sure you have it thick enough so you can easily cut a slit in the flat side and kind of squeeze it open to get the Nutella in without it ripping. (It's not a big deal if the slice gets little holes though.)


Whisk together the eggs and milk. Add the vanilla and a few dashes of the Pumpkin Pie spice. Cinnamon would work here too, but we somehow did not have any and I thought the Pumpkin Pie spice would give it a slightly different twist. It turned out well!

Take the slices of bread after cutting a slit on the flat side and kind of squeeze the ends towards each other with one hand so the hole opens up a little and then use a knife to work the Nutella into the pocket. Use as much or as little as you'd like. You can always drizzle more on top later!



Melt a tablespoon of butter into a skillet (non-stick works best) and make sure it covers the entire pan. Dip your Nutella-stuffed slices of toast into the egg mixture, and make sure to let any excess slide off prior to putting into the pan.

Let slices of bread cook in the skillet for about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and "toasted" for the most part.



Plate the slices and top as you please! I drizzled a little bit of extra Nutella on top, sliced up some Strawberries, and then did just a small drizzle of syrup. In hindsight they would be fine with just the Nutella.

ENJOY!


And see? I was totally not kidding that I had way too much leftover!

Challah French Toast

This particular little creation was inspired by a recent trip to visit my dad in Chicago, during which we went to the Eleven City Diner.

This place was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS- and they serve breakfast all day! I personally stuck with a Cheeseburger (I'd been craving one all weekend and finally gave in) since my roommate decided to get the Challah French Toast and I knew I could sneak a few bites.

(Eleven's Challah French Toast and Bacon Cheeseburger)

The best part about this is that you can ultimately use any french toast recipe, whether from a website or one you already use, but you just replace the bread you normally use with Challah bread and make as directed. Not all grocery stores carry this, but we were able to get it at our Marsh. I sliced the bread diagonally to make the slices a little bigger, but that part's up to you depending on how big the loaf is.

Aside from using Challah, I also topped the finished toast with sliced strawberries and toasted coconut. At Eleven, they also used bananas, but I've never been a big fan so I left them off.

To toast the coconut, I just bought sweetened coconut flakes (you can get this in the baking aisle of any grocery store) and spread them across a cookie sheet. I then threw them in the oven at 300 degrees for about four minutes, took them out and gave them a little stir, and then threw them back in for a few more minutes. You really only want to leave them until they start turning a golden brown color.

Then serve it up!!! This is a great breakfast idea (or breakfast for dinner!) I will DEFINITELY be using and reusing as long as I live. Thanks Eleven City Diner! Hope you enjoy!