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Have you ever put peanut butter in your French toast batter? It’s a game changer! Not only did I add peanut butter to this batter, but I also made into it stuffed french toast by spreading some on the inside of two slices of bread. If you love French toast and you love peanut butter, this is a match made in heaven!
I use a standard French toast batter recipe, so you can follow the ingredients that I have listed below, or you can use your own. I also add ¼ cup of melted peanut butter. If you’re skeptical at all, start with just a couple tablespoons and see if you’d like to add more to it. Then I tuck some more peanut butter along with strawberry jam inside of two slices of golden brioche bread. I dip that in the batter and fry until golden brown. It’s a heavenly brunch recipe that tastes like dessert!
Ingredients
- Peanut Butter: Use smooth rather than crunchy peanut butter. It’s best not to use natural peanut butter as the oil can separate.
- Milk: I use almond milk, but any plant based or dairy milk will work well.
- Eggs: A key ingredient in any French toast recipe. Use large eggs.
- Seasonings: Ground cinnamon and vanilla extract.
- Bread: I like to use brioche bread to make this peanut butter stuffed French toast. The rich buttery flavor works so well and it always come out light and fluffy.
How to Make Stuffed French Toast
We’re starting with the magical ingredient that makes this a stuffed french toast recipe – peanut butter! Scoop up about ¼ cup into a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave it for 15-20 second bursts, about 1 minute total, until it’s smooth and runny as pictured below.
Next I pour the almond milk and crack 3 eggs. Pretty standard stuff you’d expect. That pretty much makes our batter.
Last, the cinnamon goes in, and I mix the batter together to make sure everything is well blended. You can use an electric mixer for perfectly smooth batter, but a regular whisk will do. Some cinnamon or peanut butter chunks are no biggie!
Now that the batter is ready, I move on to the stuffed french toast part of the recipe. I stuff mine with peanut butter and strawberry jam. You can use any nut butter you’d like. You can also use any jam you’d like, or skip the jam all together. I’ve also done this with strawberries and whipped cream cheese, which is fabulous!
It’s now dunking time. I dunk the stuffed french toast in the batter and let it soak for at least 10-15 seconds. The more stale and sturdy the bread, the longer you can dunk it, but it’s important to make sure the bread soaks up the batter well.
Not pictured here is the frying part. It’s same as usual. Pan-fry for 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown on the outside. I like pressing down the french toast with the back of a spatula to make sure it’s evenly cooked throughout, and not just on the crust.
When it’s done cooking, I serve this stuffed french toast immediately, so it’s warm and toasty. I love adding fresh fruit, like bananas on top, and showering the french toast with maple syrup. It’s rich, decadent and truly the best french toast recipe I ever had!
Best bread to use for French toast
- Brioche – This is the classic french standard in making french toast. It’s what I used in this recipe, and what I fall back on time and time again. I love that it’s buttery and has eggs in it, so it really compliments the flavor of this stuffed french toast recipe. Also, it’s just so fluffy and yummy! I find mind at Trader Joe’s, sliced into thick pieces – it’s just perfect for this recipe!
- Challah – Here’s another popular one that you’ve probably seen a lot at diners serving french toast. What’s great about Challah is that it’s dense, buttery and sweet, making it an obvious choice for this breakfast treat. Like brioche, it still retains its shape when soaked in the peanut butter, milk and egg mixture.
- French bread/baguette – It’s French, so it’s gotta be good, right? What I love about baguette is that it’s sturdy so it can handle the batter soaking process without turning to mush. This allows the flavor to soak in without risking a texture compromise. Baguettes can be extra chewy (and challenging for little kids to eat), so I recommend soaking them in the batter a little longer to make sure they softens up.
- Sourdough – Similar to a baguette, sourdough is sturdy, and can absorb a lot of liquid without crumbling. It’s a hearty bread with a tart flavor, which I think can balance out the sweet flavors of this stuffed French toast, especially for someone who wants a sweeter variation of this recipe.
- Texas Toast – This is toasted bread that is thicker than most sliced bread (probably twice the thickness). It’s often used in restaurants, and you can buy any brand of Texas Toast in groceries stores. It’s thick and flavorful, and makes beautiful large pieces of french toast.
Regardless what type of bread you choose to use, this recipe is very adaptable to a variety of kinds. It’s a nice change from traditional french toast with a wonderfully stuffed variation that will leave your mouth watering. It’s a fancy way to eat french toast, that has now made it into my sunday morning brunch rotation! The kids are not mad at that one bit!
Tips to make this recipe
- Make sure that your bread soaks up a lot of the egg mixture. Depending on what type of bread you use, this may change. Brioche soaks up the custard pretty quickly and just needs 10 to 15 seconds, but a denser bread will require a little more. It should be soaked through.
- Use slightly stale bread. Don’t use fresh for this recipe, you want a loaf that is a day or two old. If it’s too soft, it will fall apart quickly in the wet batter.
- Cook on medium heat. If it’s too hot, the outside will burn quickly without the inside cooking all the way. This creates a soggy center and uneven texture.
- Cook in butter and oil. I like to sometimes add in a little butter with the oil when I cook, it adds a really nice rich flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you find that your stuffed French toast is soggy rather than crisp, your pan may not have been fully hot when you added the bread. Give the pan time to come up to heat so that it crisps up the egg mix. Follow the recipe as is and don’t be tempted to add another egg, as that can also cause soggy French toast.
Bread that is a day or two old definitely works a lot better as it will hold it’s shape when soaked. If you only have fresh bread, you can pop it in the oven on a low heat to dry it out a little, just be careful not to toast it.
When it comes to toppings for this PB&J stuffed French toast, anything goes! I like to add some sliced bananas and a drizzle of maple syrup, or try some fresh berries and some chocolate sauce!
This stuffed French toast recipe is so great for lazy Sunday brunches. Super simple and super tasty! We all deserve a treat every now and again!
Try these other breakfast recipes:
- French Toast Casserole
- Strawberries Stuffed French Toast
- Banana Pancake Dippers
- Strawberry Chia Jam & Toast
- Vegan French Toast
- Blueberry French Toast Casserole
If you make this healthy-ish feelgood Stuffed French Toast recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Stuffed French Toast
Ingredients
- ¼ cup peanut butter plus more for spreading
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 3 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 8 slices brioche bread
- Strawberry jam optional
- Bananas for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter for 15-20 seconds until it’s smooth. Add the milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and cinnamon to the melted peanut butter and whisk until the mixture is thoroughly combined.
- Heat the oil in a griddle or frying pan over medium heat.
- Spread peanut butter on the slices of bread. Add bananas or jam on top, if desired. Then close both sandwiches.
- Dunk each sandwich in egg mixture, soaking both sides for about 15-30 seconds, until the mixture is absorbed. Place in pan, and cook on both sides until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
- Serve hot with maple syrup, if desired.
Video
Notes
- Use any milk of choice, even though I used almond milk
- You can leave out the eggs if you want to make this vegan, or sub with flax eggs.
- Instead of peanut butter, you can use any other nut butter or even Nutella
- If you don’t like the jam, you can skip it all together!
Nutrition
I finally took the time to make this as I normally am not the cook in the home. It was FANTASTIC! I will definitely make this again.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much!
So easy to make & it is delicious! Great for an at home brunch!
So glad to hear that you liked it. Thank you!
Stuffed french toast is really tasty and healthy food. Here you have given us an amazing recipe to cook it. I just love it and want to give you thanks for sharing such an amazing recipe.
Thanks so much for the feedback! Glad you like it 🙂
A fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich?
LOL pretty much! With brioche bread!!
This recipe got me into French toast.