Happy fall! This recipe is my favorite French toast recipe that I have ever offered. The filling is SO flavorful and it’s easy to make, just like all of my previous French toast recipes! The pumpkin taste comes through beautifully, yet it isn’t too sweet. If you don’t know what to make for breakfast on a crisp fall morning, look no further! Here is the PERFECT Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast.
It may seem complicated, but I promise this recipe is simple if you know how to make classic french toast! Here’s how to make my Pumpkin Cheesecake French Toast recipe and some of my best tips for success!
The Directions (with tips!)
The first step is to mix together the cream cheese filling for the French toast. The ingredients for this step are: cream cheese, powdered sugar, pumpkin puree, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
I have 2 tips for making the filling –
- Use a handheld electric whisk if you have it! It’s not worth using a stand mixer, but it’s easier to make with an electric whisk than it is manually.
- Use whipped cream cheese if you want a fluffier filling! I used block cream cheese, which gave the filling a very rich taste, but you can do either depending on what you prefer.
After this I like to make the milk and eggs mixture. The ingredients are standard for French toast: almond milk (I prefer it to dairy milk), eggs, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin puree, and that’s it!
I like to use a 9″x9″ glass casserole dish for this, because it’s smaller than a standard casserole dish, so your milk and eggs mixture will fill up to a higher point on the side and your bread will be more submerged.
Whisk the milk and eggs together, then add the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice, and whisk until combined! If you’re having trouble getting the pumpkin and spices combined without clumping, you can totally put your mixture in a blender!
After this, it’s time to stuff your bread.
A note on Gluten Free bread-
If you’ve ever read my Nutella Stuffed French Toast recipe, or my Battered French Toast Recipe (all of which are completely GF!) you’ll know my favorite brand of GF bread for French Toast and just about everything, is Schar. For this recipe I used their white bread. If you are looking for a recommendation, definitely look into Schar!
Start by spreading the filling onto one slice of bread, like this:
The next step is to cover the bread with the filling on it with another slice of bread, then seal the edges by applying pressure with your fingers.
It should look sort of like an “Uncrustables” sandwich.
When it’s time to put that in the milk and egg mixture, I would recommend soaking for about 3 minutes on each side.
When cooking, I have a few important tips:
- Make sure to spray your cooktop with enough nonstick spray or coat it with enough butter. If your French toast sticks, it will risk coming apart and then it won’t be stuffed anymore!
- Only flip once, on medium heat, after around 5 minutes. This will make sure your French toast gets a nice crust around it.
Plating the French Toast!
Okay, this is my absolute favorite part of this recipe! It’s BEAUTIFUL. I mean, have you ever seen a more beautiful piece of gluten free French toast?
For plating, I used whipped cream, pomegranate seeds. sliced figs, and warmed up caramel sauce. I HIGHLY recommend this combo! Caramel sauce, instead of maple syrup, is the surprising touch. It’s just so much more festive!
Of course, you can plate your Pumpkin Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast however you’d like with whatever toppings you or your family enjoys, but here’s what I did!
I cut each slice of French toast in half diagonally and staggered them on the plate, then swirled some whipped cream on top, sprinkled some brightly colored pomegranate seeds, added the figs to the side, and drizzled some melted caramel over the whipped cream with a spoon.
If I could describe this recipe in one word, it would be “heavenly.”
Here’s the formal recipe! Hope you enjoy this recipe to get into the fall spirit!
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 loaf gluten free bread
- 4 oz cream cheese (whipped or block)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice (1 tsp for the filling, 1 for the milk and eggs mixture)
- 4 tbsp pumpkin puree (1 tbsp for the filling, 3 for the milk and eggs mixture)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of preference)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Make the cream cheese filling. Combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl and which until fully combined. Then, add the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. Whip together until fluffy and fully combined. The mixture should be a solid, pale orange color. See my notes in the blog post about using an electric whisk.
- Make the milk and egg mixture by whisking together the eggs and the milk of your choice. Add the salt, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin puree.
- Whisk until fully combined and smooth. If you're having trouble declumping the spices and the pumpkin puree, pop the mixture in a blender for a few seconds and everything should be silky smooth.
- Make the pieces of stuffed french toast- Spread the cheesecake filling on half of the slices of bread from the loaf. After that, make a sandwich to cover all of the filling. Apply pressure with your fingers around the outside of the bread to "seal the edges" and make sure the toast stays stuffed
- Submerge each piece of stuffed french toast into the milk and eggs mixture for around 3 minutes on each side.
- Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes per side on a cooktop or in a pan. Use a generous amount of nonstick spray or butter to ensure the french toast doesn't stick and come apart.
- Garnish with whatever you'd like, and serve! I used figs, pomegranate seeds, whipped cream, and hot caramel sauce and it was delicious, but don't be afraid to get creative with toppings!