Ingredients:
Batter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Filling
1 ½ cups cream cheese at room temperature
¼ cup 58% cacao Ghirardelli chocolate chips
½ cup diced strawberries
2 Tbsp Bolthouse Farms Mango Lemonade
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 cinnamon sticks
Butter
4 (2-inch or thicker) pieces of challah bread
Fresh berries (raspberry and blueberry)
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Batter:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until completely incorporated. Refrigerate until you’re ready to use.
Filling:
Fold all ingredients together until well mixed, but not a smooth consistency. You like texture, right?
Syrup:
Throw everything into a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce by 1/3 until you get a nice syrup consistency. Discard the cinnamon sticks.
French toast:
Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Dredge bread in the batter and let soak for at least 1-2 minutes. You want that batter all the way through the bread; otherwise you’ll get a French toast shell with bland bread in the middle. Cook slices in the pan until golden brown on each side, approximately 2 minutes. Place finished French toast slices onto a baking sheet; divide the filling between two of the slices and then top with the other two slices. Bake in oven for 6-8 minutes.
Serve by cutting in half and topping with cinnamon syrup and fresh berries. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy.
Photo by Kim Scarborough on Flickr.
