Stuffed French Toast

I love to cook and I love to eat.  When I was first diagnosed with Celiac Disease I was upset.  I thought my diet was now going to consist mainly of rice.  Grocery shopping became a nightmare and I had to get rid of almost all of the food in my pantry.  Now, after nine months of living gluten free I have finally starting branching out and trying new things.  I am cooking even more than I was before because of the unavailability of decent gluten free premade meals; and I am taking more satisfaction in my cooking because I have had to develop many of the recipes myself.  Friends and acquaintances have been asking me to share some of my recipes so I will be posting some recipes and product reviews here in addition to book reviews.

I was craving french toast the other day.  Now, you may think that living gluten free means no more bread.  For a long time it did.  All of the gluten free bread that I tried was disgusting, dry, and crumbly, with the texture of cardboard.  But then I found The Grainless Baker.  My favorite products are the Cinnamon Raisin Bread and the Flax Seed Bread.  

I won’t lie.  It’s expensive, to the tune of approximately $6 a loaf, and the loaves are small.  So I still don’t eat bread very often, but it’s nice to know it’s available when I have a craving.

So, I was craving french toast.  Using the above mentioned Cinnamon Raisin Bread I came up with this gluten free French toast recipe.

BookGirlR’s Gluten-Free Cinnamon-Raisin Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature

1 Tablespoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 eggs

3 Tablespoons milk

1 Tablespoon butter

8 Slices of Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin bread

*2 Bananas, 4 Tablespoons Nutella, Raspberry Syrup* Optional

Directions:

In a small bowl mix together the cream cheese, sugar and ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon until thoroughly mixed.  Spread the cream cheese mixture onto 4 slices of cinnamon raisin bread.  *Spread 1 Tablespoon of Nutella on top of the cream cheese mixture on each slice*  Top each with another slice of raisin bread to make 4 sandwiches.

Grease a skillet with the Tablespoon of butter and place over medium heat. 

In a pie plate beat the eggs and milk and the remaining ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon.   Dip each sandwich into the egg mixture, thoroughly coating both sides.  Place dipped sandwiches into the hot skillet.  Brown sandwiches for about 2 minutes per side in the skillet.  *Covering the skillet with aluminum foil or a lid will allow the cream cheese and Nutella to get all hot and melty.*

*Before serving top stuffed French toast with sliced bananas and Raspberry syrup.*

It’s awesome and horribly fattening, but we all deserve a treat now and then.  Being diagnosed with Celiac Disease doesn’t mean we have to relegate ourselves to a lifetime of boring, cardboard-like food.  Enjoy food.  Enjoy life.