Nutella Strawberry French Toast

Perfectly golden brown French toast is stuffed with Nutella and strawberries then topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Step-by-step photos teach you how to make this extra special brunch recipe!

Breakfast is the easiest meal for me to stay on track. I religiously have oatmeal or chia pudding every day of the work week. So on the weekends I love to spice it up and what better way to make breakfast better than to add chocolate?!

This gorgeous easy homemade French toast is cooked to golden brown perfection then slathered with a thick helping of Nutella, loads of strawberry slices, fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings! Honestly it's the best brunch recipe ever, sooooo delicious!

Let's get to the recipe!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• How do you make french toast ahead of time?
• How do you make chocolate shavings?
• What is the best bread for french toast?
• More Nutella recipes
• Recipe Card
• Recipe Ratings & Comments

Ingredients

For the French toast you will need:

• Bread. The type of bread you use is crucial for a great-tasting French toast. I prefer to use brioche-style bread, Trader Joe's makes a sliced version that is beautiful, Van de Kamp French Toast Bread is also great. But you just need to make sure the bread is stale, if not there is a step in the recipe you can take to create stale bread.
• Whole Milk. The full-fat milk creates a richer custard base for dipping the bread into which makes the best french toast. You can also use a mixture of half low-fat milk and half & half.
• Unsalted Butter. You'll use the butter for the custard as well as for cooking the French toast.
• Egg Yolks. Using just the egg yolks creates a richer, fattier, custard. Trust me, it's so much better!
• Light Brown Sugar. Just a little bit sweetens up the custard.
• Ground Cinnamon. Adding a bit of this spice gives a delicious warmth to the flavor.
• Pinch of Salt. Salt brings out the flavor profiles of all of the other ingredients.
• Pure Vanilla Extract. What isn't made better with the addition of vanilla?!

Now for the filling, you'll need Nutella, strawberries, a good quality chocolate bar, and whipped cream.

Instructions

I like to start by prepping the filling for the French toast. Slice your strawberries fairly thin, then whip your heavy cream into whipped cream, or use store-bought if you want. For the chocolate, I take a vegetable peeler to create chocolate shavings on top of a plate then place the plate in the fridge while you prepare the French toast. You don't want the chocolate to get warm and melt.

If the brioche bread is not stale then you need to dry it out to get rid of some of the moisture- otherwise, you will end up with a soggy french toast recipe. To dry the bread heat the oven to 350F/180C and place the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet, bake for 10 minutes then flip to the other side and bake for another 5 minutes. Let bread cool.

In a large pot add the milk and butter. Cook over low medium heat just until the butter is melted. Take the pan off the heat and set the pot aside to cool.

Once cooled add in egg yolks and vanilla extract whisking to combine. Next mix in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

In a large skillet melt a little butter, I like to let it melt slowly and kind of brown. While butter is browning place a slice of the brioche bread in the custard letting it sit for about 8-10 seconds on each side.

Place in the warm pan with butter and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes per side. Do not cook too many pieces in the same pan. Instead, turn the oven on to 200F/93C and place the cooked French toast on a baking tray to keep warm while you cook the rest.

Place a slice of French toast on a plate then spread on a tablespoon of Nutella, next sprinkle on some strawberries then place the second slice of French toast on top to create the sandwich.

Add fresh whipped cream then chocolate shavings and serve immediately.

How do you make french toast ahead of time?

I don't recommend doing this too far ahead but an hour or so works for making the French toast then assemble right before serving. So if I want to make it before or if I am cooking for a crowd I turn my oven on to 200F and place the cooked french toast in a pan until they're all done.

How do you make chocolate shavings?

For this recipe since I don't need huge chocolate curls, I find the easiest thing to do is to place a chocolate bar in the fridge. Then when you are ready to serve the toast use a vegetable peeler to peel shavings of chocolate off the side of the bar. Peel on the thick side of the bar.

If you want to make fancier looking chocolate curls check out my post on how to make chocolate curls.

What is the best bread for french toast?

Brioche style bread creates the best French toast. Challah also makes gorgeous French toast.

Trader Joe's makea a sliced brioche loaf that works great. I never knew that Van de Kamp made a "French Toast" bread.

More Nutella recipes

If you love Nutella as much as we do you gotta try one of these recipes.

My Nutella brownies are so decadent, everyone just dies for these!

Pumpkin should not be shunned to use only in the fall, it's delicious all year round! This Nutella swirled pumpkin bread is a classic in our family!

If you're into Nutella stuffed into things then you gotta try these Nutella stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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This post was originally published on August 3, 2016 as of June 26, 2021 the recipe and photos have been updated.