Stuffed French Toast

Before I talk about this dish, I have to say how excited I am for my dear cousin Abby!  She's 28, lives in Maine, and got engaged yesterday.  I just found out and I am sooooo happy and excited for her - she finally found the man of her dreams and they are going to have an amazing life together!  CAN NOT WAIT FOR THE WEDDING!  I love weddings, don't you?  My step-daughter is also getting married this year.  Bring on the weddings - I'm ready!

OK, sorry.....but I'm so excited!  ANYWAY, this recipe came to me as I was looking through my cabinet and trying to think of something different to make my son for breakfast.  I spotted the jar of Nutella and remembered how much he liked the banana Nutella egg rolls I make (click here & scroll down for recipe), so I thought I'd try a variation of that but as stuffed french toast instead.  Sometimes you get an idea but it just doesn't pan out, so I wasn't sure if this would go the way I planned.  Fortunately, the only close call was when I flipped it while cooking....when heated, the bananas and Nutella got a little slippery and I almost had a disaster in the pan! 

I placed the plate in front of my son and eagerly waited for his response.  The first bite got a "Mmmmm", then the second bite got "Oh my god, this is amazing!"  Wooo hooo - he loved it!  It makes me happy when what I imagine to be good actually turns out to be good!  I'll be making this many more times for sure.  I bet substituting some strawberries in there would be yummy too......

Banana Nutella Stuffed French Toast (serves 2)

1egg, beaten
1 tbs milk, 1/2 & 1/2 or water
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
4 slices of bread (French or Italian is best, but regular sandwich bread like I used here works too)
1 large banana 
Nutella
Maple Syrup (VT is best of course)
1 tbsp butter

In a bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, nutmeg & milk (or whichever liquid you prefer).  Spread the Nutella on one side of each piece of bread (all 4 pieces).  Peel and slice the banana, about 1/4" thick and distribute them evenly onto two of the pieces of bread.  Take the other 2 pieces (the 2 without the banana) and place on top (you will have to sandwiches stuffed with the Nutella & bananas).  Heat the butter in a large skillet on medium heat until melted.

Place each "sandwich" into the egg mixture and make sure it's evenly coated before turning it over and doing the same thing on the other side.  Place into hot skillet and cook on each side until it's a nice deep golden brown.  Remove from heat and serve hot with maple syrup (since the Nutella & banana are sweet, just a little drizzle of syrup was enough for us).