Ricotta Stuffed French Toast with Caramelized Bananas

The start of a perfect brunch...

Aaaggghhhh Sundays! Sundays are one of those days you get to sleep in a few extra hours and then have the whole day to catch up on what you couldn't get done during the week... or not.. lol... : j  

Sunday Brunch has to be my favorite meal hands down. Croissants, coffee, omelets, fresh fruit, french toast, homefries, waffles, etc etc... It can be a simple spread or more extravagant but either way its always special.

Here is a rich, delicious and unbelieveably easy recipe for stuffed french toast with caramelized bananas that my husband and I had this weekend!

Sweet caramelized bananas and creamy ricotta...

Ingredients:

Italian or French Bread

Ricotta Cheese

Sugar (enough for ricotta mixture and batter)

Whipped Cream

Eggs

Butter

Heavy Cream

Cinnamon

Vanilla Extract

Fresh Bananas 

Steps:

1.Slice fresh italian or french bread into 1 1/2 inch slices and then slice that in half  without splitting it all the way in order to make a pocket for the ricotta stuffing

2. In a bowl mix together ricotta cheese, sugar and some whipped cream to thin out mixture and set aside.

3. Prepare batter in another bowl - combine eggs, heavy cream, cinammon, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well and pour into a shallow bowl for dipping bread. 

4. Gently open the split slice of bread and spoon ricotta mixture into pocket and spread evenly.

5. Place the stuffed bread into the batter mixture and allow to sit for several minutes to soak batter well and then turn over on the other side and again sit for several minutes.

6. While the bread is soaking in batter, heat a non-stick griddle and melt a small pat of butter in it

7. Carefully lower the batter dipped stuffed bread onto the griddle. Cook on medium until golden brown on both sides.

8. While the toast is cooking, slice up fresh bananas and toss in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar and keep aside

9.Once the french toast is cooked, place on a plate.

10. On the same griddle, add a bit more butter and drop the cinnamon-sugar coated banana slices in and allow it to carmelize on each side. If the bananas are cooked too long, they will become soggy fyi!

11. Spoon the sweet bananas onto french toast, garnish with whipped cream, powdered sugar and serve! No syrup necessary!