Pumpkin Pie Spiced Stuffed French Toast

This recipe fits into the "you've got too much time on your hands" food category. I was looking for something fun to do and I thought about making pumpkin-pie-spiced French toast for breakfast. Then I got a little crazy and asked myself, "What if the French toast actually looked like little pumpkins and was stuffed with cream cheese?” The result? Pumpkin Pie Spiced Stuffed French Toast.

I started by cutting white bread into pumpkin shapes using the top of the bread as the bottom of the pumpkin. I used kitchen shears.

I then spread one slice of bread with room temperature cream cheese and sprinkled it with pumpkin pie spice.

Next came the task of defining the pumpkin shape. I did what any self respecting Grandma would do and pulled out a small paint brush and a bottle of dark molasses. I just painted on the pumpkin details with the molasses. You'll have to trust me on the next step. Put the molasses-painted pieces of bread in the toaster. Yes, in the toaster. Toast the bread until it gets a little dry, just to set the "paint." Don't brown it, just dry it out so that the molasses doesn't come off in the custard. Don't put the pieces with the cream cheese in the toaster! Place two pieces of bread together with the cream cheese in the middle and squish them together, gently.

Dip the bread in French toast custard and cook as you would regular French toast. I put toothpicks in to hold the "stems" in place, but it really wasn't necessary.

Cook the french toast slowly so that the center gets done, the cream cheese melts, but that the outside doesn't get too brown.

Serve with maple syrup.

And a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

And a smile on your face! Happy Thanksgiving!