This easy, make-ahead cream cheese and walnut stuffed baguette is made with a maple-syrup-sweetened cream cheese (which can be made with vegan, almond milk cream cheese). It’s the perfect appetizer or side idea for a party or family meal that only takes minutes to make!
What You'll Find in this Post:
Ingredients Used to Make Stuffed Bread
**I’ve linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂
- Baguette (French Bread) – Recipe is for a 12 inch loaf, so double or triple recipe for the full-sized loaves
**Gluten-Free Option: you can now buy gluten-free baguettes in most grocery stores, if not, online.
- Vegan Cream Cheese – I used Kite Hill’s almond milk cream cheese, but you can also use regular (dairy)
- Walnut or Almond Butter (optional) – adding a teaspoon or two of walnut or almond butter gives the cream cheese a prettier color, but this is optional
- Maple Syrup – maple, agave syrup or honey
How to Make
- Hollow out the baguette: First, slice the ends of the baguette and CAREFULLY use a long serrated knife to hollow out the center of the loaf, leaving the half an inch of crust in tact
- TIP: longer baguette loaves are harder to hollow out, so I usually cut the longer ones in half and work with shorter (6-inch) loaves
- Prepare filling by mixing cream cheese, walnut butter, maple syrup and walnuts
- Stuff the filling into baguette bread, and store the stuffed baguettes in the fridge for 30 minutes (up to 1 day).
- Slice before serving. The leftover slices can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. The filling inside the bread keeps the bread somewhat soft, even when stored in the fridge.
Recipe Variations and Optional Add Ins for Stuffed Baguettes:
- Instead of walnuts use fruit! Try raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, melon, etc. Even canned fruit cocktails work.
- With natural flavoring / extracts. Feel free to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract (I didn’t feel like it was essential so I left it out in this recipe), or other flavorings or extracts, such as almond extract, or lemon extract. Citrus peels like orange peels are great, too.
- Fill with icecream!
More Variations From All Purpose Veggies
How to Make this Stuffed French Bread Healthier
- To increase texture and nutrition: try adding to the filling a handful of nuts, seeds and old-fashioned oats
- To add antioxidants: cinnamon, matcha and turmeric are all good sources of antioxidants! Add a teaspoon or two of some of these superfood powders to make this recipe even better
- To increase fiber: Add a tablespoon of ground flaxseed or coconut flour.
- For a protein boost, you can also add a Tablespoon of protein powder of your choice, like this unsweetened plant-based protein powder.
What are some ways you can eat these?
- Sliced and served with fresh or dried fruits
- Dipped in an egg and milk mixture = French toasted stuffed french bread 🤣
- Drizzled with honey or with a dollop of whipped cream
How to Store
- You can store the uncut loaf or slices of the stuffed bread in the fridge up to 3 days. This is a perfect make-ahead party appetizer, so you can make this the day before and slice when you’re ready to serve to guests!
Final Tips
- After stuffing the bread with the walnut cream cheese mixture, let the bread cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes before slicing. This step lets the filling inside the bread cool and set, so that the stuffing stays in when you slice the loaf
- Use a sharp, serrated knife to cut the bread
More Recipes You’ll Love
Maple Walnut & Cream Cheese Stuffed Baguette
Ingredients
- 1 loaf french bread loaf (12 inches long)
- 1 container cream cheese of choice
- 2-3 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 1 cup walnuts roughly chopped
Instructions
- Prepare filling by mixing cream cheese, maple syrup and walnuts together
- Hollow out the baguette: First, slice the ends of the baguette and CAREFULLY use a long serrated knife to hollow out the center of the loaf, leaving the half an inch of crust in tact
- TIP: longer baguette loaves are harder to hollow out, so I usually cut the longer ones in half and work with shorter (6-inch) loaves
- Spoon in the cream cheese mixture into the baguette starting from one end, pushing down the filling so that it is well stuffed. Stuff the other side with filling.
- Store the stuffed baguettes in the fridge for 30 minutes (up to 1 day).
- Slice before serving. The leftover slices can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. The cream cheese filling inside the bread keeps the bread somewhat soft, even when stored in the fridge.
Did You Like this Recipe?I’d love to know more about it! Please leave a rating or comment below so I know what to add and which recipes to share with you next!
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