Today’s cream cheese French toast casserole is one of my favorite all-in-one, always crowd-pleasing, homerun breakfast recipes. You don’t need an excuse to make it—the dish tastes just as lovely on an ordinary Saturday morning as it does for Christmas brunch. If you’re not into cream cheese, simply leave it out. You could skip the crumb topping, too. Some readers even layer in 1 cup of fresh blueberries for a blueberries & cream version. You can also add mixed berries like we do in our berries & cream French toast. As long as you stick with the bread & egg/milk layers, it’ll be a hit.
This Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole Is:
Totally decadent and indulgent Stuffed with sweet cream cheese Topped with a crumb cake-like streusel Perfect for anyone who loves lots of texture and flavor in each bite A delicious Christmas/holiday/special breakfast recipe Easy to prepare and feeds a crowd A convenient make-ahead brunch option
Three Layers to Love
This isn’t your ordinary bland & soggy breakfast casserole. Rather, there are three glorious texture-packed layers:
Success Tips for French Toast Casserole
These success tips also apply to pumpkin French toast casserole and apple cider French toast, both delicious seasonal twists on today’s recipe.
In Pictures: How to Make Baked Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole
The full printable recipe is below, but let me walk you through the process so you know what to expect when it’s your turn in the kitchen. As pictured above, spread half of your stale bread cubes into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish or any 3- to 4-quart baking dish, like this white baking dish you see here in the photos. Make the cream cheese filling and drop random spoonfuls on the bread layer: Layer the remaining bread cubes on top of cream cheese. Make the egg custard mixture. For this you need eggs, whole milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. (Note that cinnamon floats to the top, so that’s why it looks like a lot of cinnamon!) Pour this over the bread. (Using a bowl with a pour spout is especially helpful here!) At this point, you can cover and refrigerate the casserole for at least 3-4 hours or overnight. Make the crumb topping using a pastry blender or two forks, and sprinkle over the casserole before baking. Right before serving, drizzle the entire casserole with maple syrup or try a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, or spoonfuls of blueberry sauce. This is french toast done right! It’s like French toast, crumbly coffee cake, and cheesecake combined. Yes!!
What to Serve with Baked Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole
The following suggestions can complete your brunch or breakfast meal, especially if you’re making this dish for Thanksgiving, Easter (along with these other favorite Easter brunch recipes!), mother’s day, father’s day, New Years Day, or any special morning.
Something savory such as quiche, frittata, this simple egg breakfast casserole, a hash brown breakfast skillet, a batch of breakfast egg muffins, or eggs benedict Scrambled eggs or omelets Fresh fruit salad or even this fresh berry quinoa salad Bacon, breakfast sausage, or ham Smoked salmon Ham and potato casserole which can also be prepared ahead of time A lunch/brunch dish such as strawberry bacon salad
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