A French toast bake is always easier than dipping and cooking individual slices of French toast. Not only is this casserole easier, it’s quite the treat! Today’s baked cream cheese French toast casserole is stuffed with sweet cream cheese and topped with a brown sugar crumble topping. It’s a wonderful recipe for a brunch or breakfast gathering because you can prep the casserole the night before.
The 1st review was from baker Kristen, who says “This. was. phenomenal. I made it for Christmas breakfast, and it was perfect! Multiple people asked me for the recipe! Thanks for sharing! ★★★★★”
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:
- French Toast Bread: Pour a fabulously rich custard sauce made from eggs, whole milk, brown sugar, and cinnamon over thick pieces of bread. Use whole milk for the richest taste and texture. The bread soaks this up, especially if the bread is stale (see next section). The soaking time is longer than it is when making regular individual french toast, so everything gets fabulously flavorful.
- Cream Cheese: To make this casserole extra special, add cream cheese. Combine cream cheese with confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract to make a sweet filling. Make sure you use brick-style cream cheese—the kind sold in individually wrapped bricks. We’ll layer spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture with the bread to create cream cheese stuffed french toast. It doesn’t get much better for breakfast!
- Crumb Topping: Immediately prior to baking, sprinkle the casserole with a brown sugar cinnamon crumb topping made from brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and cold butter. While optional, I don’t recommend leaving it out because it adds a crisp-crumbly texture.
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.
- Quality Bread. Bread is the main ingredient in any baked french toast casserole, so don’t skimp here. Flimsy sliced bread won’t do you any favors and the casserole usually ends up tasting flat and soggy. Rather, go for a fancy beauty like challah or croissant bread. French toast made with challah or croissant bread tastes 4873% better than french toast made with any other bread. (I did the math.)
- Stale Bread. When you have the quality bread you need, let it sit out for a few hours to get a little stale. Like sausage & herb stuffing and bagel breakfast casserole, french toast casserole is best when the bread is somewhat stale.
- Overnight is Best. Assemble the bread/cream cheese/custard layers and then before baking it, let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. This time gives the crusty bread a chance to soak up the cinnamon-spiced egg custard. You can leave the prepared french toast casserole in the refrigerator anywhere from 3-4 hours to 24 hours. I find the longer the bread soaks, the tastier the casserole. So, go to sleep. It will be amazing.
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
See hundreds more breakfast recipes.
Print
Baked Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 9 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This baked cream cheese french toast casserole is stuffed with sweet cream cheese and topped with a brown sugar crumble topping. It’s a wonderful recipe for a brunch or breakfast gathering because you can prep the casserole the night before.
Ingredients
- 1 (12-14 ounce) loaf french bread, sourdough bread, or challah*
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature*
- 2 Tablespoons (15g) confectioners’ sugar (do not leave out)
- 3 teaspoons (15ml) pure vanilla extract, divided
- 8 large eggs
- 2 and 1/4 cups (540ml) whole milk
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup (133g) packed light brown sugar
Crumb Topping
- 1/3 cup (69g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (41g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- optional: maple syrup and/or confectioners’ sugar for topping
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan or any 3-4 quart oven-safe dish (pictured) with nonstick spray. Slice then cut the bread into cubes, about 1 inch in size. Spread half of the cubes into the prepared baking pan.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the room temperature cream cheese on medium-high speed until completely smooth. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract until combined. Drop random spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture on top of the bread. Layer the remaining bread cubes on top of cream cheese. (I like to make sure some cream cheese is still exposed on top just for looks.) Set aside.
- Whisk the eggs, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, and remaining vanilla together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours and up to 24 hours. Overnight is best.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Remove pan from the refrigerator.
- Prepare the crumb topping: Whisk the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the cold cubed butter with a pastry blender or two forks. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the soaked bread.
- Bake uncovered for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown on top. I usually bake it for 45 minutes because I like it softer. Drizzle with optional maple syrup or dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve warm.
- Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can prep the dish through step 3 up to 24 hours in advance. (See step 3.) You can also prepare the crumb topping 1-2 days in advance, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator. Sprinkle over the soaked bread immediately before baking. To freeze, prepare the recipe through step 3 and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and then continue with step 4. You can freeze the prepared casserole with the crumb topping or add it on right before baking, but keep in mind that fresh crumb topping always gives the dish a little more texture. You can also freeze the leftover baked and cooled casserole for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, and then reheat to your liking in the microwave or cover and bake in a 300°F (149°C) until warm throughout, at least 20 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Baking Pan or any 3- to 4-quart Oven-safe Baking Dish (pictured) | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls or Mixing Bowls with Pour Spout | Whisk | Pastry Blender
- Bread: Day-old, crusty bread is perfect for french toast casseroles. Slice and cut it into 1-inch cubes and let it sit out uncovered all day. You’ll have about 12 cups of cubed bread– a little more or less is fine.
- Cream Cheese: Since the cream cheese is only mixed with a little sugar and vanilla, make sure you are using quality cream cheese that tastes good. I use and love full fat Philadelphia brand brick-style cream cheese for this dish.
- Half Recipe: This recipe can easily be halved in an 8-inch or 9-inch baking pan. The bake time will be slightly shorter, around 30-35 minutes.
- Can I add berries? Some readers have added blueberries, blackberries, and/or raspberries sprinkled throughout the casserole. Feel free to scatter 1 cup of fresh berries over the spoonfuls of cream cheese before topping with the remaining bread cubes. I do not recommend frozen berries.
My family is asking for chocolate and banana. I assume I can’t go wrong with either sprinkling chocolate chips along with the cream choose and sliced banana, or adding random spoonfuls of Nutyella along with the cream cheese (and some sliced bananas).. Anybody tried this or thoughts?
Both sound incredible. You can even skip the cream cheese mixture and just add spoonfuls of Nutella as well as sliced bananas before baking. Or keep the recipe as is and add sliced banana and sprinkle with chocolate chips before baking.
I have this in the fridge now wondering if I should leave out the crumble to make it less sweet not a huge sweets person
Feel free to skip the crumble topping!
Hi Sally,
This recipe looks so delicious! My son keeps bugging me to make this and I can’t wait to try it! I have two questions for you. First, I have 2% milk on hand – will that make much of a difference or should I add some melted butter to the milk to make it whole? If so, how much? Second, is the casserole compromised in any way if you mix everything together and freeze? I’m thinking texture wise. Thank you so much for your help and please keep up the great recipes!
Hi Bella! Happy to help. You can use 2% milk in this– honestly, it will be fine and just as tasty! The texture has still always been wonderful after freezing then baking. For freezing, prepare the recipe through step 4 (without preheating the oven) and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then bake as directed.
I made both the blueberry french toast and cream cheese french toast to freeze for a brunch that is in a week. The one thing that was perplexing to me was the streusel topping. It was not of the consistency to sprinkle; extremely moist. Looking at the small amount of flour, I can see why it is a more moist consistency than other streusel toppings I have made in the past. The picture you posted of the completed dishes on your website show a crumby topping. Please let me know if I need to add more flour to achieve the correct consistency. Both dishes look amazing but the topping has me a little concerned.
Hi Denise, make sure your cubed butter is extremely cold. If not, it will create a paste. Don’t over-mix either, you want to stop when the mixture resembled crumbles. If it’s still too moist, you can add extra flour. I’ve never had to do that before with my crumble toppings though. Cold butter is key!
What’s the best way to reheat this dish without cooking it again?
The oven is the best place for reheating (keep covered) unless you’d like to reheat individual servings in the microwave.
I made this for a holiday brunch and it was one of the best things I ever ate. Drooool
Made this morning for Father’s Day brunch. Huge hit. Will definitely keep this in my make ahead breakfast rotation.
love this recipe, made it for work for a breafast party and everyone loved it! i added blueberries onto the top and bake it accordingly and it came out great. excellent flavors. i also put in some almond extract along with the vanilla, because i love the almond taste
thank you
Made this with chocolate hot cross buns last week. OMG soooooooo good! Any tips on sizing down to 3-4 serves or freezing as it’s too big for my family to eat before it goes bad
I was looking for a breakfast recipe to feed a crowd and this one seemed interesting. It was absolutely delicious, and I will not hesitate to make it again. I used dark brown sugar instead of the light since I prefer its sweeter flavor. This was the only adjustment I made since the recipe is perfect just the way it is. Thank you!
This is one of those recipes I am sure is illegal. Recipes like this make you slap your mamma and bite the dog! Being YOU brought up challah bread I was hoping you had a recipe for a loaf of Challah that wasn’t terribly huge. Most, in fact, are really big. So Sally what have you got hidden in your bag of magic tricks? Your fans await. BK
I made this for a breakfast event at my work, and everyone loved it! I cannot say enough good things about your website. I constantly use your recipes and everything always turns out amazingly. You’re very good at what you do!
Made this today, I say a breakfast item book is in need. Girl, you good! Your recipes never ever disappoint. This was a huge huge hit. I used brioche btw and barely left it to stale for more then 1-2 hours. Another quick tip.. microwave the cream cheese to speed up the room temp. process for like 12-15 seconds. Enjoy!!Â
Do you bake uncovered?
I do not cover this casserole until maybe the last couple minutes in case it begins to look over-browned on top.
I’ve made this several times for my daughter who LOVES it! The Philly cream cheese blends perfectly with the cinnamon. Thanks. Love your recipes.
This was amazing! I made it for Mother’s Day brunch, and everyone loved it. I sprinkled powdered sugar on top and drizzled it with syrup. The top was perfectly crusty while the rest was soft, and the cream cheese and streusel added to the already wonderful flavor. I had issues making the streusel (my Kerrygold butter was too soft straight out of the fridge, thus my first attempt at streusel ended up looking like creamed butter and sugar; I stuck it in the freezer for a few minutes, cut it into cubes, then put it in the freezer again and it worked perfectly), but otherwise I would definitely make this recipe again.Â
I made this last year for Christmas breakfast with Italian bread, and it was amazing! This year I work at a local bakery and I am fortunate enough to be able to take home fresh challah bread, so I’m super excited to make it again!
Made this for breakfast on Saturday and there was so much flavor in that pan. So much goodness in fact that my husband said “You have to leave a comment for Sally.” We heated the leftovers up in the oven Sunday morning and it was just as delicious the next day. Thanks for creating delicious and simple made from scratch recipes.
I love this recipe my favorite part was the topping. I had gone through a couple of these but I like this one the best. I’ve been making this particular one for about 6 months now and the only thing I do differently is I thin my cream cheese out a little with milk (about a 2-4 tablespoons.) and instead of having large spots of cream cheese I have a marble effect with an even flavor of cream cheese, when I gently toss the bread with the cream cheese before putting it into a pan. It looks beautiful when I cut a piece out. today my partner noticed I had a bunch of stuff to make this and its his birthday so he got all excited it is one of our favorite dishes. I have yet to try challah bread cause I can’t find it but I haven’t been to a bread store in awhile either. I usually just use the on sale French bread that’s older and already partially dried out because of that. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing
I made this for a Fathers Day Brunch I hosted this weekend and it was a hit!!! Thanks for always sharing such great recipes!
How would this taste with apples? Or adding strawberries? Â
Phenomenal. I’d slice either up and layer in.
Hi, I’m planning on making this but have a question before I begin. Is this like a bread pudding? Texture-wise. Thanks, Sally! I absolutely love your blog.
Sort of– but firmer. If that helps!
Oh my goodness! I made this for my husband and I yesterday and it was absolutely delicious! I made it in advance, froze it, thawed it a day later and it turned out perfect. Thanks Sally for another great recipe! Yum!Â
I made this for my son yesterday and he loved it! I loved it too and we plan to put it in the ‘keeper’ file to use in the future when hosting team breakfasts for his swim team. Those boys can eat a lot of food, so I need some great recipes that are easy to make in large quantities. I’ll need to search your site for more options because everything I’ve made from you has been great! Thanks for this easy and tasty option!
Deb, have you tried my blueberry french toast casserole? Also makes a ton. And also my easy breakfast casserole for something savory too!
Sally, what a hit! Made this last night for this morning’s breakfast club at work and I went upstairs to see if there were any leftovers after a couple hours and I was getting compliments and thumbs up from co-workers. They loved it! So easy and finally a French toast casserole that stays true to the cooking time in the morning. So many times I’ve made a casserole and been late to work because it takes longer than stated. I used a loaf of Kings Hawaiian bread because of the additional sweetness. It resembled a challah loaf and can be found near the deli in most grocery stores. Delish! I will definitely make this again, thanks for the rave reviews among co-workers. : )
YUMMMMMM!!! Â I made this recipe for Christmas breakfast. Â I sprinkled frozen wild blueberries over the cream cheese layer, so I added 2 layers of frozen blueberries. Â I also changed up the milk [1/4 cup heavy cream; 1 cup fat free half and half; and 1 cup milk] just because I had it in the fridge. Â My husband had 2 big helpings for breakfast, and told me to keep this recipe. Â This was a HIT!!!Â
I made this for Christmas morning and it was the best overnight french toast I ever made! Thank you for the recipe! Will be making again!
This. was. phenomenal. I made it for Christmas breakfast, and it was perfect! Multiple people asked me for the recipe! Thanks for sharing!