Take the hassle out of breakfast with this Overnight Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast Casserole! Enjoy this decadent casserole with warm Strawberry-Maple Syrup or pile on fresh strawberries and whipped cream – your choice!
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There is nothing better than waking up in the morning knowing that an amazing breakfast is waiting in the fridge, ready to be thrown into the oven and enjoyed.
Nothing.
Especially on weekends. And holidays. You got me. This would be awesome EVERY DAY.
While I don’t have time to prepare breakfast every evening, I do make a concerted effort to do so for holidays. Easter, Christmas….Mother’s Day.
One of my favorite breakfasts to make is French Toast. I grew up on French Toast and it was always a treat. Whether we covered it with warm maple syrup or piled it high with strawberries and whipped cream – it was a breakfast that everyone could agree. All seven of us 🙂
Now, anyone who knows me knows I have a serious weakness for cheesecake. Serious. I combined that love of cheesecake with my overnight French Toast recipe and came up with this gorgeous thing.
I wanted the cheesecake cake filling to creep into every crevice, nook, and cranny so I ended up making strawberry cheesecake sandwiches. Strange. But it totally works.
After cutting the sandwiches into cubes, I piled on more strawberries and drizzled on the remaining cheesecake filling. Wrapped the dish in plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge overnight.
That’s when the magic happens.
In the morning it’s just a matter of throwing it in the oven and chilling on the couch with the boys until it’s all done. I like to make up strawberry-maple syrup for this casserole. My Nana taught me this trick 🙂 Combine equal parts strawberry jam (or jelly or preserves) and maple syrup. Heat on medium-high heat in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until the jam has dissolved into the syrup.
Outrageously good people.
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Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
- 12 slices Challah bread Day old - French, Italian or any other bread good for French Toast
- 12 oz light cream cheese
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 10 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup half-and-half
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 cups sliced strawberries
Strawberry-Maple Syrup
- 1/2 cup strawberry jam
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.
- Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.
- Beat in sugar until thoroughly combined.
- Beat in 1 egg and lemon juice until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- Whisk together 10 eggs, milk, half-and-half, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Schmear bread with cream cheese mixture. Layer on sliced strawberries. Place another slice of bread on top to create a sandwich. Repeat for all slices of bread.
- Cut into cubes and place approximately two-thirds of the sandwich cubes into baking dish.
- Top with remaining strawberries and drizzle remaining cream cheese mixture over the top.
- Place remaining sandwich cubes on top.
- Finally, pour egg mixture over the top.
- Press down lightly and cover with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate over night.
- Remove from refrigerator and let rest while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake for another 25-35 minutes or until the surface is golden and the center is set.
- Serve with maple syrup or additional fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Strawberry-Maple Syrup
- Combine equal parts strawberry jam (or jelly or preserves) and maple syrup. Heat on medium-high heat in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until the jam has dissolved into the syrup.
Nutrition
More amazing breakfast options:
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Cara says
Do you think it would work with streusel on top to give it more of a cheesecake feel and a crunch on top?
Rick says
Does anyone know what brand the blue bakeware is in the pictures? My wife was dying for a set, but I can’t find it anywhere online. Thanks!
Wanda says
Just saw post, I think the blue casserole dish is Pioneer Woman. Most of these are sold at Walmart. Great recipe, will be a new favorite.
Wendy says
I was wondering if I could make this in a 9 by 13 but do half with fresh strawberries and the other half with fresh peaches? Do you think I would have to change the spices or directly put the spices just on each half?
Angi says
Just wondering if I could leave the bread in full pieces and not cut it up? I would like to serve the french toast in one piece. Have you tried that or do you think it would still turn out the same?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
I don’t see why not Angi. I haven’t tried it but it should still turn out just fine!
Rick says
Hi Trish – My wife made your french toast this weekend… AMAZING! Her birthday is coming up and she really wanted the blue bakeware in the pictures from this post – do you know which brand they are?
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Thank you Rick! I feel so bad but I don’t know 🙁 I got the casserole dish as a gift!
Julie says
I made two of these for a holiday brunch. I made one with strawberries and one with blueberries. Being pressed for time I cheated and use philly whipped mixed berry cream cheese. So delicious, thanks for inspiring delicious treats to share with our loved ones!
Renee says
Do you think this can easily be cut in half? I only have 3 people to feed! Maybe cook it in an 8×8?
Sara P says
After drooling over the lovely photos I made this for the first day of school breakfast. This means I stayed up way too late the night before, because it did take forever to assemble.
My results were super yummy, though more eggy because I did it in too small a pan. My stumble came at the seemingly simple “then I cut the sandwiches into cubes” part. It was nearly impossible. Crusty edged bread, slippery strawberries and cream cheese meant it took me 3 hours to make some lumpy sticky messes that used to be cute li’l sandwiches. Ok not 3 hrs… Then I tried to drizzle, and my cheesecake goop was much thicker than drizzling. Things got very sticky. There were curses.
But it was fun, so yummy, and since the picky little goobers didn’t like it, i got to enjoy it again sliced cold, which was awesome.
Judy says
K, I may not be a pastry chef, don’t recipes usually include the oven temp when requiring baking! or have I missed that? Looked absolutely delish, but awaiting results since there were no temp in the instructions. Also, would have been better to specify to add 1 egg to cream cheese mixture, reserving remaining 10, for those of us who follow instructions line by line. I accidentally misread your instruction and added all eggs,only realizing after it was too late that the recipe called for 1 egg for cream cheese mixture & 10 for egg mixture. So now it is an experiment. I’ll let you know how it came out. Oh and I substituted banana for strawberries,having no strawberries available.
Judy says
k, feeling rather stupis at the moment. Finally spotted the oven temp. My apologies! Noe baking….
Judy says
Ok, while I missed the mark a bit by misreading instructions…and my new experiment tastes nothing like cheesecake…it still came out rather well. It’s light & fluffy texture is welcome considering the rather heavy ingredients. Can’t wait to taste it cold!
Gwen says
Oven temps are flexible for casseroles like these. I always read the recipe in its entirety at least once before I even start making it.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It’s about to go in the oven for a valentine day play date!
Jenn says
That looks SO good! I am so not a morning person so it is always nice to know that breakfast is waiting!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Definitely Jenn! Thank you!
Christina says
Hello, My name is Christina, I am addicted to cheesecake….and may I just say, you are my hero! 🙂
I made this for my Bunco group last night. Ah-mazing! And the leftovers reheat really well. My mother-in-law makes a great stuffed French toast casserole similar to this for holidays and I’ve always loved that, but I am loving on this one even more. Thanks for the brilliant share!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
LOL! That is so awesome Christina! Thank you so much for letting me know 🙂
Susan @ Oh My! Creative says
Good Morning!
I wanted to let you know I featured your casserole in my Whimsy Wednesday post this week – Fresh Strawberry Recipes! It looks amazing!
You can see it here>
http://www.ohmy-creative.com/recipe/fresh-strawberry-recipes/
Thanks for linking!
Susan