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.
I originally published this recipe in 2015 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more success tips.
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.
One reader, Anna, commented: “I have made this twice now and it is unbelievably delicious! The cream cheese flavor and texture are both outstanding, and the streusel on top is the perfect touch! Everyone that tried it had rave reviews! I will definitely continue to make this. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Megan, commented: “I made this several years ago for breakfast on Christmas morning and now my kids and husband have to have it every year! It’s easy and delicious! I make a strawberry reduction to go with it! ★★★★★“
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, brioche, or croissant bread. French toast made with challah, brioche, 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 as an easy make-ahead Thanksgiving breakfast, 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, brioche, 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
was perfect for mothers day brunch evryone loved it
I received so many compliments on this when I made it. I cooked it for 55 ish minutes and we topped with fresh berries after.
Delish!! Made two of these for church hospitality table. Used challah bread. People loved it!
My crumble melted on top and my family found raw egg pieces in theirs
I can’t wait to try this this weekend! Do you think leftover croissants would be good instead of French bread?
Hi Erin! We haven’t tested our baked French toast casserole recipes with croissants, so we can’t offer much advice. Let us know if you give it a try!
If I added strawberries, do they have to be macerated? Sounds like none of the other berries need that, right?
Hi Maggie, just chopped strawberries will be great!
Would this be as amazing without the cream cheese? I love cream cheese but my husband doesn’t like it in many things. Any suggestions? Thank you for any help or feedback.
Hi Rachel, absolutely! Simply omit or you can try this blueberry French toast casserole instead.
Could I make the cream cheese more of a filling that is whipped rather than in big cube chunks? How would you suggest adapting for that? I feel like big bites of cream cheese might be too much for some of my crew!
Hi Maggie! We haven’t tested a cream cheese filling for this casserole, but let us know if you do. You could always cut the chunks of cream cheese to be much smaller and more dispersed. You can also just leave the cream cheese out, or add berries like we do with our blueberry French toast casserole recipe. Let us know what you try!
Hi Sally, do you think I could mix some peanut butter in w the cream cheese?
Hi Sarah, we haven’t tested it but don’t see why not. You could always drizzle the baked casserole with some peanut butter as well. Let us know what you try!
I add pecans to the crumb and it is so delicious
Ooh, pecans sound like a fantastic idea!
So phenomenal! Is there a way to adapt this for muffins?
Hi Lauren, we haven’t tested this French toast casserole as muffins, but that should work! Be sure to evenly distribute the ingredients among the muffin tins. We’re unsure of the exact bake time. Let us know how it goes!
I made this for my Easter brunch. It was so unbelievably delicious!! The recipe was great as is.
Hi Sally! I’m having a hard time deciding between this recipe and your blueberry french toast casserole- would you please be able to tell me what the main difference b/w the two recipes is, other than the addition of berries of course! Thank you in advance!!
Hi Lyla, the recipes are just about the exact same, just with cream cheese in this one and blueberries in the other. Both are delicious!
Can I use Brioche Bread for this recipe?
Brioche would be fantastic! Be sure to still follow the directions for drying out the bread before using.
Delicious, per usual ! I think I’m a SBA Super fan.
To anyone who has Sally’s Overnight French Toast Bake – how does it compare to this casserole?
Hi Mary! This is more of a casserole, and you’ll scoop out portions to serve almost like a rich bread pudding. The French Toast Bake in my cookbook is like regular French toast with a delicious brown sugar butter sauce. They certainly taste similar. This one has cream cheese.
Used a locally made raisin pecan sourdough bread. This bread is a little denser than other sourdoughs and the dish looked a little dry before putting it in the oven in the morning so I whisked up and added a little more milk, eggs and vanilla. I also used a little half/half in place of some of the milk, not that it needed the extra richness. Delicious!!!
First time making and it was a hit! I’ve made other recipes before and it was ok or too eggy or dry.. Well this was so good and a definite keeper! Thank you!
I started baking about three years ago and came across Sally’s Baking Addiction at about that time. I’ve made a fair number of items on her website, and it is my first place to look when I need a recipe. I decided to make the French Toast Casserole for Xmas breakfast, followed the directions exactly and it came out perfect. The wife said it may be the best tasting item I’ve ever made. It was so phenomenal that you would find yourself continuing to eat – well past the full mark. The texture, the flavors…everything was so darn amazing. Thanks Sally!
Prepared it Christmas Eve morning and baked it in my convection oven for 38 minutes. It was absolutely delicious and so easy to prep! Even my skeptical, non-sweet eating hubby loved it.
I made this for Thanksgiving brunch and it was amazing and everyone loved it. I made it again last night to serve today for Christmas and forgot to put the vanilla in the eggs. Will it be okay? Should I out a little vanilla in the topping before baking? Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Hi Judy, it will be just fine without the vanilla. No need to add any to the topping.
I have gluten free cinnamon bread. Can I use it instead of the challah or french bread?
Hi Lori, the texture may be different but you can certainly use that bread. Let us know if you give it a try!
Can I use almond milk instead of whole milk?
Hi Jenni, that will work just fine!
I’ve tasted this recipe and only made it once before but am planning to make it for family Christmas Eve brunch. Can’t wait to taste it again!! It is SO delicious!!!
I just went to the bakery and bought a challah to make this french toast. It weighs 32 ounces which is over double your ingredients list that says 12-14 ounces. Does this mean I should only use half of the bread? Worried it will be super dry if I use the whole challah.
Hi Jay, you’ll need to use about half of the loaf.
Made this for a company Christmas party and it was a HUGE hit! Everyone loved it. Made exactly as you, using Brioche and mixed fresh berries. This is going to be my go to dish!
I have a few homemade Belgian waffles left over would those work if I toast them up and get them a bit crusty ? Lol
Absolutely!
*UPDATE*
THIS RECIPE IS SOOOO YUMMY , THANKS FOR SHARING I added a layer of macerated strawberries and made a glaze for over the top and it’s WONDERFUL!! I’ll definitely be making this again and will definitely play with different flavor combos lol HAPPY BAKING EVEYONE ❤️
Absolutely super excited to try out this recipe for Christmas breakfast – I was wondering if you had any recommendations for substitutes on the cream cheese / if the dish will drastically change in any way without including it?
Hi Danny, you can omit the cream cheese if you wish. Or you may enjoy this blueberry French toast casserole instead.
We love this recipe so much! Can you use 2% milk instead of whole milk?
Hi Mony, that will work in a pinch!
Thank you for this recipe it looks wonderful. Can you use oat milk instead of whole milk?
Hi Lori, that will work just fine!
Hello, this looks amazing and I’m hoping to do it for Xmas breakfast this year – can I use brioche bread or will this be too soggy?
Hi Emma, brioche would be fantastic! Be sure to still follow the directions for drying out the bread before using.
Brioche is the best!! I tend to chop it up and put it in the oven on a low temp to dry it up a bit, but I’ve also made it without toasting it and that way is great too! Bottom line: this recipe is AWESOME!
This was, quite literally, one of the best breakfast/brunch dishes I have ever had! I had it the other day and am already preparing for it to be our yearly family Christmas morning meal. 🙂
When you halve the recipe do you halve all the ingredients equally? There will be just 2 of us eating and it looks right up our alley.
Hi Hattie, yes, simply halve all the ingredients and use a smaller square pan. Enjoy!
I used canyon house gluten free sweet roll bread. I added diced candied maple bacon I made, some chopped pecans, extra maple syrup on top after baking and sprinkled powdered sugar for show. I sprinkled the chopped pecans on top halfway through baking to toast up. DIVINE! THIS IS CHRISTMAS MORNING BREAKFAST!!!