Cream Cheese French Toast Bake

Cream cheese french toast bake is slightly toasted on top, soft in the middle, and each bite is bursting with rich cream cheese. Just add your favorite fruit!

This thick vanilla and cinnamon french toast is stuffed with sweet cream cheese filling and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar for a quick and easy breakfast delight. Serve this overnight cream cheese french toast the next morning with some Fruit Salad, Breakfast Sausage or Bacon in the Oven.

A slice of french toast casserole with cream cheese on a plate

French Toast Casserole with Cream Cheese

This french toast bake has a crispy sugar coating and an irresistible ooey-gooey cream cheese filling that no one can say no to! It is luscious, creamy, and delish.

Cream cheese stuffed french toast is perfect for a lovely brunch or just a Saturday morning family breakfast. Because it is made the night before, it makes for a simple morning. Just put it in the oven and bake!

If you enjoy a basic french toast, this indulgent overnight baked cream cheese french toast casserole is certainly a revelation. Pair with your favorite fruit, or what’s in season for an extra umph of flavor. It’s a meal all on it’s own!

Bread cubes and dollops of cream cheese in a glass casserole dish

Ingredients

Milk: Normally I would recommend using whole milk for the creamiest taste and texture, but  since I have added heavy cream any percentage of milk that you have will do.

Cream Cheese: Full fat cream cheese contributes to the richest yummiest dish, but whether you use full fat or not, make sure that you use block style cream cheese. Also, be sure that it is softened before hand so that it is easier to mix with the other ingredients.

Bread: The bread you choose to use will either make or break this recipe. I love the combination of the sourdough with the richness of the cream cheese. If you don’t want to use sourdough choose another good quality bread such as challah or brioche, but stay away from regular sandwich bread. 

Once you have your bread cut it into cubes let it sit out to go stale. Stale bread will allow the custard to be absorbed without making it get soggy. 

  • To get the bread to “stale” a bit faster spread the cubes evenly on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake for 5-8 minutes. 

Fruit Addition: Adding blueberries, raspberries or apples makes this dish absolutely delicious. Simply mix the fruit into the casserole. Once baked top it with a coordinating fruit syrup. 

French toast bake with cream cheese in a casserole dish

How to Make French Toast Bake with Cream Cheese

BREAD. Cut loaf into cubes and place half of them evenly in a greased 9×13 pan.

CREAM CHEESE. Place cream cheese powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla in a medium bowl and beat until smooth. Drop spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture over bread cubes, then top with remaining bread cubes.

MIX & POUR. In a bowl, mix together eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover your pan with Saran Wrap and refrigerate overnight (or for a few hours).

TOPPING. Mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with this mixture until crumbly and place in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate overnight as well.

BAKE. Take pan and Ziploc out when ready to bake. Sprinkle crumbly mixture evenly over the bread. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on how soft you like it.

Baking tip: Allowing your casserole to sit out for about 30 minutes before baking will help it cook more evenly. 

If you do find that the casserole is beginning to brown, but the center is not quite done, place a piece of tented tin foil over the top for the rest of the bake time. 

Cream cheese french toast casserole topped with cinnamon sugar

Storing Tips + Tricks

Make ahead: This is already a make ahead meal because you want to refrigerate it overnight. If you can’t let it sit for 8 hours it really does need at least 3-4 hours for the custard to absorb into the bread. 

Leftover: Store leftover casserole, covered, in the fridge. If you’re on the go reheat a portion in the microwave. If you have more time, or a large portion, reheating in the oven works best. 

Freezing: If you want to make this further in advance you can get it prepped and put it in the freezer. Complete the steps in preparing the dish. You can decide to add the streusel topping to be frozen or save it to add right before baking.

Once you have the dish ready wrap it with plastic wrap and again with foil. Label and then freeze for up to 2 months. 

French toast casserole with cream cheese topped with blackberries

More French Toast Recipes:

More Collections: Breakfast Casserole Recipes,

Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole Recipe

5 from 34 votes
Cream cheese french toast bake is slightly toasted on top, soft in the middle, and each bite is bursting with rich cream cheese. Just add your favorite fruit!
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
chill time 4 hours
Total Time 5 hours
Servings 12
Calories 458 kcal
Author Lil' Luna

Ingredients

Topping

Instructions
 

  • Cut loaf into cubes and place half of them evenly in a greased 9x13 pan.
  • Place cream cheese powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla in a medium bowl and beat until smooth. Drop spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture over bread cubes, then top with remaining bread cubes.
  • In a bowl, mix together eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover your pan with Saran Wrap and refrigerate overnight (or for a few hours)
  • Mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
  • Cut in butter with this mixture until crumbly and place in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate overnight as well.
  • Take pan and Ziploc out when ready to bake. Sprinkle crumbly mixture evenly over the bread. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on how soft you like it.

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About Kristyn

My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

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Comments:

  1. 5 stars
    Ok, I think I could eat this everyday! We love your French toast bake, but adding the cream cheese is even better!

  2. 5 stars
    What a delicious, family-friendly recipe!! It was gone within minutes. Made it for family & now everyone wants the recipe.

  3. 5 stars
    I would eat this for breakfast or a dessert! It does not last long at our house. Making it for Christmas morning!

    1. 5 stars
      Most delicious casserole! I’m making it for dinner tonight. Breakfast for dinner!! However, whoever can actually prep this in 15 minutes is a superwoman.

  4. 5 stars
    This looks amazing amd me and my daughter will have this this Christmas morning. Maybe this will become a tradition.

  5. 5 stars
    I made this for Christmas morning used blueberries inside of it and blueberry syrup it was delicious will definitely make again

  6. 5 stars
    Excellent recipe! This was delicious just the way it was. It was easy to prep and make the next day. The cream cheese adds a nice richness. Topped with berries was my favorite topping. However, you could top it with any of your favorite French toast topping. This is a must in your breakfast line-up. If you have left overs, they keep extremely well, even frozen. This tastes just as good re-heated the next day.

          1. 5 stars
            First time making this !
            Used Vanilla Brioche Loaf, once it cooled and firmed up in the middle – oh my goodness.
            It’s so delish.
            TY this recipe is a keeper

          2. Yay! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! The vanilla brioche loaf sounds amazing for this recipe too.

  7. 5 stars
    Thank you for this recipe! It’s delicious and very convenient to prepare the night before. I used brioche and it turned out beautifully. Will certainly make again.

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love the convenience of preparing the night before as well. Thanks for sharing!

  8. 5 stars
    Made this for our Christmas morning breakfast and it was a hit. My husband and son said “you can make this anytime and we won’t complain!”
    I do have a question about making ahead and freezing. Do you recommend baking from frozen or thawing first? I am having surgery next month so trying to find so meals to make in advance and freeze so they are easy for my husband to just pop in the oven.

    1. You can do either! If thawing, I would pop it in the fridge to thaw, add the topping and then bake. But you can also add the topping to the frozen casserole and bake. Best of luck with the surgery!!

  9. 5 stars
    Can you make and bake immediately? Don’t have time to prep stuff and store in our house. Wondered if I could just cook this right away? Thanks

    1. I would recommend trying to let it soak in that custard mixture for a couple of hours at least, but you can try to cook immediately. You may end up with a different texture if you bake immediately. I’d definitely make sure that the bread you are using is stale/dry. You’ll have to let us know how it turns out if you do bake right away.