A warm homemade strawberry sauce is drizzled over the French toast dish before eating.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 9 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 9×13-inch casserole |
Ingredients
- 12 slices home-style white bread, cut into 1-inch cubes, divided
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cold cream cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 ½ cups sliced fresh strawberries
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 12 large eggs
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Generously grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Arrange half the bread cubes in the prepared baking dish. Evenly distribute cream cheese cubes over the bread cube layer; sprinkle 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries atop cream cheese layer. Layer the remaining bread cubes over strawberry layer.
- Pour half-and-half into a blender; pulse for a few seconds. Blend eggs into half-and-half until fully incorporated. Add maple syrup and blend until smooth. Pour mixture evenly over bread mixture. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
- Remove baking dish from refrigerator 45 minutes before baking.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Bake the covered casserole in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and continue baking until French toast is puffed and golden brown, about 30 more minutes.
- Stir sugar, water, and cornstarch together in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until mixture has thickened, about 5 minutes. Mix in 1 cup sliced strawberries; cook and stir until strawberries have softened, about 10 minutes. Add butter; stir until melted. Serve hot over French toast.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 433 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 42 g |
| Cholesterol | 245 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13 g |
| Sodium | 376 mg |
| Sugars | 25 g |
| Fat | 25 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made this for Easter brunch. We thought it was great. I reduced the maple syrup to about 1/4 cup and the white sugar in the sauce to 1/2 cup as most reviews said the whole thing was too sweet. I found it perfect. Also used 1 cream cheese. Next time I might try more.
Yum! I made this as is and it was fantastic! It did take a little longer to cook than stated
I have now made this with just about every fruit I have on hand: berries, apple, mango, and cherries. Mango seems to be the family favorite. I, too, only use I 8oz cream cheese, also whatever milk I happen to have on hand(half/half, whole, low-fat and coconut have all been used. We love this recipe! I let it sit in fridge overnight bake first thing… at times, depending on if I’ve used frozen or fresh fruit, the baking time will need to be adjusted.
This recipe rocks. Other than using a Brioche bread it was followed to a tee.
I only used half of the cream cheese and forgot to make the sauce but still turned out great.
I made a half batch of this recipe in an 8×8 pan and used blueberries instead of strawberries. It was so good but SOOO sweet. I didn’t find the cream cheese to be “too much” like others have said at all. Next time I’ll probably add some cinnamon/nutmeg to make it more french toast tasting. It comes out more like bread pudding (which is perfectly fine with me because we love bread pudding).
easy to make and super yummy!
very good and easy to make
The family don’t like it.
DELICIOUS!! .. I used Gluten Free bread, only half the cream cheese (next time I will use 1+1/2 cream cheese) cut into 1/2″ cubes instead of 1″ – added a TBL of vanilla in the egg mixture – and cooked additional 15 mins per others’ suggestions (total bake time: 45 mins w/foil, then additional 30 w/out ) & it was perfect! Made the sauce but it was also delicious with the xtra fresh strawberries & a bit of regular maple syrup. Served w/side of bacon & everyone LOVED it. Will definitely make again – next time for a special occasion or to take to potluck/brunch.
Honestly, I didn’t like it. I found it gooey in places, and crispy in others. I would rather make regular French toast and add sliced strawberries
I made this, following the recipe (almost) exactly. I never measure vanilla; I just pour! This is delicious. Filling flavorful and quick. The recipe is straightforward; I used my brand new Lodge double-burner griddle, and it came out perfectly. Can’t wait for strawberry season!
Delicious!!! This was part of our Christmas brunch. Simple and delicious. I did need to cook it a bit longer but I think it was the oven. Will definitely make this again.
Made this for Christmas AM today and it was everything I was hoping for! I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of needing to add an additional 15 minutes to the bake time. The only thing I did different was added maple syrup and the strawberry sauce to the portion on my plate. Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow!
Definitely will make this again. So much easier and less clean up when you have company.
This is the best casserole I have ever made! Instant hit at the table!
Yummy! I thought that the cream cheese not melting down would make it weird, but it didn’t! It was so good just the way the recipe says. I loved the sauce too!
I made this for Christmas breakfast and it was an ok make ahead breakfast food. I liked it more then my husband but it kind of reminded us of buffet food which isn’t bad but not amazing. I cut down the sugar a little, like others recommended but I think I would’ve preferred it a little sweeter.
Made a lot of modifications to the recipe so not sure if it’s still even the same recipe: used 10 oz challah bread (because, CHALLAH!!!), blueberries instead of strawberries, 12 oz mascarpone (as one review suggested) subs for 16 oz cream cheese. Followed the rest of the recipe for the casserole itself. Reduced the sugar for the compote to maybe 1/3. Had tart blueberries so this added some contrast to the richness of the French toast. Guests appreciated that it’s not sweet on sweet. I ended up having to keep the casserole in the oven longer than the recipe suggests… I just kept measuring temp until it was 165°F internal temp. It was delicious! Definitely making again.
This turned out fantastic. I made for an overnight party with my girls and they loved it. Only changes were I used french bread and had to cook a lot longer. I too only used one package of cream cheese. Since my son ate my strawberries that were in a bag for the topping I had to use frozen blueberries and raspberries but was still DELISH.
I made it using Italian bread. It would have been a 5 if I used plain white bread, and less bread. Flavor was delicious and sauce made it wonderful. I would also incorporate the cream cheese into the liquid ingred. And add more strawberries.