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    Home » Breakfast » Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake

    Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake

    Published: June 9, 2021 · Jill Baird · 2 Comments

    strawberry french toast bake

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    This Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake is sweet and custardy with a crisp streusel topping that’s studded with fresh strawberries and ooey gooey cream cheese.  Prep the day before and bake the morning-of for a sweet, simple and decadent make-ahead breakfast casserole.

    Jump to:
    • Strawberries and Cream French Toast Casserole
    • What to Serve With Overnight Strawberry French Toast Bake
    • Ingredients for Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake
    • How to Make Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake
    • Recipe: Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake

    Strawberries and Cream French Toast Casserole

    Our Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake is so pretty, so impressive and so delicious that no one will ever believe it only took about 20 minutes of prep.  We take a classic French toast egg custard and fresh strawberries, pour it over pieces of French bread where it makes magic as it soaks overnight (or as little as 20 minutes if you’re in a rush). 

    Just before baking, we top with a brown sugar cinnamon streusel, and pieces of cream cheese for a creamy, dreamy dessert-for-breakfast casserole.  Serve with whipped cream, berries, syrup, or however you like to eat your French toast.

    strawberry french toast bake recipe in a baking dish, overnight french toast bake

    What to Serve With Overnight Strawberry French Toast Bake

    In our house, we love to eat this with a dollop of freshly whipped cream, fresh fruit, and whatever kind of syrup we have on hand.  Sometimes that’s plain maple syrup, but making your own syrup is so simple that we often have homemade syrups around the kitchen, too!

    Some of our favorite homemade syrups include:

    • Homemade Buttermilk Syrup 
    • Lemon Syrup
    • Mixed Berry Syrup
    • Coconut Syrup

    Topping Ideas

    • Macerated Strawberries
    • Berries
    • Whipped Cream
    • Berries or Fruit of any kind

    recipe for strawberry and cream french toast bake

    Ingredients for Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake

    • French Bread - use day-old French bread from any local bakery or grocery store, Brioche bread works great too. You can even make your own!  
    • Eggs -  any kind of large whole eggs will work.
    • Milk - we prefer whole milk, but you can substitute 2% if you’d like.
    • Maple Syrup - you can use all maple syrup, or else substitute a touch of honey for some of the maple syrup.
    • Vanilla Extract - pure vanilla extract tastes best.
    • Strawberries - we like using fresh because the colors end up bleeding less, but in a pinch frozen will work.
    • Cream Cheese - use either lite or full-fat cream cheese, cut into ½” pieces.
    • Butter - this will taste best with salted butter.  You can use either room temperature butter or else cut cold butter into small cubes.
    • Brown Sugar - we use light brown sugar but you can use dark brown sugar if you want a little more molasses flavor.
    • Flour - we use all-purpose flour for this recipe.
    • Cinnamon - any kind of ground cinnamon will work.  You can also omit this if you prefer.
    strawberry french toast bake

    How to Make Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake

    The Day Before Serving

    1. Add bread.  Spray a 9" by 13" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, then place your cut or torn pieces of French bread evenly in the bottom of your baking dish.  The bread should be about even with the top of the baking dish.
    2. Make egg mixture.  In a large bowl, add the eggs and whisk to break them up.  Then, add the milk, maple syrup, and vanilla and whisk again until all the ingredients are well-combined.  Pour your egg mixture over the bread, covering as much of it as possible.  Add the fresh strawberries and use a fork to gently stir your bread and egg mixture together.  Cut or scoop ½" pieces of cream cheese and place evenly over the top.
    3. Refrigerate overnight.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least four hours, or overnight, to allow time for the bread to soak up all of the liquid.
    how to make strawberry french toast bake recipe

    How to Bake

    1. Make streusel.  In a medium-size mixing bowl, add the butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Stir or mix with a fork until the streusel has ¼" pieces.  You can also use a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed, making sure to stop the mixer once you have ¼" pieces.  (Note: Either use immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight, or until you are ready to bake.)
    2. Let come to room temperature.  When you're ready to bake, pull your baking dish from the fridge and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Allow the baking dish to come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
    3. Add streusel and bake.  Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the bread and egg mixture and put it into your preheated oven.  Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes, or until the top and edges are light golden brown. 
    4. Serve.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly, then cut into 12 portions.  Serve with whipped cream, chopped pecans, berries or your favorite syrup.  Enjoy!
    struesel topping for french toast bake recipe
    Can You Make French Toast Casserole the Same Day?

    least 20 minutes before baking. Fold the mixture once or twice so as much of the custard can soak into the bread as possible.

    How do you keep Strawberry French Toast bake from getting soggy?

    The two main reasons that you would end up with a soggy French toast bake would be if you either used the wrong kind of bread (i.e. soft and fluffy sliced white bread) or didn’t soak the bread long enough. Otherwise, as long as you follow this recipe your French toast bake shouldn’t be soggy!

    What’s the best kind of bread to use for Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake?

    The best bread to use is a dense bread, such as French bread, challah, brioche or even cinnamon rolls!  Ideally, the bread should be at least a day old and on the dry side. If it’s too fresh, there is still much moisture in the bread still which doesn’t allow for as much of the egg mixture to soak in (therefore giving you that soggy French toast that no one wants).
    If you don’t have day-old bread, you can cut the bread into 1” pieces and place on a sheet tray in a single layer and dry it out in a 250 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on it so that you don’t accidentally burn it.

    strawberry french toast bake
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    Recipe: Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake

    This Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake is sweet and custardy with a crisp streusel topping that’s studded with fresh strawberries and ooey gooey cream cheese.  Prep the day before and bake the morning-of for a sweet, simple and decadent make-ahead breakfast casserole.
    Course Breakfast
    Cuisine American
    Prep Time 20 minutes
    Cook Time 50 minutes
    Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
    Servings 12 people
    Calories 310kcal
    Author The Carefree Kitchen

    Ingredients

    • 1 loaf French Bread cut into 1" pieces
    • 2 cups Milk
    • 12 large Eggs
    • ⅓ cup Maple Syrup
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • 1 ½ cup Strawberries diced into ½" pieces
    • 16 oz Cream Cheese cut into ½" pieces

    Streusel Topping

    • 6 T Butter room temperature, cut into cubes
    • ⅓ cup Light Brown Sugar
    • ⅓ cup All-Purpose Flour
    • ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

    Instructions

    Make-Ahead Instructions (The Day Before Baking)

    • Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, then place your cut or torn pieces of French bread evenly in the bottom of your baking dish.  The bread should be about even with the top of the baking dish.
    • In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and whisk to break them up.  Then, add the milk, maple syrup and vanilla and whisk again until all the ingredients are well-combined.  Pour your egg mixture over the bread, covering as much of it as possible.  Use a fork to gently stir your bread and egg mixture together.
    • Sprinkle the strawberries evenly on top and gently mix in, then either cut or scoop ½" pieces of cream cheese and place evenly over the top.
    • Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight, or for at least 4 hours, to allow time for the bread to soak up all of the liquid.

    For the Streusel Topping

    • In a medium-size mixing bowl, add the butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.  Stir or mix with a fork until the streusel has ¼" pieces.  You can also use a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed, making sure to stop the mixer once you have ¼" pieces.
    • Either use immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight, or until you are ready to bake.

    Baking the Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake

    • When you're ready to bake, pull your baking dish from the fridge and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Allow to come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
    • Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the bread and egg mixture and put into your preheated oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the top and edges are light golden brown.
    • Remove from the oven and let cool slightly, then cut into 12 portions.  Serve with whipped cream, chopped pecans, berries or your favorite syrup.  Enjoy!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 205mg | Sodium: 313mg | Potassium: 228mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 515IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 110mg | Iron: 2mg

    Here are more of our favorite breakfast casserole recipes!

    • Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
    • Blueberry French Toast Bake
    • Sausage Egg Biscuit Casserole
    • Pumpkin Stuffed French Toast
    • Sweet Potato Breakfast Casserole
    • More Breakfast Casseroles

    More Strawberry Recipes

    • Old Fashioned Strawberry Pretzel Salad
    • Overnight Strawberries French Toast Bake
    • Cheesecake Filled Strawberries
    • Strawberry Sauce
    • Easy Macerated Strawberries

    If you’ve tried this recipe, please rate it and leave a comment on this post. I love hearing feedback from you helps me and other readers too! If you love Pinterest,  feel free to leave a comment and photo there too.  Also, if you like to share, use the hashtag #thecarefreekitchen on Instagram and tag me @thecarefreekitchen so I can find you and give your post some love. You can also find me on Facebook at The Carefree Kitchen. Thank you!!

    Pinterest pin for Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake.

    This Strawberries and Cream French Toast Bake is so pretty, so impressive and so delicious that no one would ever believe it only takes about 20 minutes of prep.  It's made with French bread, creamy egg custard, and topped with brown sugar streusel, fresh strawberries, and melty cream cheese.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Natalie

      June 16, 2021 at 8:32 am

      Oh wow, this looks quite delicious. I love how easy this recipe is. I have to give it a try. Can't wait.

      Reply
    2. Mel

      June 15, 2021 at 11:34 pm

      Yummy! I had a whole flat of fresh strawberries to use up. And this was PERFECT!! SO so delicious. I actually doubled the strawberries because I had to use them And it wasn't too much at all... Thanks for always having delicious recipes. LOVE your website!

      Reply

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