Berries & Cream French Toast Casserole

This mixed berries & cream cheese French toast casserole combines juicy berries, silky cream cheese, and challah bread all soaked with a rich brown-sugared egg custard. This impressive breakfast or brunch dish is altogether creamy, soft, crisp, and comforting, and the best part is that prep work is EASY!

I originally published this recipe in 2018 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips.

Less Work, More Reward

What I love most about French toast casseroles, and why I bake them so often, is the low maintenance factor. You’re not standing over the stove and cooking French toast for the whole family. Instead, you’re layering bread and egg in a pan and baking it. And, most notably, you can do most of the prep (which is minimal to begin with!) the night before.

This means more time with guests/family/your coffee and less time working in the kitchen. Soon enough, breakfast will be ready. And BONUS: your kitchen will smell like you were baking all morning. How sneaky of you!

I first published this recipe using only strawberries—and it’s fabulous prepared that way—however, it’s usually a bigger hit when I use a medley of berries and I want to show you how I do it. (You can successfully use frozen berries now too, see Notes.) This dish is what everyone loves about blueberry French toast casserole and cream cheese French toast casserole combined in 1 dish: lots of berries, lots of texture, and lots of cream cheese.

Note: Both of those French toast casseroles have a streusel topping and I usually skip it here, but feel free to add it!

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This Berries & Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole Is:

• Lovely for spring and summer gatherings, including Mother’s Day & Father’s Day
• Custard-y on the bottom
• Crisp on top
• Filled with pockets of creaminess and berries
• Not soggy. I repeat: not soggy!

Above all else, it’s easy, impressive, and enjoyable… all the things that brunch should be.

One reader, Melissa, commented: “This was absolutely amazing! I made it for Mother’s Day brunch for my family and parents, and everyone—including my extremely food-picky father—positively RAVED about it! I made it with strawberries and raspberries because that’s what I had on hand. Delicious! This is going into my favorite recipe rotation for sure! I served it with Sally’s strawberry sauce and it made it even better. ★★★★★”

Another reader, Whitney, commented: “Delicious recipe! Followed it completely using frozen berries—blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Assembled it the night before and baked perfectly in the morning for breakfast. ★★★★★“

3 Major Success Tips

1. START WITH GOOD BREAD. Texture is the goal and using good bread will help you get there. By “good,” I mean a bread with substance, flavor, and texture such as challah, sourdough, or brioche. Flimsy sliced bread won’t do you any favors and the casserole usually ends up tasting flat and soggy. Your efforts will be wasted. (Bonus… try this with artisan homemade bread or croissant bread. YUM!)
2. MAKE SURE THE BREAD IS A BIT STALE. No matter which type of bread you use, make sure it’s a little crusty and stale. This tip also applies to pumpkin French toast casserole and apple cider French toast, both delicious seasonal twists on today’s recipe. Slice and cut the bread into chunks and then let it sit out, uncovered, so it loses a little moisture and can hold onto the egg custard. The more egg custard the bread can absorb, the less soggy the French toast casserole will taste. If you don’t have time for this, I have a tip for you coming up.
3. A LITTLE SUGAR IN THE CREAM CHEESE MIXTURE. The cream cheese mixture is 3 ingredients: cream cheese, vanilla extract, and confectioners’ sugar. The reason I mix a little sugar and vanilla with the cream cheese is because without it, we’ll have random savory non-melted chunks of cream cheese in the dish. I explained this in my regular cream cheese French toast casserole recipe. It was good, but not very pleasant!

What if I Don’t Have Time to Let the Bread Get Stale?

Neither do I. Or I simply forget and then it’s time to prep the dish and I have very moist, soft bread that won’t absorb any of the egg custard mixture. To fix this, spread the chunks of bread on a lined baking sheet and toast in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10 minutes. This is exactly what I do when making breakfast strata and sausage & herb stuffing, too.

Here’s the basic process: To assemble, layer chunks of bread, dollops of the cream cheese mixture, and mixed berries together. Pour an egg custard all over the top and then cover and refrigerate for at least 2–3 hours or overnight:

Bake it all the next morning and serve it warm.

The best pan to use for this berries & cream French toast casserole is a 9×13-inch or 3–4-quart oven-safe dish. I usually use (affiliate links) this glass pan or the pictured red ruffled baking dish, which comes in a set with other sizes—definitely a splurge, but I’ve found the quality to be excellent and they’re absolutely gorgeous.

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Serving Your Berry French Toast Feast!

A sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar and/or a light drizzle of maple syrup finishes the berries & cream cheese French toast casserole. This is a creamy and lush berry breakfast masterpiece, and it pairs nicely with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and/or a fresh fruit salad.

And for more berry goodness, you can serve the French toast with this strawberry topping. 🙂

Additional Favorite Brunch Recipes:

• Cinnamon Rolls (only 1 rise)
• Scones
• Double Chocolate Muffins (always a big hit)
• Breakfast Pastries (using a shortcut homemade dough)
• Quiche
• Easy Frittata or Breakfast Egg Muffins

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