Dried cherries, crunchy walnuts plus yummy cream cheese all stuffed in between layers of sweet bread then baked and served drizzled with maple syrup – this Cherries and Cream Cheese French Toast make a fantastic breakfast or brunch dish! Can be made a day ahead, too for easy-peasy prep.
I love make-ahead French Toast Casserole. You can make it in the evening, leave it in the fridge and the next day you can just pop it in the oven and wait for a yummy breakfast treat!
I have only tried one French Toast Casserole recipe and that is the one by David Leite of Leite’s Culinaria – it is so good that I never bothered to try anything else. Here is the link to the original recipe.
We first had this casserole when we stayed with a New Jersey couple who kindly accommodated us when we visited New York. For our breakfast, this is what she prepared – Deep Dish Brioche French Toast.
I fell in love with the dish immediately and had to ask her for the recipe. She kindly printed me a copy and that was when I got acquainted with the amazing website and blog of David Leite.
This recipe is a very slight adaptation of the original just because I had to make use of what’s available to me. I hardly see a Brioche Loaf where I live so I had to try another similar buttery sweet roll which in this case was the Hawaiian Sweet Roll.
Also, I tried to experiment by using other dried fruits – dried cranberries and cherries instead of just the usual raisins.
Wow, now I actually prefer the tangier cherries or cranberries ’cause they provide a delicious contrast with the cream cheese and the sweetness of the bread!
I also tweaked the amount of the spices according to my taste. Because of these changes, I decided to use a different title than the original post ’cause I’ll never be able to do it with Brioche anyway and from now on I’ll only be using mostly cherries or cranberries! 🙂
So if you are looking for a new French Toast Casserole, I highly recommend this! Enjoy!
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FOR FULL RECIPE & INSTRUCTIONS and to PRINT, SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW.
NOTES ON INGREDIENTS FOR CREAM CHEESE & CHERRIES FRENCH TOAST
- Butter or non-stick spray – for greasing pan
- Brioche loaf or Hawaiian Sweet Rolls -cut into 1-inch cubes
- Cream cheese block – cut into cubes
- Pecans or walnuts – coarsely chopped
- Dried cherries, cranberries, raisins or a combo
- Eggs
- Milk – whole or 2% (you can also use half and half)
- Brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves – optional
- Butter – melted
- Powdered sugar – to serve
- Maple syrup, warmed – to serve
Above is the sweet bread roll that I used for the French Toast if cannot find a brioche loaf. Worked perfectly!
HOW TO MAKE CREAM CHEESE & CHERRIES FRENCH TOAST
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR CREAM CHEESE & CHERRIES FRENCH TOAST
Either butter or use a non-stick spray to grease a 9-x-13-inch baking dish. Place half the bread cubes in a single layer, filling in all the gaps.
Evenly scatter the cream cheese cubes, nuts, and cherries or cranberries (or raisins) on top. Cover completely with the remaining bread cubes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Evenly pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes. Gently press down on the cubes with your palms to allow the top layer of bread to absorb the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Meanwhile, remove the dish from the refrigerator and let sit for 20 minutes at room temperature. Bake the French toast covered for 20 minutes; uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until the cubes are nicely toasted and there’s no liquid puddling on the bottom.
Transfer the dish to a rack and drizzle the melted butter on top. Run a knife around the rim of the pan to release the French toast. Let sit 5 minutes. Cut into squares, arrange on individual plates, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve along with the warmed maple syrup.
If you like what you see and would like to receive new recipe updates, we’d love you to subscribe to our posts or join our site. Needless to say, we’d love you to like us on Facebook and Instagram, too where you can get more recipes and updates. Thanks and happy browsing!
CREAM CHEESE & CHERRIES FRENCH TOAST
Ingredients
- butter or non-stick spray, for greasing pan
- 24 oz brioche loaf or (2 packs) 12-ounce Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 8 oz package cream cheese, cut into 18 cubes
- ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- ½ cup of either dried cherries, cranberries, raisins or a combo
- 8 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground Cloves
- 4 tbsp melted Butter
TO SERVE
- Powdered sugar
- Pure maple syrup, warmed if preferred
Instructions
- Either butter or use a non-stick spray to grease a 9-x-13-inch baking dish. Place half the bread cubes in a single layer, filling in all the gaps.
- Evenly scatter the cream cheese cubes, nuts, and cherries or cranberries (or raisins) on top. Cover completely with the remaining bread cubes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Evenly pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes. Gently press down on the cubes with your palms to allow the top layer of bread to absorb the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Meanwhile, remove the dish from the refrigerator and let sit for 20 minutes at room temperature. Bake the French toast covered for 20 minutes; uncover and bake 20 minutes longer, or until the cubes are nicely toasted and there’s no liquid puddling on the bottom.
- Transfer the dish to a rack and drizzle the melted butter on top. Run a knife around the rim of the pan to release the French toast. Let sit 5 minutes. Cut into squares, arrange on individual plates, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve along with the warmed maple syrup.
Notes
Last updated on October 23rd, 2021 at 08:20 am
G'day! This looks SO warm based on our winter's day! TRUE!
This would be GREAT for entertaining…too bad we can't get Hawaiian rolls where we are, so would have to make from scratch…but would be worth it based on your photo! Thank you!
Cheers! Joanne
What's On The List
http://www.whatsonthelist.net
Joanne, you can try using French loaf, the result will be denser than the Brioche or Hawaiian Rolls version but it will still be as yummy.
This looks yummy! I would love to try this one! 😉
Tina
http://fashionandchocolat.blogspot.com
Hope you get to try it and enjoy it too Cristina!
This looks so good and sounds easy to do (ha!), cannot wait to try it. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I am glad I found your blog (a common friend from CMC forwarded your FB PM about the voting). Finding a food blog from a fellow SAHM and CMC alum is equivalent to ka-ching to me. 😀 More power to you (and yes, I voted, too).
Oh wow, Jacqui! What a small world. So glad you discovered us and thanks for voting for us, we won because of your support! 🙂 Was it Milet who told you about us? 🙂
Looks glorious! At first I thought it was bread pudding! Too bad I can't find a good brand of cranberries here. More power Manila Spoon!
Thanks, Micole. It's really similar to a Bread Pudding but this one has cream cheese. Enjoy!
I made this today for my hubby for Father's Day brunch. Fantastic and great make ahead and bake dish! I halved the recipe and only used frozen blueberries, and we all agreed the only thing needed was more cream cheese, but thats just because we reaaalllly like cream cheese! Definitely will be making this again. Thank you
Thanks for the feedback, Anne. Glad you enjoyed this. I love Cream Cheese too! 🙂
Hi Abby, this looks and sounds delicious! Forget breakfast…this is good enough to be dessert!! 🙂 Hope all is well and you are thawing out in frozen Michigan! 🙂 Christina
Thanks, Christina! Finally, we can see some grass now though not very green yet. You are right, serve this warm with some ice cream and yes, it's dessert. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I tried this recipe for a group of quilters on retreat and it was an instant hit. What a great combination of flavors.
Just wondering if anyone has tried this in a crockpot? I'm going on another retreat and I want to make this recipe again, but I know the oven at that location is very slow, sort of unpredictable and not all that clean.
Thanks! Deb
I am so delighted you all have enjoyed this recipe as it's a family favorite! I haven't tried it in a crockpot and now you have inspired me to make a crockpot version. I'd say try and see if it works for 2 hours on high. Please let us know and I will soon make a slow cooker version of this! Thanks!
This looks amazing; I’m thinking of making for our book club meeting. My question is, do you tear the rolls into large bread crumbs? That’s what it looks like to me!
Author
Yes, just tear or slice the bread into cubes. Enjoy!